I miss camp. That sounds really lame, but there's something you need to understand. I've been going to the same camp since I was six years old. I love everything about it. I love meeting new people, and really, the whole summer camp experience in general.
Summer camp has always held a special place in my heart. It's my "Narnia", if you will. Whenever I tell someone about how awesome it is and how much fun I have there, the person I'm talking to never fully understands how much I love camp, or how special it is to me,or why I miss it so much. People like my sister or my camp friends, however, know exactly what I mean when I say, "I miss camp!" They know how much it hurts to be away from "home", and it truly is my home away from home. I remember the first year I joined marching band, I told my friends, "I don't know,I'll have to think about it and see when I'm going to camp" and I distinctly remember one of my friends saying, "Easy. Just don't do camp." I was about ready to smack him in the face because no one, I repeat no one, talks about camp like that. I don't just "not go to camp" one summer, that's out of the question.
Just like Peter Pevensie struggles with the fact he's not a king in the real world, it's hard to come to grasps with the real world when I'm not at camp. At camp, I can be as ridiculous as I want,and no one would think I'm one bit crazy, because everyone is mad at camp. Not necessarily to the degree the Mad Hatter from Alice in Wonderland is, but let's be honest; you have to be a least a tiny bit insane to go to camp in the first place. But when I come back from camp, there's suddenly so much more to worry about. I have to balance between marching band, chores, and who-knows-what-else. I have to be quiet and rational. Apparently, breaking out into random bursts of "I Have Been Chosen," or, "Froggy" is not socially acceptable.
I've been having a bunch of weird dreams about camp lately. That's how I know when I miss camp the most is when I dream about it the most. There's one I remember very specifically from a few years ago that was particularly strange. It was probably the most terribly horrific dream I have experienced. I was at camp (given), and someone had given me a French horn. Of course, I was extremely excited because I love French horns a lot. However, this one did not work at all. And I was so sad, I started to cry. There was also a clown present for some unexplained reason. He was probably there to bother me because I have a strong disliking for clowns. And the person who gave me the horn was laughing at me because I was attempting to play a horn he knew would not work. It was traumatic.
Anyway...
The dream I had the other night was more normal than the previous dream I described. My friends and I were hanging out, and we were having a grand old time. That's what made me realize what I miss the most about camp: all the friends I've made throughout the years. I really hadn't made any lasting friendships at camp when I was a camper, mostly because I was only there for a week, and I never saw any of them again. Except for, of course, my friends who went to camp with me, but I guess that doesn't really count because we went to school together. Actually, I don't think I ever went to camp alone until my sophomore year in high school. The reason for that is, my freshman year in high school, I became a Youth Servant Leader (YSL). Apparently, this position is the equivalent of what other camps call a "CIT" or a "Junior Counselor" or whatever. Anyway, my freshman year, I met a bunch of really cool, enthusiastic people, who were just like me. When I came back the next year, a bunch of the same people I met the previous year came back. It's like we're a family. No, we ARE family. And I wouldn't have it any other way.
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