postcard from the edge, vol. 1

" when true simplicity is gained, to bow and bend, we shan't be ashamed, and turn, turn will be our delight til we end up in the place that's right..." so goes the first week of camp with the campers in tow. the last three weeks have been so full of so many things. i think i've laughed and cried a little bit everyday. oh, and i had to get a tetanus shot today. i got a real beauty of a scrape all down my right shin when i fell out of my kayak, and since the guadalupe just isn't as clean as she used to be, nurse katy thought i needed to get a stick. my arm hurts, now, as well. but at least i won't be getting lock jaw anytime in the next ten years. or diptheria. it's good to have my bases covered. camp is a hoot. i saw a kid try to stick a whole water bottle in his mouth tonight. i have had to ask campers to put on more clothes, to stop touching each other, and to get off their cell phones. granted, i've had to ask that from a couple of my staff members, too, so i'm just thankful no one is pregnant, yet. what is it about freaking church camp that makes people want to do smootching around in the bushes? someone should bottle and sell that--they'd make a mint. i got to take one of my staffers to the er in kerrville, today. it was large. he's a funny kid. he actually leaned over at one point while we were waiting for the doc to read his x-rays, and (this was unprovoked, totally, i swear, because contrary to popular myth, i don't really talk about farting with anyone outside of close family and friends...) and farted ON me. not at me, not in my general direction, but ON me. oddly enough, we've been working on a nature trail on camp property and laying down cedar posts, which is exactly what this fart smelled like. and i told him so. he agreed. oh, and tonight, i had my first serenade. this is a very big deal at camp. my guys' staff came over and sang me a song before i went to bed. they sang me "drive on" by jack ingram. great song. i cried while they were singing, because i am a total push over for nice things. and they said they loved me when they left. it's good to be loved. my return key is stuck again, so i'll shut this day down. life is good. i'm glad i'm here. it's time for some advil for my arm. tomorrow is dance night, which translates into a huge dose of birthcontrol for yours truly. how any of us managed to become modrately functional adults after the horrors of adolescense is beyond me...i can already smell the old spice and the hormones, and the dance is still almost 20 hours away. geeze, oh man. oh, and congrats to esteban, who finished his first marathon on sunday. i love you! and happy late birthday to beano. i owe you a phone call. and you too, anna. and you too, moo-moo. mil besos--rmg