Camp Woodland Blog

by Aron Christopher (Camp Mom and Woodland alum)

I was awoken one night by the sounds of a barred owl calling. I lay there, taking it in and celebrating the closeness to nature that I can experience at camp. While here, there are no amenities to keep me comfortable except for the cool Woodland breeze and the ebbs and flows of humidity and temperature. Far away from air conditioning, with the windows open and all the nighttime sounds surrounding me, I sleep as part of nature. I don’t particularly enjoy the bugs that can sometimes join me in my cabin, but I take solace in knowing that this means that my air is a little fresher.

I played golf recently with a pinecone and a stick with a tilted end. In a world where we need to have everything and need to buy our children their own set of golf clubs to teach them a love of golf, it’s rather reassuring to watch children enjoy a good game of pine cone golf.

Being a full time working mom in the suburbs and coming to camp seem like two completely polar opposite sides of myself but I am astounded at the fulfillment that both leave me in different, yet complementary ways. Although many of my friends may have been puzzled at my desire to leave my comfortable amenities to spend the summer at camp, I think that, just possibly, this deep connection to nature that I am experiencing will allow me to see more subtle beauty in the nature around me even when I’m far, far from camp.

Can you spot the hummingbird?