Monthly Archives:December 2024

December 2024

A few weeks ago, I hosted two of my dear Woodland friends, Ana Cristina and JoAnne, in the small coastal town where I live. Because both of these longtime friends (almost 40 yrs!) arrived post sunset, we took out for a walk the next morning so that I could show them the neighborhood where they would be hanging out for a few days. We had barely taken but a few steps, and Ana says out loud, “It is really quiet here. I don’t hear any traffic or other background noise; it is so nice.” JoAnne quickly agreed. With Ana being from Mexico City and JoAnne from the Chicago area, the stark contrast between the noise from a bustling city of millions of people and a small town of a few thousand nestled on the water’s edge, the difference is drastic and  immediately noticeable.

Now that I am spending several days each week in a more urban center and taking my dogs for their morning walk around the perimeter of a mall that is bordered by one of the busiest thoroughfares in this area (and five minutes from an international airport), I, too, am keenly aware of the times when I am not hearing the sounds of road and air traffic. I find myself longing for the peaceful sounds of nature; especially, the birds in conversation with each other, the trees waving to passersby with their movement from the breezes (or the gusty winds as of late!), and the waves finding their way to shore. I’m even challenging myself to see if I can block out or at least “mute” the loud background noises to listen to those softer, calmer sounds of the natural world around me.

There is a lot of noise out there in general. School, work and home have their own sounds that pull us into the tailspin of having so many things to do. Don’t even get me started with the noise of the holidays. Shopping, sending gifts and cards, going to parties and events, and traveling. How many more things can we squeeze into the confines of an hour, day or week? On top of that we get dings, pings, and all the things our phones remind us that we should or could be doing. So. much. noise. TOO. MUCH. NOISE.

June 2022

I will never forget the first night of camp when campers arrived a few years ago. The bus with our friends from Mexico pulled into the camp driveway in the dark, and I helped a girl, who at that time was coming for her second summer, take her luggage to her cabin. This camper stopped before getting to the steps of her new home, and looked up. I did too. We stood in silence and were in complete awe of our view of the stars. She told me that she had waited 10 whole months to return to the quiet night sky, away from the city lights, where the stars are as numerous as grains of sand or blades of grass.

Sounds of Summer: A Different Kind of Noise

I think it is fair to say that to this day, this veteran camper treasures the quiet of being in the Northwoods for a period of 6 weeks. The “noise” we hear on County D every summer are the unforgettable sounds of summer…laughter, joy, the bell ringing to signify the end of one cool activity and the start of another, cabin doors slamming as girls rush out to get to the next exciting activity or event, friendships being cemented by the spigot when hygiene routines (toothbrushing/shaving legs) turn into a group activity, counselors and campers learning together, and a flurry of catching up in the dining hall as cabinmates reconvene and share the good and no-so-good moments since the last meal and expressions of the exciting things to come. One of my favorite end-of-the-day rituals that we have at camp is the CIT singers who come to the cabin door right around the time lights go out to send us into the world of dreams with a good wish. I would take the sounds of summer any day instead of the whir of planes and automobiles (no trains where I live!) the other 10 months of the year.

Nature delights us with her own sounds…the pitter patter on the cabin roof when it rains, loons calling to one another across the lake, pine needles crunching underfoot while walking through the forest, owls hooting in the distance, horses whinnying and shifting their hooves in the pasture, and sand squishing between your toes, just to name a few. The rhythm of a camp day shares opportunities to hear the pop of a gun at riflery, the whoosh of an arrow as it finds its way to the target, the clucking of chickens, voices rehearsing their lines, the bounce of a tennis ball, feet landing on a gymnastic mat, 8-counts being rehearsed outside the Rec Hall, and the chitter-chatter in the craft room. Every summer we are graced with the splashes and squeals as campers enter the water, halyards clanking on the mast, a canoe being sent off from shore, singing at campfire, the motor boat taking off with a skier, the canteen window opening during Rec Swim,…a sampling of the different kind of “noise” we hear at camp. The kind of noise that I can never get enough of. The unforgettable sounds of summer.

Join us in 2025 for 6 weeks of experiencing the unforgettable sounds of summer that we long for this time of year! Sign up HERE: https://cwtp.campbrainregistration.com