Once you've worked at Long Lake for long enough, you come to understand that not every year can be fantastic. This year, while not awful, was pretty rough. Aside from a lot of issues stemming from the fact that a couple of people I thought were my friends turned out to be really, really not what I thought they were, I also injured my right hand pretty seriously and my dog got hit by a car...among other things.
I hurt my hand while catching on the flying trapeze a couple of days before our second session Parents Weekend show went up. A kid flew at me crooked and I caught his wrist with my left hand and his head with my right. My thumb bent all the way back and, once I managed to sit upright in the trapeze again, I watched as my hand blew up to a really unnatural size. I got down the ladder (somehow), went to the nurse, had someone find Chrissymine for me, and was immediately whisked away to the doctor and then to urgent care for X-rays. Good news: it's not broken. Bad news: I tore a bunch of ligaments all around my thumb and I had to go to Albany to see a hand specialist who said (more good news) I DON'T need surgery, but also that (more bad news) I have to wear a splint for four weeks (I think I only have another week or so to go with that) and that I can't do any physical activity with that hand for six (so I guess I have another two or three weeks to go for that part). I couldn't do ANYTHING for the last four weeks of camp. I mean, I coached and choreographed and directed and ran my department and everything, and we put on our shows second and third session as expected (even though third session we were one person down, another unfortunate and unexpected thing that happened this summer), but I can't cut my own food, do my own hair, carry anything, write, in fact I shouldn't even be typing right now because it hurts. I have a splint I have to wear and everything. I'm totally worried I'm going to lose the strength I worked so hard to gain over the past year or more. The whole situation pretty much destroyed me and I'm still having a hard time even now, a month later. Thank goodness for Chrissymine. She's done everything she can (all while insisting I'm a "terrible patient") to help me out--she got me to ice my hand all the time for the first couple of weeks, she carried all of the heavy stuff when we were travelling home, she cuts my food for me and she even tries not to let the meat touch the other food on the plate (it's a thing). I honestly don't know what I would have done without her help and without her accompanying me to the many doctors appointments I've been on because if this.
As for Chelsea, she's okay. While we were at camp, she was staying with our friends in Seattle because of an airline snafu that was entirely my fault. They almost made it through the whole summer without Chelsea escaping (as she does), but one day about two weeks ago she bolted and ran right into the busy street by their house. She doesn't have any broken bones or internal injuries or anything like that (whew), but she did have to have surgery on her right forepaw because of a HUGE laceration (they say it was more like road rash in that there was a whole chunk of skin missing) that had to be cleaned and repaired. Anyway, now she has a bandage on her right front leg (just like mine on my right hand!) and she has to wear one of those stupid cone collar things to keep her from licking at the bandage. She seems pretty okay, but I'll be glad when the stitches are out and she can exercise again and things can get back to normal. She lost a lot of weight too, which she didn't need to do, so that's worrisome as well.
So aside from my injury and Chelsea's injury and "friends" of mine turning into raging bitches for no apparent reason, there was also the matter of a someone very close to me whose heart was broken repeatedly this summer by the actions and judgements of others. I can't really say anything else about that, but she's trying to put herself together as best she can and I'm trying to help even though I don't know how and I'm probably not doing it right. But I try.
The good things:
1) My staff was great. All of them were new, young, and super talented. I hope I can get at least one of them to come back, but with circus people, you never know.
2) All three of our shows went well.
3) The bears were out ALL THE TIME this summer. We got to see them tons. Some people might think this was a bad thing. I think bears are cool.
4) I went out to the bar a LOT this year. Way more than any other year, that's for sure. I didn't always have a great time, but many times it was good to just be able to be off camp with friends.
5) The kids still make my life worth living. They're the best.
So that's it. Summer at camp crammed in a nutshell. I've been home for less than 48 hours. I still have jet lag, but at least I'm unpacked. I miss camp people, but not as much as I usually do, and I'm anxious to catch up with my Seattle friends, but not that anxious. No offense. I kind of think I need a vacation.
30 August 2007
14 July 2007
Parents' Weekend, Part The First
Well hello again out there! It's the first parents' weekend of the summer and we had our camp show yesterday and our parents' show this morning and Circus Rocks! was a success, if I'm to believe the rave reviews coming in from parents and staff. And I do. The Powers That Be of camp are calling it their favorite circus show ever, which is great. I caught all five of my flying trapeze kids in a row, which is sweet, and the rest of my kids did a great job. My staff did amazing things with their acts, too. What's especially awesome about all of this is the fact that we did so well even though we got STUPID AMOUNTS OF RAIN this session. The circus here is outdoors, so our rehearsals get cancelled when it rains unless we can find space indoors, and even that doesn't help with aerial acts because there is no place to hang aerial equipment in any of the theaters here. The good news (besides the fact that the show went swimmingly in spite of the rain) is that now, more than ever, the kids are asking for a circus building. I've told them to tell their parents to tell the camp administration how much they would like for our circus to be indoors. We'll see how far that kind of pressure gets us.
So, Into the Woods is up right now and, after this, the kids go back to their bunks and then we let them out again for pizza and soda and music on the lawn. Then they get to stay up for hours if they want. But this year we're having a serious bear issue (there are four bears that come onto camp every night, somtimes in the evenings, sometimes in the wee hours of the morning, and they don't seem to want to stop visiting. I've seen them several times. One teenaged bear likes to hang out by our cabin, in fact. There are photos and overturned garbage cans to prove it. More about the bears later), so I don't know how this will change the traditional "Hell Night" activities. Anyway, then there are more shows tomorrow, then the kids who were just here for session one leave, then we have production meetings for session two shows, then Monday the new kids arrive. No, not those New Kids, the session two campers, of course. And we do it all again!
So, Into the Woods is up right now and, after this, the kids go back to their bunks and then we let them out again for pizza and soda and music on the lawn. Then they get to stay up for hours if they want. But this year we're having a serious bear issue (there are four bears that come onto camp every night, somtimes in the evenings, sometimes in the wee hours of the morning, and they don't seem to want to stop visiting. I've seen them several times. One teenaged bear likes to hang out by our cabin, in fact. There are photos and overturned garbage cans to prove it. More about the bears later), so I don't know how this will change the traditional "Hell Night" activities. Anyway, then there are more shows tomorrow, then the kids who were just here for session one leave, then we have production meetings for session two shows, then Monday the new kids arrive. No, not those New Kids, the session two campers, of course. And we do it all again!
29 June 2007
It's for the children, fer fuck's sake.
The kids arrived last Sunday and Session One 2007 is in full force. I'm so happy that the campers are finally here, and I'm sunburned and busy and circusing for 6-7 hours per day and it's great. What's really cool is that, along with a lot of my favorite first session regulars, a bunch of other kids I love who usually don't come until second session came early. Plus there are a bunch of newbies who are great too.
The show we're doing this session is called "Circus Rocks" and all of the acts are being done to different rock songs. We're also hoping to have our camp's tech staff do an airband gag at some point in the show (to cover some rigging, but also because it's funny and those guys are a bunch of hams anyway), and then during the finale we're going to have one of the camper rock bands play. I'm teaching web/rope, aerial hoop (we've been using too-small lyras for years, and I finally got camp to allow me to buy two new proper-sized aerial hoops this year and they arrived today! Yay!), double trapeze (for which I am also basing), ragdoll/adagio (for which I am also a catcher), and flying trapeze (for which I am also ALSO the catcher). It's funny basing a 65-pound 11 year old in doubles after basing an adult all year. Holy cow, these kids are light, but they are also constantly giggly and that makes them floppy. But they are so cute, you'd just want to vomit if you saw them. I'll post photos soon if I think of it.
Anyway, we're also doing juggling, hula hoops, rolling globe, triple trapeze, tissu, tumbling, mini tramp, and meteors in the show. It'll be good.
I've been here for two weeks and one day now, and it seems like I've been here for months already. Funny how that works.
I don't know what the heck is going on outside my cabin. Sounds like the tech boys are maybe having a water fight? They scream like little girls.
We've had all sorts of wildlife encounters already this summer. There are a couple of chipmunks who've built a nest (or whatever you call chipmunk habitats) near where we store our circus equipment, and we also have a lovely robin couple that have moved into the rafters in the same storage area. They apparently have babies, because we often see them flying back to their nest with food in their mouths. Cay-ute.
A couple of bears have been wandering around camp at night too. One was hanging out by my cabin the other night, but I didn't see it because I was inside. I heard it, though, and Chrissymine saw it when she came home to go to bed.
PLUS, there were some coyotes wandering across camp earlier this week too. That's a little unsettling. The bears won't bother you if you don't sneak up on them, but coyotes mean business from what I hear. Hopefully the bears will scare them away.
My first day off is Monday, which also happens to be Chrissymine's birthday. I'm trying to find a way to get us out of town for the day, but since we're lacking a car, it might be difficult. We'll see. Regardless, I'm so ready for my day off I could just about collapse. I'm sure the rest of my staff feel the same way.
Okay, I have to get ready to go on duty. One night each week, each of us is assigned to go sit outside the certain kids' bunks from 10pm to midnight so the bunk counselors can have some time off (except the nights they are on duty, of course) while the kids are still supervised. This year, for the first time, I get to be a head OD (OD stands for "on duty", not "overdose", of course) which means I get to sit in the warm office and make sure everyone knows where they are meant to be rather than having to sit in the cold and/or rain and trying to get kids to be quiet. Awesome. Unless something goes wrong and I'm supposed to handle it. Then it's not so awesome.
So that's all the news from here, pretty much. More later.
The show we're doing this session is called "Circus Rocks" and all of the acts are being done to different rock songs. We're also hoping to have our camp's tech staff do an airband gag at some point in the show (to cover some rigging, but also because it's funny and those guys are a bunch of hams anyway), and then during the finale we're going to have one of the camper rock bands play. I'm teaching web/rope, aerial hoop (we've been using too-small lyras for years, and I finally got camp to allow me to buy two new proper-sized aerial hoops this year and they arrived today! Yay!), double trapeze (for which I am also basing), ragdoll/adagio (for which I am also a catcher), and flying trapeze (for which I am also ALSO the catcher). It's funny basing a 65-pound 11 year old in doubles after basing an adult all year. Holy cow, these kids are light, but they are also constantly giggly and that makes them floppy. But they are so cute, you'd just want to vomit if you saw them. I'll post photos soon if I think of it.
Anyway, we're also doing juggling, hula hoops, rolling globe, triple trapeze, tissu, tumbling, mini tramp, and meteors in the show. It'll be good.
I've been here for two weeks and one day now, and it seems like I've been here for months already. Funny how that works.
I don't know what the heck is going on outside my cabin. Sounds like the tech boys are maybe having a water fight? They scream like little girls.
We've had all sorts of wildlife encounters already this summer. There are a couple of chipmunks who've built a nest (or whatever you call chipmunk habitats) near where we store our circus equipment, and we also have a lovely robin couple that have moved into the rafters in the same storage area. They apparently have babies, because we often see them flying back to their nest with food in their mouths. Cay-ute.
A couple of bears have been wandering around camp at night too. One was hanging out by my cabin the other night, but I didn't see it because I was inside. I heard it, though, and Chrissymine saw it when she came home to go to bed.
PLUS, there were some coyotes wandering across camp earlier this week too. That's a little unsettling. The bears won't bother you if you don't sneak up on them, but coyotes mean business from what I hear. Hopefully the bears will scare them away.
My first day off is Monday, which also happens to be Chrissymine's birthday. I'm trying to find a way to get us out of town for the day, but since we're lacking a car, it might be difficult. We'll see. Regardless, I'm so ready for my day off I could just about collapse. I'm sure the rest of my staff feel the same way.
Okay, I have to get ready to go on duty. One night each week, each of us is assigned to go sit outside the certain kids' bunks from 10pm to midnight so the bunk counselors can have some time off (except the nights they are on duty, of course) while the kids are still supervised. This year, for the first time, I get to be a head OD (OD stands for "on duty", not "overdose", of course) which means I get to sit in the warm office and make sure everyone knows where they are meant to be rather than having to sit in the cold and/or rain and trying to get kids to be quiet. Awesome. Unless something goes wrong and I'm supposed to handle it. Then it's not so awesome.
So that's all the news from here, pretty much. More later.
22 June 2007
People Are Complicated
Camp is fucking crazy sometimes. Remember the bubble speech I was talking about yesterday? Well the bubble is in full effect already. I'm pretty certain that folks in the outside world who have never worked in a situation like this really have no concept of what it's like to live with, eat with, hang out with, and spend time off with the same people you work with. Because of this constant togetherness, it's possible to become really close with people on several levels, and that's totally cool. But it sucks when you have a fight with someone on a personal level, and then you have to deal with them as coworkers as well. And you can't even get away from them when you aren't working. It's a little crazymaking, I think.
Sometimes friends hurt other friends' feelings. Sometimes hearts get sort of chipped or broken in the process. Sometimes friends you thought you knew make really bad decisions that then make you realize they may never have been sincere with you for even a moment in all the time you've known them. Sometimes you think you're being clear that you wish your friends wouldn't behave a certain way or pursue a certain someone or lead you on or lie by omission. Or you suggest they make up their minds about how they feel about...people or situations before the people involved get hurt. But then you realize maybe you weren't clear enough, or maybe you were and the people you thought cared about you don't care as much as you wished they would or assumed they did. And everything kind of goes pear-shaped and you're left with a stomachache or a headache or a heartache and you don't know what to do.
That's how camp is sometimes. That's all I'm saying.
Sometimes friends hurt other friends' feelings. Sometimes hearts get sort of chipped or broken in the process. Sometimes friends you thought you knew make really bad decisions that then make you realize they may never have been sincere with you for even a moment in all the time you've known them. Sometimes you think you're being clear that you wish your friends wouldn't behave a certain way or pursue a certain someone or lead you on or lie by omission. Or you suggest they make up their minds about how they feel about...people or situations before the people involved get hurt. But then you realize maybe you weren't clear enough, or maybe you were and the people you thought cared about you don't care as much as you wished they would or assumed they did. And everything kind of goes pear-shaped and you're left with a stomachache or a headache or a heartache and you don't know what to do.
That's how camp is sometimes. That's all I'm saying.
21 June 2007
The Bubble!
I'm getting better, you guys! I woke up this morning able to breathe and everything. And my voice isn't totally croaky anymore. Now it's more of a sexy rasp. At least that's what I like to think, anyway.
Yesterday was our first full day with all of the counselors. We had training and I got to meet my staff and teach them some rigging and stuff. It was good. I don't know yet about whether they are going to be stars or superstars, but my hopes are high.
This morning, Geoff (one of the camp directors) gave his famous "bubble speech" about how camp is a bubble unlike the real world. Time works differently here, romantic encounters progress at a different rate, we're not expected to cook or clean or do our own laundry (unless those are our camp jobs), and rumors fly through camp at Mach 5. Anyway, it's a great speech that we returners look forward to every year.
I had a meeting with the heads of camp today too. It went quite well.
Later I got to fly with my staff. It was great for giving me a much-needed attitude adjustment, but I have a lot to teach my staff. They have promise, but very little experience on the flying trapeze. We'll have to see what happens.
Tomorrow we're supposed to be setting up our stage. It's a huge job that requires about 50 volunteers from other departments and lots of heavy lifting. If we can get through tomorrow without my staff or anyone else's staff hating me and/or circus, it will be a job well done!
I feel kind of lonely and I miss home. I wish the kids were here.
Yesterday was our first full day with all of the counselors. We had training and I got to meet my staff and teach them some rigging and stuff. It was good. I don't know yet about whether they are going to be stars or superstars, but my hopes are high.
This morning, Geoff (one of the camp directors) gave his famous "bubble speech" about how camp is a bubble unlike the real world. Time works differently here, romantic encounters progress at a different rate, we're not expected to cook or clean or do our own laundry (unless those are our camp jobs), and rumors fly through camp at Mach 5. Anyway, it's a great speech that we returners look forward to every year.
I had a meeting with the heads of camp today too. It went quite well.
Later I got to fly with my staff. It was great for giving me a much-needed attitude adjustment, but I have a lot to teach my staff. They have promise, but very little experience on the flying trapeze. We'll have to see what happens.
Tomorrow we're supposed to be setting up our stage. It's a huge job that requires about 50 volunteers from other departments and lots of heavy lifting. If we can get through tomorrow without my staff or anyone else's staff hating me and/or circus, it will be a job well done!
I feel kind of lonely and I miss home. I wish the kids were here.
19 June 2007
Sooooo sick.
Holy jeez, you guys. I am hella sick right now. In fact, I've been sick since about our second or third day here. My throat feels like it's on fire, I can't breathe, my head feels funny...the nurse even came to my cabin to check on me this morning. She says it's probably a virus which is great (yay! I don't have strep!) but also shitty (boo! I can't just take antibiotics and get better!).
What really sucks is that the rest of the counselors arrive this afternoon. So I have to meet my brand new staff while I'm all croaky and sniffly. And it hurts to talk.
I did get to go do a lot of work on the circus lot yesterday, despite being ill. I solved a rigging problem and got the fly net almost usable and did some other little jobs that needed to be done. I hung a web and later a trapeze and played around on them for a bit (I was actually checking to make sure my rigging solution works--it does), so that was nice, considering I haven't been in the air for almost a week.
Chrissymine has been busy beautifying our cabin. She painted the walls and the trim, and yesterday we laid down peel-and-stick tile that actually looks really great and should be easier to clean than the gross, unfinished wooden floor underneath it.
Our friend LilAnna got here yesterday, too, so it's been nice to catch up with her. I love it when everyone starts showing up and we get to see our old friends again. That's why being sick sucks so much. I want to be out there all excited and hugging people and chatting, but I can't really do that when my whole body hurts and I can't breathe. I just hope I'm better by the time the kids get here on Sunday!
What really sucks is that the rest of the counselors arrive this afternoon. So I have to meet my brand new staff while I'm all croaky and sniffly. And it hurts to talk.
I did get to go do a lot of work on the circus lot yesterday, despite being ill. I solved a rigging problem and got the fly net almost usable and did some other little jobs that needed to be done. I hung a web and later a trapeze and played around on them for a bit (I was actually checking to make sure my rigging solution works--it does), so that was nice, considering I haven't been in the air for almost a week.
Chrissymine has been busy beautifying our cabin. She painted the walls and the trim, and yesterday we laid down peel-and-stick tile that actually looks really great and should be easier to clean than the gross, unfinished wooden floor underneath it.
Our friend LilAnna got here yesterday, too, so it's been nice to catch up with her. I love it when everyone starts showing up and we get to see our old friends again. That's why being sick sucks so much. I want to be out there all excited and hugging people and chatting, but I can't really do that when my whole body hurts and I can't breathe. I just hope I'm better by the time the kids get here on Sunday!
15 June 2007
At camp!
Wow. It's been ages, I know. The past month went by crazyfast. AerLift happened and was lovely. We made a lot of money for our charities and my performances went quite well. My parents even came out to see the shows and were they were rather impressed with me! Yay! My costumes looked great too (thanks to Chrissymine and Skorstad). Anyway, the whole thing was great.
Chrissymine graduated just last weekend! She now has her MFA in Costume Design and she's walking around all proud and relived, making people call her "Master" and stuff. It's funny. I'm SO PROUD of her I could just explode.
But then it was like time sped up or something. All of a sudden there we were, Chrissymine and me, on a redeye to camp, hurtling toward daylight. And now we're here on our first full day. The rest of the counselors don't get here until Tuesday and the kids don't arrive until a week from Sunday, but we have a lot of preparation to do before everything really kicks in, so it's good we're here early. I haven't actually been down to the circus lot yet even though I've been on camp for about 24 hours. It's always nervewracking, that first walk down there. Stuff breaks over the winter and the guy who sets up our fly rig sometimes forgets and leaves things undone, so I have to go down and survey the damage, if there is any. Hopefully everything will be fine.
Chelsea isn't with us this year, unfortunately. I made a huge error in judgement that ended with us choosing a Delta flight only to find out a few days ago that Delta sucks and wanted to charge us a total of around $1000 to take our dog to and from camp. I could have avoided this outcome if I had done all of my research two months ago when we bought the tickets, but I didn't and now we're here without her. Our friend/angel Skorstad has her in Seattle for the summer. What we did to deserve friends like that is beyond me, but she's a lifesaver.
So that's my update for now. Not terribly exciting, I know, but that's how it goes sometimes. Today is a big day for physical and emotional adjustment. I think I need one more night of sleep before I truly feel like myself again. I hope to be good about blogging this summer, but I said the same thing last year on my old blog, and I ended up writing maybe three times the whole summer! Maybe this year will be better because I know people will actually read it!
Down to the circus lot with me to see what I can see...
Chrissymine graduated just last weekend! She now has her MFA in Costume Design and she's walking around all proud and relived, making people call her "Master" and stuff. It's funny. I'm SO PROUD of her I could just explode.
But then it was like time sped up or something. All of a sudden there we were, Chrissymine and me, on a redeye to camp, hurtling toward daylight. And now we're here on our first full day. The rest of the counselors don't get here until Tuesday and the kids don't arrive until a week from Sunday, but we have a lot of preparation to do before everything really kicks in, so it's good we're here early. I haven't actually been down to the circus lot yet even though I've been on camp for about 24 hours. It's always nervewracking, that first walk down there. Stuff breaks over the winter and the guy who sets up our fly rig sometimes forgets and leaves things undone, so I have to go down and survey the damage, if there is any. Hopefully everything will be fine.
Chelsea isn't with us this year, unfortunately. I made a huge error in judgement that ended with us choosing a Delta flight only to find out a few days ago that Delta sucks and wanted to charge us a total of around $1000 to take our dog to and from camp. I could have avoided this outcome if I had done all of my research two months ago when we bought the tickets, but I didn't and now we're here without her. Our friend/angel Skorstad has her in Seattle for the summer. What we did to deserve friends like that is beyond me, but she's a lifesaver.
So that's my update for now. Not terribly exciting, I know, but that's how it goes sometimes. Today is a big day for physical and emotional adjustment. I think I need one more night of sleep before I truly feel like myself again. I hope to be good about blogging this summer, but I said the same thing last year on my old blog, and I ended up writing maybe three times the whole summer! Maybe this year will be better because I know people will actually read it!
Down to the circus lot with me to see what I can see...
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