We Are the Lucky Ones
The bell tolls. Baa-dooong, baa-dooong, baa-doooooooong. Slowly, steadily, campers and counselors begin to awake. Many grunts and groans ensue, followed by a long series of yawns and stretching in bunks. For a few moments, the initial reaction is to curl into the fetal position and hope beyond hope that you have the time to fall back to sleep, if only for a brief fluttering minute or two. However, that doesn’t happen. It’s that time again, time for a hearty, nutritious breakfast full of fruit, protein and lots and lots of orange juice. Maybe some coffee, for the staff, just maybe. After a brisk walk to the Lodge, we find ourselves greeted by a warm ball of light in the eastern sky. We pay homage to the new day in the form of a short but always enchanting, “win-de-ya-ho.” If you’re unfamiliar with this native “chant,” it goes something like this:
“win-de-ya-ho, win-de-ya-ho…win-de-ya, win-de-ya…yo-ho, yo-ho, he-yo-ho, he-yo-ho…ya, ya, ya”
We sing this twice, then pile into the lodge. It is loud, but not uncomfortably so. We all have our morning routines, as well. Some of us go straight for the cereal bar, where we find an assortment of healthy options, void of dancing leprechauns or crunch berries. Campers find themselves mixing blueberries, strawberries, raspberries and blackberries with some wholesome yogurt. Our breakfasts are the stuff of Hobbit dreams, let me tell you. Personally, I am a one-at-a-time fruit guy. This means I like just one blueberry at a time, thank you very much. We try and make a little go a long way on the Preserve, which brings us to the after-breakfast ORT report and finally, a visit from our local ornithologist, Dr. Dodo, to enlighten us on particular species of birds we may soon find as we set out on our morning Mentor hikes.
This brings us to the part of the day, that at this time, I think, needs no detailed description. We sort into our hiking groups and discuss what we may need for our hike. This normally includes a full water bottle, appropriate shoes(depending on hike location), rain gear and of course, something to stuff it all into, a handy dandy backpack.
It comes at no great surprise that mentor hikes are the highlight of the day for myself, as the co-media coordinator. Campers and staff, alike, have the chance to see things that most people will never witness in their entire lives.
For now, I’ll leave you with the thought of embarking on a journey into the heart of the Preserve, where today, our Campers were fortunate enough to see a black bear, turkeys and even a venomous copperhead snake. Do you know what that means? If a camper and a staff see just one little ol’ deer before the end of the session, we get a Grand Slam. More importantly…ICE CREAM PARTY!
Seek the joy, y’all.
Story and Photos by Brandon S. Marshall