summer camp

photo by: Duncan, Camp Temagami

I went to overnight camp as a kid.

It was the same camp as my cousins so when I was old enough my parents sent me for a two-week session. There were a ton of activities at camp – sailing, canoeing, waterskiing, archery and nightly games of buckets and squares or capture the flag. We slept in tents on big platforms and ate in a dining hall that was filled with laughter and songs. I slathered my toast with cinnamon butter each morning and loved the songs we sang at chapel.

I learned to waterski at camp. I learned to sail at camp. And I did the lake swim every year. The lake swim was a big deal as you had to complete 500 training lengths in the swim dock area to qualify. On the big day someone would paddle beside you while you swam from the opposite end of the lake back to the camp where you would be greeted by the whole camp cheering you in from your swim. It was awesome.

I also learned how to shave my legs at camp (off the swim dock near the girl’s tents!), learned about getting my period and found out that bras came in different styles and sizes (not that my pancake chest at the time needed one). Such were the unofficial camp activities done away from the watchful eyes of counsellors and Skip, the camp director.

I didn’t I appreciate overnight camp as much as a camper as I do now as an adult. I didn’t turn into a lifelong camper like some people I know. I never became a counsellor. And, camp reunions were something I never attended. But camp has stuck with me. There is something about the time away from home where I had to figure out things for myself. Had to navigate relationships with others and had to learn to be away from the creature comforts of home.

Now, that I am a parent, I feel strongly that overnight camp is one of the best things for kids. All of my boys have gone. Each with varying levels of enjoyment but they have gone. Sports camps, activities-type camps, scout camps and tripping camps. They have tried a wide variety. Even when it hasn’t been their favourite there have been memories such as cold August nights, overnight trips and learning to swear in Spanish from campers from Spain.

One of my boys in particular thrives at camp. He has gone out on 22-day canoe trips into the wilds of Ontario and Quebec paddling lakes and rivers. He has learned camping skills such as outdoor cooking and setting up a campsite. He has learned how to assess risk on portages, in bad weather and in rough waters. And he has learned how to work as a team with his tripping group. But most of all, he has learned to be comfortable in his own skin. To be in a place where he can be fully himself without the pressures of school or his peer group or expectations of teachers or us at home. The calm, confident joy on his face at the end of each camp session isn’t always seen during the school year.

Overnight camps have been closed this summer because of the pandemic and it makes me so sad. Camp is a place where my boy needed to go. To turn off tech, to paddle his ass off and to be in a place where his true self shines. I know there will be other summers but as a fifteen-year-old figuring out his place in the world it is a blow.

The overnight camp experience is something that stays with you for life. It is time away from home during a transformational growth period. There will be good and bad memories but regardless you learn about yourself. Maybe not immediately. But summer camp lives and grows with you over time.

This summer, as a family, we are going to do some camping. It won’t be a 22-day trip down the Dumoine River in Quebec like what my son has done in the past. But it will be something. And, in the meantime, we can dream about dipping the paddle in quiet lakes knowing that, for kids, overnight camp will come again soon.

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