I arrived at my first camp for the summer, Camp Strawderman in Virginia, and it’s beautiful.
When I pulled up at 7pm on the first night, all the girls were out on the lawn for dinner just after a long day hiking. It was all so cinematic. The girls were gathered together in small groups, laughing, playing leap frog, pulling at each other, racing each other to the dinner line. It was everything I love about camp: the energy, the playfulness, all wrapped into one perfect moment that shouted - THIS is camp!
I can already tell 4 days will not be enough here.
Camp Strawderman is a warm hug. I felt brought in immediately. There is so much history here and the landscape is unlike anything I’ve experienced before.
My first day is done and dusted and it’s hard to believe how much I’ve experienced in one day. Was this what it felt like when I was a camper!?
The memories of today consist of:
-the moment when a rainbow fell over the sky and the counselors and staff immediately broke into “Somewhere Over the Rainbow” during lunch in the dining hall
-witnessing a soccer game and watching counselors scream their hearts out in support of their campers that were winning
-the director showing me a letter a camper wrote to home where she tried to squeeze a cup of peanut butter into the envelope and then didn’t fill out the address
-listening to singing voices from afar. nothing beats the sound of girls singing together.
-intermittent rain showers throughout the day and watching them from a screened in porch (a really nice break from the muggy heat here)
-evening debrief with the staff on the porch swapping camp stories and discussing the day in detail.
I will share a few digital snaps and videos along the way but as I mentioned most of what I am capturing is on analogue, which means I won’t see the images for at least 5 more weeks.
I’ve already experienced my first kink of the trip. I ordered a backup Pentax 645 (a medium format camera) as the one I brought with me has been faulty. Upon shooting with it for the first time today, the shutter dial just popped right off the camera! Fortunately the camera shop offers a free exchange so I mailed it off today and a new one should be shipped to the next camp I head to. Oh, the joys of shooting on analogue cameras…there is always something.
Finally, to backup the title of this Substack, here is a video of the fireflies! I don’t remember fireflies at my summer camp in Maine, maybe there aren’t as many. In Virginia, they are EVERYWHERE. Every night it feels like the trees and cabins around us are sparkling. Look carefully, you can see them in the video.
xx,
Amanda
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