For two summers, I worked as a camp counselor at Camp Chattooga in Tallulah Falls, Georgia.
I had almost forgotten my backpacking dreams until I applied to work at Camp Chattooga. I read over the camp brochure and saw the Adventure program—caving, mountain climbing, rappelling, backpacking. Oh wow! That would be cool!
I didn’t have enough experience to qualify as an adventure leader, but the dream and the passion re-awoke.
For those two summers, I lived my dreams. At night, I would fall asleep out on the cabin porch listening to the bull frogs. For two summers my sleeping bag was my bed.
I taught campers how to catch bullfrogs with a flashlight and how to shoot a rifle. Wherever we went, we were singing at the top of our lungs.
Once a week we would take all the campers out for a camp out. I usually got the job of starting the fire for the cook out. Most of the campers had never experienced cooking hot dogs or roasting marshmallows over a campfire. The S’mores? Well you can imagine.
The most important thing I learned that second summer of working at Camp Chattooga is that I had to figure out a way to do that (live outdoors) for the rest of my life.
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Just saw the MSN Hot Topic of the Day was “Nature Deficit-Disorder” a term from the book “Last Child in the Woods-Saving Our Children from Nature-deficit Disorder” by Richard Louv. I believe this is important!!
I did a little reading about this after I saw your comment, and I really agree with the idea that we are damaging children by keeping them locked inside away from grass and trees and fresh air.
Perhaps the most interesting part is how well nature therapy works for children diagnosed with ADD and ADHD.
I have long thought that kids with ADD just have a different learning style–more active.