I Wanna Dance With Somebody

Hello ladies! Tis a fine night in Wenham-- the sunset was like "cotton candy," as a fellow staff member put it. Bettina, one of the junior counselors, and I were trying to start a water balloon battle but the fun was ruined when a big group of our staff opted to go see the new "Batman" instead. But no worries, I had great success in starting a water balloon fight a couple weeks ago, although it evolved from water balloons to cups of water to full pitchers of soapy water:) It was definitely the highlight of the summer so far.

Being the Adventure Camp chef has been such a blessing. Every day is so rewarding, between the hours of dinner prep and the satisfaction of sitting down to a meal with such a rambunctious crowd at the end of a long day. One of the best parts is when people start dancing spontaneously in the kitchen during kitchen duty. My Romanian pop has been a big hit, and just yesterday evening we were doing the "Cha Cha Slide" during dinner prep. It was pretty chaotic.

The picture above is the Giant Swing, my favorite Adventure Camp activity. You're pulled up 50 ft by the rest of the group, where you then pull a cord and swing back and forth through the trees! Oh it's so much fun! Sarah did it for the first time today and she was cringing the whole time, her eyes  shut tightly as she squeezed the rope. I love seeing people's reactions.

A group of us had a cookout at Gull on the 4th, complete with roasting brats over a fire, reading historical speeches from atop the picnic table, and noodle hockey. I'm really thankful for this opportunity to be apart of a new community and get to know people I never would have met otherwise. Everyone has different eccentricities that come together to make one lively and vibrant community. But it's definitely not perfect.

 Sarah was ready for action, bringing out her wild, mischevious side that we all know *wink wink*

 Sarah and I spent one Saturday evening in Rockport and then ate dinner at the Lobster Poole, where it's BYOB:) We then witnessed a splendid sunset at Plum Cove Beach. We shared our life stories over lobster rolls and hard cider. I think we learned a great deal about each other that we did not know after these three years at Gordon together. I have enjoyed our pillow talks and sharing with one another about the different challenges we're facing in our respective positions. I'm learning just how much wisdom and discernment is necessary when striving to be a good leader. There is so much to take into consideration-- disciplinary measures, the line between treating people like children and treating them like adults, when to be firm and when to be understanding, etc. I'm learning to be a better communicator and to be more honest in the moment rather than hiding my frustrations.

I'm not looking forward to the summer ending and being torn from yet another community in which I've begun to put roots down, but I'm excited to be returning to the wild and wonderful, spunky and spontaneous community that is YOU LADIES! We should start a bucket list for our final year at Gordon... I hope all of you are being stretched and filled up in this summer before our final year. I've thoroughly enjoyed reading about everyone's adventures.

Much love from Gordon.

sage, SAGE!

Schmello all my dear and wonderful friends! Guess what - I'm all done! My farm-hopping, road-tripping extravaganza has come to an end, and alas, I am back in gloomy (truly) California. It seems as if June Gloom has decided to linger for a while, and thus we are lacking sunshine and heat. What a world. I hope those of you caught in the heat wave are staying cool and have no problems with power outages, lack of air conditioning, etc.!

My trip was excellent. I feel as if I've learned so much and I just don't know what to do with all of it! Every place was so different and I'm so thankful to have had the opportunity to be apart of this! I think I'll break it down into weeks to make this a bit easier:

Week 1: I drove up to Canada and stayed with the Keesmat-Walsh family on their homestead in Ontario. They had a rather large piece of land with a nice sized garden, a hay field, a barn (for two horses and some ducks), a chicken coop full of chickens that had some genetic disorder which caused them to have bare bums, barn cats and new kittens (!), beef cattle and a very nice dog named Shadow. The family was so great (they greeted me with a cup of earl grey!), and so were all the interns at the house. With Sylvia, a professor of Neensy's in Belize, we talked all about the history of the relationship between man and land, and she gave me a slightly overwhelming bibliography of titles to catch up on. Sylvia and her husband Brian have two daughters, and their 13-year old, Lydia, and I got a long very well. I'm hoping to visit them again soon!

Week 2: From Canada, I drove to New York and stayed at an empty farmhouse for  a night before driving on to Camden, NJ. This was probably the most difficult week of my trip. Camden is a low-income neighborhood just across the river from Philly, with lots and lots of environmental issues. The city receives a ton of sewage from surrounding counties daily which really affects the community there. I met up with a lady named Andrea who is doing some really great things as the employee of the Center for Environmental Transformation. There are a few gardens around the city, but she mostly works in a small garden in a community park, and in a greenhouse with some students after school.  She's very different from anyone I've encountered before and our discussions about violence in the community, ecofeminism, and a lot of other variables really challenged me. Sometimes it's hard not to feel the weight of the world when you're learning about so many of the injustices that take place each and every day. While there, I got to sit in on a meeting with the Department of Environmental Transformation which was pretty cool. 

Week 3: From Camden, I drove down to Annapolis to meet up with a certain, wonderful someone for the night! Woo! Nina met me at his house and we caravan-ed to Virgina the next morning. I'm so thankful for her, goodness. After a couple weeks of meeting new people in new places, it was nice to have a bit of familiarity to be, unpack, and think with. I was at her home for a day or so before she gave me directions to Shalom. There, I stayed in a Thoreau-ish cabin with Shalom's intern (Lauren), swam in a river in my underwear, read some Wendell Berry, drove stick-shift, and ate lots of blackberries! Steve, le farmer, is really, really great. I wish I had another month or two to really sit down and talk to him, rack his brain about theology, community, the church, and other hot topics. Neens came to volunteer a couple days while I was there and together, in the heat, we had some breakdown and crises, haha! But it was all really great to say the least. 

Week 4: This began with an extended weekend back at the Voli place, from whence I drove down to North Carolina. This was the greatest place to end my internship. Dave was my supervisor for the week and he and his wife (both Gordon grads) are so, so great! Dave was super intentional about making sure my last week was meaningful by giving me space to ask and discuss some major questions that the last few weeks had prompted. Everyone else at the garden was super great and, again, I wish I could have stayed for another month. There's so much to tell still, but I don't really know what else to say.

I'm back in California with these muffins, feeling restless and trying to keep myself occupied. Suburbia is weird. Can't wait to be with you all again soon! I hope that summer is shaping out to be excellent for all of you ladies. Miss you lots!

xoxo

HV