11 more sleeps........waiting for the "Happening"

I am feeling like a little girl waiting for Christmas Eve to arrive. You know that butterfly feeling of wishful anticipation.........can't sleep well, all bubbly with excitement? That's how I'm feeling, and I'm pretty sure I'm driving my family and friends crazy. Why? What's up?

Well, in 11 more sleeps, I'm heading to Toronto to take part in a weekend long celebration with a whole slew of old friends, some of whom I havent seen in 20 plus years.

After 40 glorious years, Camp Kawabi, my home away from home for 12 glorious summers, is closing it's doors. As much as it saddens me that Camp won't be in full swing this summer, and this chapter is ending on an excellent era run, this ending has definately kickstarted a beginning. Living in the Maritimes, busy with a family, a career and other odds and ends, I had let all of my connections with camp slip away. I hadn't been in touch with anyone consistently except the Directors for a very long time........ until last summer when a reunion was held at the camp.

Right after that, we all received notice that they were retiring and not selling. Rather, they were shutting the camp down and settling on the property. A website, and an organizing committee was established to plan this month's big bash. And, over this past winter, as I continued to pursue my rediscovered joy of writing, I actively reconnected with old friends, met new friends who were on staff years after I had been there and realized again that I was a part of a very special group of people who had similar roots.

The website became an addiction that I wholeheartedly embraced, as one by one my friends signed on...............women whom I had shared whole summers in the same tent with.........counsellors that were my role models when I was a little one sitting around the campfire or in a canoe..............campers who were in my group, year after year while I led them on various adventures through their early adolescence..................dear friends that I ran camp activities with, went on days-off with, learned how to drink and smoke and party with..............anklebiters (when I was there) who grew up, who had the staff torch passed onto them, and are now new friends.....................all signed on and began a winter/spring long catch up conversation. We have shared our heartfelt feelings about Kawabi...............the touching moments of quiet talk under a starry sky by the lake.............the raucous parties during the changeover time between July and August camp............our insights, and shared understanding that this place somehow always felt like home.

Like all of my friends old and new, I always felt a strong attachment and sense of belonging to this place.

So, over the next week or so, chances are I will be writing about this place as I wait for "The Happening." Because, right now, my head is full of marshmallows, goofy songs, googly eyes and pipe cleaners, craft shop tales, canoeing moments, swimming horrors, and nostalgia. 11 more sleeps.......................and I will find myself in a throng of over a hundred and fifty kindreds...................all with big smiles on their faces, and adolescent hearts...............!!


mmmmm I want to linger.................mmmmmm a little longer..................