TO EVERY SEASON

After more than 100 days at camp, I was very excited to return home to Washington only to find myself back in Maine last week, equally excited to be back! While it was awfully quiet there, it was also incredibly beautiful, peaceful, and a great time of year to tidy up and make our off-season construction plans as we begin to close down for the winter.

Being able to go back and forth to Maine over the past two years, and having now visited Somerset during every calendar month, is a great reminder of how fortunate we are to enjoy the changing seasons. Yes, the winters are harsh and the springs are muddy. (Spoiler alert: I would strongly discourage installing underground electrical lines in April). But then, like flipping a switch, summer just appears and before you know it the buses are rolling in. While those months that we have our camp community together clearly reign supreme, September is pretty magical too and provided one of the best sunsets of the year (see above).

The changing seasons are also a reminder that the year can feel long and waiting for camp, however difficult it might be, requires great patience. It’s certainly hard for all of us right now when this past summer feels so close in the rearview mirror and next summer still feels so far away. But all we can do is focus on having the best year possible…to be a good daughter, sister, student, teammate, and friend…the same things we try to focus on while at camp.

No matter how hard we wish for it, every day is not spent in the warm 80-degree sun with a cool lake breeze, surrounded by the best friends in the world. But, in time, we’ll be lucky enough to return to and grateful enough to savor it.

-JH