This morning, I was supposed to be leading a group in Sunday chapel service. At one point in my life, when I was in my late teens and early twenties living and learning as a children's summer camp counsellor, I led this part of the week every Sunday......with a little help from my friends of course.
Some of those friends have gathered this weekend for a reunion..........at another camp site in eastern Ontario owned and operated by one of our very own. Close to 50 people, camp counsellors of all ages, all of whom lived and worked and grew up on the same camp menu as I did, albeit some at different times over the course of a 40 year timeframe made the trek to hang out together. Due to the circumstances in my family life (my husband is doing very well and has physically recovered almost completely........thank you for all of your concern and support) I wasn't able to make it this time. Next time..........next time.
Needless to say, I may be physically present here in my home sitting at my computer, I am emotionally and spiritually at Camp Otterdale, and will "be" with them in that capacity as they gather together to give thanks to life and friendship. The theme of the chapel today is "Moving Forward......" My intentions as to how I was going to organize the service were cast aside and instead I sent the following offering on how music is the force behind our past, our present and our future............how it ties us together in feeling and kinship. I want to post it today to share with you as I believe some of the points I have made are universally felt. I also wanted to share this with any Camp Kawabi kindreds who just may stumble across this blog looking for a bit of nostalgic resonance.
It should be noted that as camp counsellors, we all had nicknames.........all of which have their own stories behind the naming. Mine was Muskie. Yes, there are a handful of people who know me as that and not by my real name. In fact, when I was speaking to a few old buddies yesterday, Muskie was the nom de plume. Actually, I am much more Muskie than I am anyone else..........but that's for another post. So, the names in this piece are nicknames.........
My heart is definately elsewhere this morning.........enjoying one of the most meaningful renditions of what camp was all about..........found in the shared faith of Sunday morning chapels, in the middle of the gathering of friends.
_______________________________
Musical ties that bind.
As I was driving to work the other day, I popped in a new CD my husband had given to me the night before…..John Hiatt’s latest offerings. As soon as the first guitar chords filled my van, his voice starting singing an upbeat folksy tune, I found myself transported right into the heart of the song like it was a familiar old sweater….. like I had worn it before. And yet, it was brand new. How could that be?
By the middle of the song, I was singing the chorus. The words and the tune found me because it had the perfect combination for a great Kawabi classic…….of summer listening in the Hub, in a car on a day off, during a late night campfire in the lodge on a cool August night. Of course, my first act when I reached my office was to scribble out an email to Skagg to ask him if he had heard it yet. I didn’t even have to ask if he liked Hiatt. I just knew he would. I just knew.
I remember a few years back, I was standing in my kitchen making Sunday dinner, listening to Neil Young’s, Harvest Moon, another Kawabi classic that was recorded LONG after I had spent my Muskie summers on the shores of Big Hawk Lake. And yet………there I was physically standing in my kitchen, but emotionally, spiritually…………? I was swaying to familiarity on the front porch of the infirmary….with Luten and Fastback during work crew in 1981?? 1981?? Amazingly, I automatically felt a tie back to a relaxing evening long ago after a hard day of completing jobs around camp.
Music can be timeless.
Music lifts us out of the dust of everyday life and allows us to FEEL a thought. Not only that, it allows us to experience the same emotions, which are also timeless. People everywhere are the same in heart and spirit. Music threads our hearts together, no matter how distant the space is between us……no matter when. We live in a sea of constant change, while trying our best to “live in the moment”….a song, a tune, even just the right note helps us take a step into our own rhythm, where eternity meets us in the present. It is that feeling which allows us a glimpse to seeing music as the common denominator, as the means to which we connect in spirit.
There are two sensory triggers that pull me back to Kawabi in a flash…….the fresh scent of pine is the first one. No matter where I am when I inhale that aroma, it fills me with a smile and a clear picture of walking up the path from the girls tentline for dinner after a sunkissed busy day.
The second trigger…………? An old song, whether it was one sung after dinner with gusto, or one played on the tapedeck in the craft shop, or a rockin’ tune at a dance, or whether it was a hymn sung during Sunday chapel……….a song from my days as a camper and counsellor envelopes me with sweet memories. I think we all share these two triggers. Some of the songs may be different but the flow back in time is the same, isn’t it?
Music IS timeless……..
It is the golden thread woven into the tapestries we continue to create of our lives lived…. It is the constant that links us to our pasts, that enhances our present, that is anticipated in our future. What I find so interesting is that there are some songs like the John Hiatt song, the chorus by the way begins with the line………”old days are coming back to me……” capture a past thought and feeling so vividly! Amazing.
These two triggers……….the lovely scent of pine and the kind of music which stirs my Kawabi memories are two of the reasons why I have found my home in the Maritimes. All around me is the fresh air pine…………….all around me are songs that could easily be strummed and sung around a campfire with a bunch of Kawabi kindreds. Music is in the fabric of this part of our country…….and NOT just the fiddling kind! Folk songs, the ones with the catchy kitchen party feel to it are here in abundance. And one of them, written by a local Fredericton guy named David Myles floated to the surface last year, won an international award and captured my full attention. I loved it the very first time I heard it.
The first Kawabi person I shared it with was Daisy………I just knew he would LOVE it too. Not only did that, he quickly learned the chords and the lyrics as we plotted to present it to you at chapel today. The second person I shared it with is my dear friend Skagg, who due to circumstances will be going it solo! You know, this song is meant to be in the hands of Skagg……….
It is my hope that this tune will be added to our ever growing Kawabi songbook which contains the golden threads from our personal tapestries……….a song sung in the present, and hopefully for your future enjoyment when you find yourself on your way to work one day in need of the feel of a familiar sweater. May you find yourself this morning enjoying a heart and spirit moment together when eternity touches down on the present as you sing along. I will be singing along too.
By the middle of the song, I was singing the chorus. The words and the tune found me because it had the perfect combination for a great Kawabi classic…….of summer listening in the Hub, in a car on a day off, during a late night campfire in the lodge on a cool August night. Of course, my first act when I reached my office was to scribble out an email to Skagg to ask him if he had heard it yet. I didn’t even have to ask if he liked Hiatt. I just knew he would. I just knew.
I remember a few years back, I was standing in my kitchen making Sunday dinner, listening to Neil Young’s, Harvest Moon, another Kawabi classic that was recorded LONG after I had spent my Muskie summers on the shores of Big Hawk Lake. And yet………there I was physically standing in my kitchen, but emotionally, spiritually…………? I was swaying to familiarity on the front porch of the infirmary….with Luten and Fastback during work crew in 1981?? 1981?? Amazingly, I automatically felt a tie back to a relaxing evening long ago after a hard day of completing jobs around camp.
Music can be timeless.
Music lifts us out of the dust of everyday life and allows us to FEEL a thought. Not only that, it allows us to experience the same emotions, which are also timeless. People everywhere are the same in heart and spirit. Music threads our hearts together, no matter how distant the space is between us……no matter when. We live in a sea of constant change, while trying our best to “live in the moment”….a song, a tune, even just the right note helps us take a step into our own rhythm, where eternity meets us in the present. It is that feeling which allows us a glimpse to seeing music as the common denominator, as the means to which we connect in spirit.
There are two sensory triggers that pull me back to Kawabi in a flash…….the fresh scent of pine is the first one. No matter where I am when I inhale that aroma, it fills me with a smile and a clear picture of walking up the path from the girls tentline for dinner after a sunkissed busy day.
The second trigger…………? An old song, whether it was one sung after dinner with gusto, or one played on the tapedeck in the craft shop, or a rockin’ tune at a dance, or whether it was a hymn sung during Sunday chapel……….a song from my days as a camper and counsellor envelopes me with sweet memories. I think we all share these two triggers. Some of the songs may be different but the flow back in time is the same, isn’t it?
Music IS timeless……..
It is the golden thread woven into the tapestries we continue to create of our lives lived…. It is the constant that links us to our pasts, that enhances our present, that is anticipated in our future. What I find so interesting is that there are some songs like the John Hiatt song, the chorus by the way begins with the line………”old days are coming back to me……” capture a past thought and feeling so vividly! Amazing.
These two triggers……….the lovely scent of pine and the kind of music which stirs my Kawabi memories are two of the reasons why I have found my home in the Maritimes. All around me is the fresh air pine…………….all around me are songs that could easily be strummed and sung around a campfire with a bunch of Kawabi kindreds. Music is in the fabric of this part of our country…….and NOT just the fiddling kind! Folk songs, the ones with the catchy kitchen party feel to it are here in abundance. And one of them, written by a local Fredericton guy named David Myles floated to the surface last year, won an international award and captured my full attention. I loved it the very first time I heard it.
The first Kawabi person I shared it with was Daisy………I just knew he would LOVE it too. Not only did that, he quickly learned the chords and the lyrics as we plotted to present it to you at chapel today. The second person I shared it with is my dear friend Skagg, who due to circumstances will be going it solo! You know, this song is meant to be in the hands of Skagg……….
It is my hope that this tune will be added to our ever growing Kawabi songbook which contains the golden threads from our personal tapestries……….a song sung in the present, and hopefully for your future enjoyment when you find yourself on your way to work one day in need of the feel of a familiar sweater. May you find yourself this morning enjoying a heart and spirit moment together when eternity touches down on the present as you sing along. I will be singing along too.
here is the song for your enjoyment...........please feel free to let it rip!.........xx (ps, the man accompanying Myles in the video is Thom Swift who is another local musician. He has his own solo album out, and is also a member of a well known band in the Maritimes especially called Hot Toddy.........a bluesy feel to this band......AND I was at this particular concert.........can you hear me in the chorus??)
David Myles performing at the songwriters circle during the East Coast Music Awards. My kids and I had front row seats!!
6 comments:
I have "warmth in my heart and a smile on my face" Although I did miss Chapel today, I Chapelled on my own at the Cathedral of Santiago de Compostella (extraordinary - although a little different from Kawabi)
It is so good to read that all is so well on the home front.
España es glorioso (de nuevo) - el vino y la alimentación son sorprendentes. La Rioja, Tarragona, Valencia, Andalucía, Ribera del Duero, Galicia - todos en 10 días.
"Margarita"
(Hmmm....maybe I should just stick with "Daisy")
Thank you Muskie for letting me have chapel with my Kawabi friends way up in Sudbury! I was also not able to be at the reunion this weekend. Friday night was our Relay for Life - the largest event in Ontario - with over 200 teams. We walked for 12 hours through the night to honour those we have lost to cancer and those who are in the midst of the battle.
At 10:00, we lit over 4000 lumiaries - each in memory or in honour of a cancer victim. The best part of the evening was when 2 young girls were playing near the luminaries - the younger girl was running toward them and the older girl grabbed her arm, stopped her and said, "Stop - those are people" - how true. Those "people" lit our way all night long. It was a very emotional night.
And now, this morning, thanks to you, I was able to enjoy Sunday chapel with my Kawabi soulmates. I know we will get together soon - as soon as you fly home, we'll get together and reunite the Skagg, Zoff, Luten, Muskie day off gang!!
Keep writing Muskie - your blog inspires and comforts me every morning. I read your beautiful words everyday before heading off to school.
Take care and keep in touch
love
wasabun!!
p.s. i walked the relay for life with Andrea Fraser who wanted me to say hi to you!!
SMALL WORLD!!
Daisy........may you continue to sip el vino throughout your travels in order to find perfection.
Thinking of you this morning. One day, we will get together and belt this one out.
ps. Margarita?? I love how you are in touch with your feminine side so clearly. You make me laugh.
Wasabun....I can see you walking the route lit up by lovelies. It's a beautiful picture you have drawn here. Lest we forget.
yes, we will most definately get together, whether its this summer or in the fall when Luten can check out of Otterdale and join us. My GOD that will be fun! Perhaps that will be the next time I pull an all-nighter.....laughing and snorting with you.
The biggest blessing about the closing of camp is that we are all connected again after so many years. You know how I feel about reconnecting with you.........now onto the live and teary reunion. xo
ps. Andy Fraser? Send her a big hello back! I havent seen her since high school. wow!
You really must try and go see the welsh springsteen if you can....
was listening to prairie wind just the other day - can't beat a little bit of mr young on a lazy summer day with a cold beer or 3
paul...there are only two acts i really want to see and never have.....Springsteen and U2. on my wish list.
comes a time is still my fav. young........stirs many memories.
Its good news to hear that your experiences as a summer camp counselor exposed you to a venue such as this one to perform to the delight of many. Having a good, solid foundation is key to anyone who has dreams and aspirations: Especially when it benefits others like yours does on a daily basis.
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