Chuch in the Tree House

So another week is starting at Twin Lakes with Camp Kudzu which is for kids with juvenile diabetes. My cabin is great (11 year old girls) but that is not what this entry is about. It’s about something new to staff: Church in the Tree house. Reminds me of that old tune “Church in the Wildwood”…

As staff, we typically have to meet on Sundays around 11-11:30 am to get schedules and stuff for the upcoming week. Unfortunately, all the churches nearby start their services around 10:30. Too late for us to go! So some people decided, why not do our own kinda church? And that’s what we did tonight. With no lights in the tree house and starting at 9:45 at night, it was dark and a little creepy walking out there. But when we got there I found that I really enjoyed the little light that we got from flashlights. It all seemed more reverent to me.

It is so easy to just get caught up in everything that is going on around us. Even at camp there is so much to do, and in the back of all of our minds there is so much to worry about. Tonight was perfect. Too often we don’t have time where we can just breathe and be at peace, and for me that’s what it was. Not only was it wonderful to hear everyone else’s thoughts and stories, it was a great time to relax and just remember that we aren’t alone. I am the type of person who if you push me to do something I will just push back harder, and it was good for me to have a relaxed evening to slowly let my doubts fade.

Because church can be anywhere and with anyone as long as they believe.

feel the rhythm, feel the rhyme

Camp Braveheart ended today. It was a good week though! Like every camp should, it ended with the dance, probably the highlight of everyone on staff's week. I mean I loved dances as a camper, but they are SO MUCH BETTER a adult. Why? Because camp dances are full of young love and heartache and crazy dancing. Girls getting flowers, boys dressing up to impress the ladies... all at a camp dance. At least one couple cried because they had to leave each other this morning. :( Adorable as always, we said goodbye to the kids after a last song set by the CeeTLes after breakfast.

So I promised more info on the CeeTLes... basically we are the coolest band ever. At the moment there are 5 of us (although special guest performers are always welcome). We are: Jamie on guitar, Joanna on keyboard, myself on the djembe, and Melissa and Grace singing! Jojo and I sing too sometimes! Thank you Beth for giving me the confidence I need to pursue my drumming love. Look out next fall for me to take over drumline! Haha jk, jk. So I learned this week that little kids LOVE, i mean, LOVE djembes. And they want them for themselves. I had to distract/fight off/etc multiple little girls from stealing my drum! One 7-year-old was PARTICULARLY difficult. During a few songs I got her to play with me, but sometimes she was a little too crazy! Got through it though. I'm glad I play such a popular instrument! But anyways, we play camp songs (our own versions and remixes) and try to play the songs that are most popular among the kids! We mostly succeed.

Continuing on this drumming tangent of mine... Tuesday night we had Drum Cafe come to camp. they. were. awesome. As a percussion lover myself, I quite enjoyed the festivities even though they arrived late. It was 3 guys, one from South Africa, one from Jamaica, and an older guy from West Africa. For starters... their drums were SO COOL!!!!! and I want one. The two younger guys had these jumbo djembes (love the alliteration) and one had a shaker attached to it, and the older man had three drums attached to each other that he played with sticks. The coolest thing about this was that everyone, every camper, counselor, staff member, etc got to play their own drum. Throughout the night they added in some different instruments as well. The kids who were awake for it thought it was pretty cool. The drummers talked a lot about how drumming is used in Africa and how anyone can make music and be a drummer (everyone's a drummer mt friends!!) It was a great evening program this week. After it was over, a few of the CTL staff hung out on stage with the guys to help them pack up and just talk. Of course, music nerd that I am, I ran on stage and thanked them and told them how cool their drums were. And I very sneakily touched one! haha. They would be so cool to just jam with. I would very much like to do that one day. The older gentleman told us about all the different places he had been to all over the world. It was pretty cool to hear those stories. i can't wait for them to come back! maybe i will muster up the courage to ask to play one of those drums... for more info: www.drumcafeatlanta.com

bottom line.... music is the best and it brings so many people and different abilities together!

Caaaaaaaaaaaaaaaamp!!

Yay summer! Wow I have not been on here in a while. Not much internet access at camp! So now that I am at camp…. I am going to make all my updates about that! No camper names will be mentioned (for confidentiality purposes). Not only is this for me to keep a record of everything that happens, but also to let everyone know how awesome it is!! And, well I really suck at keeping in touch with people over the summer. Not much free time! But that’s okay with me!!

What camp do I work at? Only the best: Camp Twin Lakes!! A camp for kids with life challenges and serious illnesses. There’s a new camp pretty much every week! We cover kids of all shapes, sizes, and disabilities. I am at the Rutledge site, but I went to Will-a-way during staff training!

What do I do? I am on the arts and music staff leading drumming, radio, ceramics, improv, and dance sessions. I am also in our ballin band, the CeeTLes playing drums (yes drums. Right now just a djembe) and whatever else. A post dedicated to the band will follow!

What’s new? My nametag says “LeeLee” not Lelia. Let’s face it, it doesn’t quite look like it sounds and this is MUCH easier for kids to say! And lots of them say it all the time!

This week is Camp Braveheart, which is for kids with congenital heart defects and transplants. The campers are between 7 and 13 years old. They got here Sunday and tonight was the TALENT SHOW!! Let’s just talk for a moment about how incredibly cute all the kids were doing their respective talents. Outside my cabin buddies (cabin 8 what what!) I have to say that my favorite act was a group of 7 year old boys doing magic tricks! You could not take the smiles off their faces throughout the whole thing! There is a girl in my cabin who is always in her own little world (I have 12 year old girls this week) and when she got up to sing, it was a whole new person! Everyone was in shock. She was hamming it up like nobody’s business. I could go into exact details about every act that I remember, but to sum up the talent show I will say this: Justin Bieber’s “Baby” or whatever it’s called is OFFICIALLY the most popular song of the summer.

More later, but for now I leave you with the saying on the back of our 2010 staff shirts: There’s a camp for that. And there is at CAMP TWIN LAKES!!

Song of Songs

Rise up, my love, my fair one, and come away.
For, lo, the winter is past,
the rain is over and gone;
The flowers appear on the earth;
the time of the singing of birds is come, and the voice of the turtle is heard in our land Rise up my love, my fair one, and come away

le mo ghrása mise agus liomsa mo ghrá
i am my beloved's, and my beloved is mine
-Song of Songs

Goethe

A man sees in the world what he carries in his heart.

-Goethe's "Faust"

state radio

gosh I love music. it just has such amazing power to make you feel differently and think differently. lately many band have taken a more political stance to their music. I call it 'when good bands go political' because not many do it well. they just don't have the power and ability that bands did in the 1960s. well I found one that does. More than political, they sing about personal experiences, injustices that they have witnessed, problems in the world, etc. and they actually DO something about it.


if you have heard of dispatch (which I have and LOVE) and were upset when they broke up, it's okay!!! the singer of dispatch, Chad Urmston, started this new band: State Radio. they have a lot of the same style of songs as dispatch. every style. Their songs range from ska and reggae to alternative, from slow to "raise yer pints" drinking songs. and EVERY song is about something they have seen, heard about, or known. the music: chad's voice is great. clear, not whiny, strong and powerful- this is the kind of voice that should be the head of a band. not only does he have a great voice, but he can change his style of singing to fit the style of the song. the other two members, Chuck Fay and Mike Najarian, of the band are talented as well. The band has 4 albums out now, and all can be found on itunes!! All of the links below are to songs that I don't just like but love! If you are more of a pop fan, I suggest listening to "Right Me Up" more than the others because I think YOU will like it the best.

• "Knights of Bostonia"- http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4OcaK2THE-Q&feature=related
• "Right Me Up"- http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Jza3P3PBeQ4
• "Gang of Thieves"- http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Hvm3FqtrmJw&feature=channel
• "Camilo"- http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7BkvRnUZJys&feature=fvw
  

the message: like I said earlier, most of their songs have some political motivation behind it. DO NOT let that make your opinion. They make wonderful songs; great music, and when it comes down to it.... that's all that really matters anyway. "Right Me Up" is about a friend of theirs with a disability, and "Camilo" is about another friend who served in Iraq.

the activism: this band practices what they preach!! not only do they talk about injustices in their songs and say that they support things, they do them. On their last tour they made it a point to do a service project in every town they stopped in, whether it be serving food at homeless shelters or building a playground! And they always want their fans to do the same. They encourage them to not only hope for and want change, but to BE the change they want to see. for more info: www.stateradio.com/about

bottom line: CHECK THEM OUT!!! it will really be worth your time!

Look well to this day!

Look to the exhortation of the Dawn!
Look to this day!
For it is life,
The very life of life.

In its brief course lie all the verities and realities of your existence.

The bliss of growth,
The glory of action,
The splendor of beauty;
For yesterday is but a dream,
And tomorrow is only a vision;
But today well lived makes
Every yesterday a dream of happiness,
And every tomorrow a vision of hope.
Look well therefore to this day!
Such is the salutation of the dawn!

-Kalidasa