No, this was not pre-scheduled. It's coming to you Live From Camp.
I'm having a great time, and I APPRECIATE all of you who dug through your desks for stamps, envelopes, postcards, stationery, etc. I've been receiving mail regularly... and much of it has been from you guys!!! IF you wrote to me, and didn't include a return address, please email me your address. I will write you back! rarichards68 at gmail dot com.
Thanks!
I pulled some pics off of Google to show you just a tiny bit of camp.
This is a photo of the glen.
Yep, we have a river with a waterfall here. When I was a camper, there was a cabin at the top of the hill. (It's since been torn down and removed to the "back 40" where all good cabins go to die.) An open air pavilion now stands where my beloved cabin used to be. I loved sleeping there because you could hear the water at night. Ah well, it remains a precious memory.
I've been teaching Air Riflery this summer. Three classes first week of camp. Only one class this week, so I've also been assisting on the .22 range. I'm impressed by what good shots we have on the .22 range. Younger girls take Air Riflery, and it's really a struggle for them to get the mechanics down. AND the guns simply aren't as accurate. Still, it's been fun.
I found this picture also on Google. This lovely young lady was actually in my Air Riflery class first week.
I'm consistently impressed by the graciousness of these young girls. They have been a delight to be around. I think maybe it's doing stuff like this that keeps a person young (at heart).
Spiritually, this time has been replenishing. I'm very thankful I decided to do this (even though it was a bit scary since I'd been gone so long). I'm coming to (finally) accept that everything happens within God's purpose and we all are where we're meant to be, even when that place is less than comfortable. God will always bring us back when we decide to listen.
You can still write to me. I would love to hear from you!
Robin Richards (aka Mergan)
Stony Glen Camp
5300 W. Loveland Rd.
Madison, OH 44057
I'll be here until Aug. 1.
I'll leave you with our Theme Song for this summer. The song is We Are and our theme is SHINE. It's a sweet sound when you hear 100+ voices singing this one around a campfire...
Since I'm still at camp, I'm not going to burden you with a Battle of
the Bands post. I have no way of listening to your posts. I'm out of
(internet) for the rest of the month. If you missed the post in which I
begged and pleaded (not really, but I am now!) for letters, here is the
address at which you can write me:
Robin Richards aka Mergan
Stony Glen Camp
5300 W. Loveland Rd
Madison, OH 44057
What
is a Mergan? It's short for merganser, as in duck. One of the things
every graduating CILT (Counselor In Leadership Training) member does is
pick a Bird Name. Yeah, a Bird Name. Well, I didn't want to be left out
of that fun. No was was I going with "Robin," so for the weeks I'm at
camp, I'm Mergan. I will be at camp until August 1. I hope to hear from you:)
Okay, so I totally skipped an important aspect of my personality that hit epic levels my sophomore year. For the record, I can't blame this on my parents' divorce or anything really. It was all ME.
I was geographically challenged. Always. I got lost in my hometown when I first started driving. Fact.
So, when Erika and I roadtripped to New York for the Fall Break I really should've known better than to attempt a solo trip from her home town to Princeton, NJ to visit one of my best high school friends. Erika's father gave me directions. It consisted of approximately four turns (or interstate changes). He said it was easy. Easy peasy.
I guess I blew by one of my exits and missed a crucial interstate junction. Missed it. Didn't have an atlas to correct the problem. Didn't really know I had a problem until I reached a sign indicating I was going through the Lincoln Tunnel into NYC.
Yep. The Freakin' Lincoln Tunnel. Into NYC.
I knew that was WRONG.
And that was when I hit the anxiety pedal hard. If you've never seen someone go from mildly upset (thinking that maybe, just maybe they've gone awry) to a full blown panic attack, I can assure you that switch flips in one second, so I was in full meltdown by the time I pulled up to the toll booth. Oh yeah, I was gonna have to pay to go to a place I absolutely did not want to go. The gal in the toll booth got the shock of her life when I pulled up. I could barely talk through the sobbing. I told her I was lost. I wanted to go to PRINCETON.
She said this was not the way to Princeton. I was going to New York City.
"But I don't wanna go to New York City," I howled.
She said, "Well, you're not backing up." And then she waived the fee and waved me on through.
I came to an intersection with the option of left turn (bad), right turn (bad), or straight into a parking garage. I opted for the garage. But parked right there on the sidewalk. No way was I getting lost in a parking garage. Still wailing, I crawled out of my car (really didn't ever want to get back in, but didn't want to stay either!). The parking attendant approaches me with trepidation (as well he should've) and I tell him my tale of woe with a plea for directions.
He says, "No habla Ingles." He politely waited until I detailed the problem in full before making this pronouncement.
No habla Ingles. Oh crap. But he said he'd find someone. At least, I was pretty sure that was what he said because he came back with a guy who spoke some English. And we worked it out in sign language and pig latin what my problem was. The solution was less clear. The upshot was I missed my turn. Shocking, I know.
I went back through the tunnel and finally made it to Princeton and my friend, turning a three hour trip into a five hour nightmare. (This trip is significant because for YEARS any time I would get lost I would downshift into full blown panic, whether it was reasonable or not. It would take a job requiring lots of travel in unusual places to cure me of this crazy phobia.)
Back to the story... So, I pull into the campus parking lot and my friend comes out to greet me and she says, "Thank God you're here. You wouldn't believe the day I've had!!!"
Well I came home
Like a stone
And I fell heavy into your arms
These days of dust
Which we've known
Will blow away with this new sun
But I'll kneel down
Wait for now
And I'll kneel down
Know my ground
And I will wait, I will wait for you
And I will wait, I will wait for you
So break my step
And relent
You forgave and I won't forget
Know what we've seen
And him with less
Now in some way
Shake the excess
And I will wait, I will wait for you
And I will wait, I will wait for you
And I will wait, I will wait for you
And I will wait, I will wait for you
Now I'll be bold
As well as strong
And use my head alongside my heart
So take my flesh
And fix my eyes
A tethered mind free from the lies
But I'll kneel down
Wait for now
I'll kneel down
Know my ground
Raise my hands
Paint my spirit gold
And bow my head
Keep my heart slow
'Cause I will wait, I will wait for you
And I will wait, I will wait for you
And I will wait, I will wait for you
And I will wait, I will wait for you
Have you ever been really, really lost? How did you react? Did you get over your fear of being lost?
If you're enjoying these posts, feel free to share your own
Soundtrack. This isn't a hop. No requirements at all, but a suggestion
to do it one song at a time. (If you participated in the hop several
years ago, you can still do this. Just post them one song at a time,
with the freedom to add more songs if you'd like.) I'll link to all
participants at the bottom of each of these posts:
First up, Battle of the Bands results. The song was I Believe It
(Delicious Surprise) and the contenders were Beth Hart and JoDee
Messina. How did you guys vote?
Beth Hart: 8
JoDee Messina: 16
As
for me, my vote is for JoDee Messina. So, my vote doesn't change anything but extend the margin of JoDee's win. I simply love her version of this song. I love it best
kicked up to max volume riding down the road and singing at the top of
my lungs. But, that's just me. All I really want now is a handful of salvation! I believe it!
If I didn't vote on your Battle this time, do not despair. I'm not boycotting you. I'm just Super Busy visiting relatives (who I don't see but once a year... maybe) and my Internet time has been severely limited. Vacation and blogging don't go so well together, but things will be back to normal come mid-August.
So, what was the first big surprise of junior year?
J1 came back. Yep, shocked me into speechlessness (and that doesn't happen often!).
I was living off campus with Jennifer the Second and some of her sorority sisters. School just started, and I was trying to lose this strong southern accent I picked up after working all summer with Louisiana people. I'm horribly empathetic and will adapt other people's accents (obviously) amongst other things. So, there's this knock on my door and it's J1. Yep, he tracked me down.
I know that you guys are dying to see him, so I'm going to share a couple of pictures. Just know that it wasn't all smooth sailing (as you might expect). We actually had a rough take-off. I think that sometimes happens when your gut is telling you "this is the real thing." That stuff is scary.
Here we are:
You know this is Serious Romance. Not everyone gets a TRAIN song... plus the lyrics are PERFECT.
When you met your first (possibly only) Big Love was it smooth sailing? Or did you take a few steps forward and back before things really started to roll?
If you're enjoying these posts, feel free to share your own
Soundtrack. This isn't a hop. No requirements at all, but a suggestion
to do it one song at a time. (If you participated in the hop several
years ago, you can still do this. Just post them one song at a time,
with the freedom to add more songs if you'd like.) I'll link to all
participants at the bottom of each of these posts:
Before I get down to the battle, I want to let you know some Big News...
I'm going back to camp!!! Yep, you read that right. Remember my post of not so long ago about the camp I grew up at (the song was Linger)? Well, I decided to go back and see how I did with it. I'm not going to have internet for three weeks. Well, I might be able to do some quick stuff on the weekends, but largely I'm going to be Unplugged until August.
If you've ever been to camp then you know the BEST time of the day is when mail is delivered. I plan on taking stationery (I know I have some!) with me to reply to letters. That said, since I will be missing your blogs sorely, I hope that you'll consider writing to me. (If you are out of ideas on what to say you can print off your blog and send it.) I think we all need to write more letters. Seriously. I really do think that! Anyway, from July 8 until August 1, you can write to me here:
Robin Richards aka Mergan
Stony Glen Camp
5300 W. Loveland Rd
Madison, OH 44057
What is a Mergan? It's short for merganser, as in duck. One of the things every graduating CILT (Counselor In Leadership Training) member does is pick a Bird Name. Yeah, a Bird Name. Well, I didn't want to be left out of that fun. No way was I going with "Robin," so for the weeks I'm at camp, I'm Mergan.
Also, this is a Traveling Day for me. As is tomorrow. (We are traveling from FL to OH) And then my brother and sister-in-law have Big Plans for the 4th of July weekend. We haven't seen them in a year, so everyone is pretty excited. What I'm trying to say here is that I will make every effort to visit all BoTBers before you close out your voting, but if I miss your battle, you know why. Vacation!
Now, let's get on with Battle of the Bands, which for the first time in months isn't merging with my Soundtrack posts. Although, I was looking for a Soundtrack song when I thought of this one. I'm not going to give you the story, but it was for junior year of college (whew! we finally made it out of sophomore year!) and there were still a whole bunch of surprises. I'll bring you the first big surprise with my next Soundtrack post and BoTB results post on the 7th. Then I'm outta here until August, so I won't be participating in Battle of the Bands on the 15th or visiting blogs past the 7th... no internet.
Holli over at Holli's Hoots and Hollers posted her Power Song here. If I had to choose a Power Song, I do believe this would be it. There is no other way to listen to this one than LOUD.
The song: I Believe It (Delicious Surprise).
The contenders: Beth Hart vs. JoDee Messina
So, let's get on with it!
Here is Beth Hart:
Here is JoDee Messina:
We've got so many new Battle of the Bands players that I'm having
difficulty keeping up. (We post a new battle on the 1st and 15th of each
month.) For those who've been following this feature/blog for a while
now, can you believe that once upon a time -- for a long time-- there
were only five of us??? Well, now the list grows each battle. So, if
your name is not on here and you're participating, please leave me a
message in the comments. Thanks for your patience!
Also, please vote for the version of this song you prefer. If you
want to get into the Ins and Outs of why you like one better than the
other... I LOVE long comments!
For more Battle of the Bands fun, check out the other BOTB bloggers to vote on their battles:
