Regular Tuesday on a Camping Trip

Every year, Otter Beach School goes camping at Johnson Lake. For the past four years I have been accompanying them. It's a sweet and sour camping trip. It's sweet, because Johnson Lake is so nice this time of year, without people, there is tons of nature. The loons and Arctic terns in the lake are beautiful. The eagles sit in trees right above camp. The kids are safe in that environment and are enthralled by the small things like frog eggs. The sun was shining and all adults were lured to nap in the sun.

The sour, it is cold and every year I leave there sleep deprived. In years past, I've had kids wake me up shivering so hard I thought their teeth would break. I've had one kid refuse a pull up and then wake the others up with the wet. It's painful even for the adults because you know that regardless of how little you drink before bed, the atmosphere inside a tent forces middle of the night longings to pee. But who wants to get up in the night when it is 30 degrees out to pee? Certainly not me.

This year I was not able to sleep over at the camp, ("It's a small job ~veggie box delivery~ but it's my job! Sorry I can't stay!") and I was better for it. Sleep deprivation has become the fast way to send me to the loony bin. I wondered how it would be taking Marina away from all that shivering. But I was willing to risk it.

Marina and I arrived Tuesday morning. We lead a group in fairy house building. Then I helped kids prepare lunch. Then I had a very funny coffee with Theresa (Mystique's mom). I am dying to hear about her time as a crab boat cook when she was 19! Not a story for small children's ears, I'm sure. Then I was back to fairy house building.

You know how some boys make a gun out of anything they can find? Mine makes fashion girls.

Tip for camp leaders (Dee, are you reading?): Fairy house building was a total smash. Each kid ended up making something fabulous for the fairies. We used natural and man made items and the kids were so creative that the meadow at Johnson Lake is now full of fairy hospitals, fairy art museums, fairy stages, hot tubs, apartments, mansions, even an old folks home. It was great.

After fairy house building was dinner preparation and eating.

This is the fairy theater where the young fairies perform the Nutcracker.

Then a virtual campfire with songs and skits. Then Marina informed me that she would rather not stay at the camp, that she would prefer sleeping at Mema's Shack! Hallelujah! I love this girl! I was tired when we left the camp at 10pm, but having an entire uninterrupted nights sleep made up for it. Sunset, 10:20 on the road back to Homer. Mt. Illiamna in the distance. (I am quite positive I spelled Illiamna wrong.)