Yawgoog Day 5

Finding out the car was totaled sent me spiraling again. I had another bad night. I couldn’t sleep. Every time I closed my eyes I saw the car careening into the guardrail. And knowing it was the car Dad bought me makes me feel even worse. By dawn, a migraine had settled in my head, concentrated in my right eye. The pain is so intense, I feel nauseous, but I am up because I promised G3 I would go to church. Yes, you read that correctly. I am going to Mass in the chapel because G3 wanted to go and asked me to accompany him. Luckily, B has excedrin.

There is another scout, E, who has been going to chapel every morning. Yesterday, he recruited several scouts to go with him.G3’s interest was independent of E’s mission, but we still accompanied everyone else from our troop. E went from tent to tent issuing wake up calls. Then at 7:00, we gathered at our campsite and hiked about ten minutes to the chapel which is near Medicine Bow Camp.

The Chapel is named after St. John Bosco. It is small and quaint and the alter is made from wooden panels, exactly like you’d expect for something located in the woods. G3 wanted to sit up front, so that’s where we sat. Attending Mass is like riding a bicycle. Even though I haven’t been to Mass in ages, the words and gestures were all there tucked away in my memory, easy enough to access. The priest asked for a volunteer to read and another to be an alter server. It was apparent the boy who volunteered to serve had never done so before. In fact, I’’d be willing to bet he’s not even Catholic, since he looked lost and a bit confused up on the alter. For Communion, nearly every one went up to receive. Again, based on body language and words “Thank you,” instead of “Amen,” it was obvious that many scouts are not practicing Catholics and I wondered how many of them have received the Sacraments. I did not receive because I know how the Catholic Church feels about me, plus I didn’t want to leave G3 alone on the bench.

I went over to the small boat sailing area as the boats were coming in hoping to catch sight of G3 sailing. I’m glad I got to see him, however, due to all the safety ropes and precautions, I wasn’t able to get close enough to get a good picture. I got pictures, I just can’t see him clearly in them. I suppose something is better than nothing. Either the wind was better today—I’m not sure it was considering I didn’t feel it—or he and his partner improved since yesterday. Whatever the reason, they were able to sail—slowly—back to the dock without using their hands as paddles.

I am glad I came to camp with G3. I am especially glad since it is the camp my Dad attended with my brother, but I’m not sure I would do it again. If I was the type of person who enjoyed relaxing and kicking back not doing anything, it would be great. But there isn’t much for me to do except hang around reading and chatting with the other adults. I can’t even swim because the rules make it impossible. It’s very confining. I’ve walked and explored the camp extensively, so there is nothing new to discover. Maybe next year, Kati and I can take a mini-vacation while G3 goes to camp.

This afternoon, I got my hammock up so that I could read comfortably. Yesterday, I finished the graphic novel, New Kid, by Jerry Craft. It is a banned book that I had gotten for free at Jersey Pride. I enjoyed it, and appreciated the way it tackled race and openly discussed racial discrimination. It was done in a way that was easy for kids to understand and it could prompt great conversations in middle school. Today, I started She Drives Me Crazy by Kelly Quindlen.

After dinner, G3 swam a quarter mile to qualify for the mile swim on Friday. I was not at all surprised that he was able to do it. He’s been comfortable in the water since he was a toddler. As always, the best part of my night was when G3 sat down by the water with me to discuss his day. It’s nice being able to be removed from everyone else. The crowd and noise can be suffocating. The frogs and crickets are soothing. During Horsemanship, G3 cleaned out a horse’s stall and got to sit on the horse for “two minutes.”