Sunday Salon -- Church Family Camp

First annual SOTH Church Family Camp at Millersylvania State Park Retreat Center

Weather: Weather this weekend was lovely (see photo collage) with clear blue skies in the day and starry nights. Today, however, is another story -- grey, cloudy with light rain.

Church Family Camp, a personal history -- I cut my eye-teeth on church family camp. My dad, a campus pastor, would often take groups of students to church camp during the summer. My mom, a nurse, would come along to serve as camp nurse and so us four kids would tag along and join in the fun. I have very clear memories of my parents dressing up in costumes for some evening program at Camp Lagawa in Southern Oregon and helping my dad and a student crew open up Camp Loon Lake for the season by clearing brush and setting up teepees. For many of my teen years our whole church would gather at Camp Magruder on the Oregon Coast every Labor Day Weekend, where we not only ate and worshipped together but also played together. It was at one of these family camps where I took my first (and only) ride on a donkey and it didn't end well for me. I loved family camp because I, a kid, not only had a group of friends to pal around with all weekend but I also got to know many of the adults in my church as people. I also discovered a truth often spoken about in the Bible -- God often feels closer to us in nature. This led me to to seek out other camping opportunities often at church camps for teens and pre-teens. Read about those experiences in my blog post here: Wonderful Remembrances and a Blessing.

Church Family Camp, cont. -- After Don and I got married and started attending our current church, Shepherd of the Hill Presbyterian Church (SOTH), we started attending the yearly church camping trip to Grayland State Park on the Washington Coast. Unlike the previous church family camp experiences of my youth, we actually camped -- tents, sleeping bags, cooking on camp stoves, etc. -- but our neighbors on either side of us and in many of the campsites at the state park were from our church. When the kids were little they would run from campsite to campsite, playing with other children with adults, who knew and loved them, keeping an eye on them at every spot. We had sand castle competitions, volleyball games, and worship services -- all on the beach. These are some of our happiest church-y memories.We camped this way for years but then the reservation system for Washington State Parks changed and we could not get campsites next to each other any longer and, as happens, our children grew up. Eventually our congregation abandoned our annual church family camping trips.

Church Family Camp, this year -- This year a team of interested persons from our church decided to resurrect the family camp. A site was selected which is another state park but with a retreat center. Like the Camp Magruder experiences of my youth, we stayed in cabins, had a lodge to gather in, ate food cooked in a kitchen which we all shared. The days were filled with recreation opportunities, nature walks, volleyball games, and small group bible  studies and prayer sessions. You see from the collage there was boating and campfires. My grandson was an instant pro on the paddleboard. He started on his knees but was soon up on his feet with no lessons. Other than sleeping on bunk beds in musty sleeping bags I didn't remember we had, the weekend was so fun. My favorite part was the discussions we had with different individuals and groups. At one point Don and I took our folding chairs down to the lake, found a spot in the shade, and had long, meaningful conversations with whomever walked by or sat with us for a while. Our youngest grandson, Jamie, exclaimed, within an hour of arriving at camp, he wants to come again next year. That's the spirit!

Gary, Linda, Don, and I at a Mariners Game this past week.

50th Reunion fun extended -- This was the summer of both of our 50th high school class reunions. In preparation for and during the event I reunited with a special high school (and junior high) friend, Gary and met his wonderful wife, Linda. As we were chatting about our lives we discovered we were both Seattle Mariners baseball fans. When we discovered that Gary and Lina had never been to a home game at T-Mobile Stadium we extended an invitation for them to come up and join us for a game, spending the night at our house. They accepted the invitation and this past week came up for a memorable experience. The game turned into a defensive battle which went into extra innings as the score was tied at the end of regulation play. The game was finally won by a pinch-hitter who came into the game and hit a home run on the first pitch to him in the 13th inning! We had so much fun! Even though Gary and I have known each other since 7th grade, we've now extended out friendship to include our spouses.

Books and blogging:  I'm still working on the same books as last week with the exception of the two books I finished this week: How to Solve Your Own Murder by Perrin which I rated with 3.5 stars and Isola by Goodman which earned a 4 star rating from me,. The other books I'm still working on:

• There's Always This Year: On Basketball and Ascension by Hanif Abdurraqib -- A memoir of sorts. I identified this as one of 2024 best books. The writing is spectacular. Audiobook with Don. 74% complete.
• Northanger Abbey by Jane Austen. My 12-page-a-day classic book also part of Austen 250 Challenge. Print. 30% complete.
• The Personal Librarian by Marie Benedict. A selection for tomorrow's book club. About the personal secretary of JP Morgan who, in 1910s, was a black woman passing for a white person. Audio and print, I am devoting today to finishing this book. 74% complete.
• Shackled: A Tale of Wronged Kids, Rogue Judges, and a Town Who Looked Away by Candy Cooper. A nonfiction YA books about judges who send children to prison for money in a Kids for Cash scheme. Terrible! Print. 26% complete.

Blog posts this past week you may have missed:

• Short reviews: The Serviceberry; The Vegetarian; Death in the Jungle (about Jonestown and Jim Jones)
• TTT: Literary Villains
• Review: The Names

8 and 5. Pokemon and Hot Wheels.

Today, Monday, we celebrate the birthdays of our two grandsons: Ian turned 8 on Saturday and his brother, Jamie is 5 tomorrow. I'll circle back and include a cake photo if it turns out any good later this evening. Jamie started school, pre-K, this past week. This photo, taken by his dad shows him walking down the hall with his special friend, Bruce, in his backpack. 

Late: I had intended to post this entry yesterday, Sunday, after we got home from camp but I was too pooped-out and I gave up halfway through the journaling and went to bed.

Have a good week!

-Anne