I sit here writing this as I watch rain come down outside. At this time, it is only sprinkling, but it is the after-party for the pouring rain we got yesterday. In actuality, however, it ended up being my favorite day of Mountain Camp yet, although my hopes of being the hero of mountain camp were snatched from me.
Since the other half of staff had their day off, from 1:00-5:00 it was "adventure day." This meant that the kids signed up for an activity for all of that time. My activity to do was fishing, but about 45 minutes into our trip we were told to come in because the storm was moving in quickly. I got my kids in, and on the way was told to go back out and pick up the 26 kayakers from the other side of the lake (which would have been my shot at glory, and becoming the savior of camp). When i got back, however, Andy Hancock (waterfront coordinator) told me to take care of things on the shore while he went and saved the stranded kayaking children (stranded, starving, frozen, any other over-dramatic phrase you would choose). Dammit all!!!
My shot at glory now gone, I did have a chance at redemption, when I went out with some other guys to get the sailboats that had to be abandoned at the shore at various places around the lake. I was told to take a Hobie, put the sail up (a sail that had been ravaged by the wind) and sail it back to shore by myself. I have never sailed by myself.
However, thanks to my newfound sense of...i dunno...doing things on my own? I was able to rig the boat and sail it safely back to camp, all on my own doing.
And so, because of me, the young lads and ladies of mountain camp can live to sail another day. Just another day in the life of a humble hero.
--Andy
(A special thanks to my Grandfather, Tom Rosenberger, for my flair for the dramatic, and my other grandfather, Ed Martin, for the one small gene of my DNA that allowed me to figure something out on my own)
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2 comments:
I mentioned your adventure to Frank He came up with something profound or at least I thought so. He said it it is much better to be looked up to rather down on. He went on to explain with the Swift Boaters, Ann Coulters self appointed moral police of the conservative right it makes it tough to be a hero---it's the little efforts that make the most impact. Makes a lot of sense to me. Damn he as well as yourself makes me proud as well as gives me hope for the future. Always to to do the right thing---you'll always be somebody's hero. Remember it's the little things.
Sorry about the seriousness tone of this post, but your adventures and Frank's observation moved me
Mr Barnes
I'm with Mr. Barnes. There's no job too small. As long as we have people willing to risk life and limb so that kids can sail, I'll sleep better at night.
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