Goodbye (for now) to Ranch Camp

Today is the last day of Ranch Camp.

Fifty-six teenage campers are packing to go home, most of them worn out from a full week of swimming, kayaking, helping in the barn and gardens, blistering heat, and what might well be the very best "End-of-Camp Dance" party ever last night.

Even more worn out are Marci (Camp Director), Robert (Camp Manager), Keith (Camp Chef), and the counselors and CITs who made it all possible.  It's always tough to pull together enough good staff to make it through the summer, but we were blessed to do it.

They're all looking forward to some R&R before moving on from Ranch Camp 2011.  But they're also kind of sad now that it's all done. 

But, as Marci said, "I've really missed our Ranchers during camp."

Not that they weren't around.  The Ranchers helped out at camp, and in addition kept on working their jobs while camp was going on, but there's no getting around the fact that their normal routines were seriously disrupted for the seven weeks that Ranch Camp took over the Ranch.

We'll talk about that as we debrief from camp next week, but for now we're just saying Thank you Marci and Robert, and Counselors, Wranglers, Lifeguards, Ranchers, Cooks, CITs, and all the Down Home Staff staff for a job well done!

You are all treasures and the people who make Down Home Ranch what it is.

It's been amazing.

Warm nights and soft guitars at camp

Sterling sings about his life at Down Home Ranch

Where did the week go?  Seems like the campers just got here.

After opening camp at 105 degrees, we were surprised by gorgeous rains Tuesday night, well over an inch, and even more important, the temperature dropped about ten degrees, which feels like early spring at this point.  And all of this on the first real day of summer!

Lots of great stories coming out of camp.  For one, Jerry reported, after having attended the evening party, that Sterling had taken the mike and begun singing his story to Stu's guitar accompaniment:

Judy and I have been at this for 20 years now, but tonight I saw and heard something I’ve never experienced before.
It is Tuesday, second day of Ranch Camp, and I got back from Austin about 3:00 pm. I picked up the Nikon 5000 and started roaming around taking some long and short photos: at the pool, in the Pavilion and elsewhere. I went home for a bite and then joined the crew at dusk where Joe and helpers were using a b-b-q to make smoores. The two guys on guitar—counselors during the day—were strumming Christopherson and Stones favorites.


I had taken a lot of pictures and was about to leave when I heard this voice, Sterling’s voice. He was singing, or rapping in melody, a song: the Cowboy Melody. He was on the mike, next to the lead guitar. It was his song. His alone. The two guitars played background but it was Sterling that spelled out the lyrics, the story, the song. I could not believe the innovation and lyrical consistency. It was, for me, truly captivating and moving. God that we had captured it. Perhaps there is a story behind this that I don’t know, but even if there is I cannot but be in awe of what I heard and saw tonight.

 Unbelievable.

He sang/created a song about Down Home Ranch that Willie Nelson couldn’t surpass.

Lord!

Training week...time for Ranch Camp!

Casey & Barry provide orientation for Ranch Camp

Hoo boy!  Training week has begun for camp staff.  Everybody's excited and tired, exhililarated and rattled.  I know the feeling well.

Marci, Camp Director

Marci, bless her, is our Lead Teacher and Service Coordinator.  She has also taken on the duties of Camp Director for the next several weeks.  I bought her a British poster that says: Keep calm and carry on.

Is there a choice?  Not really.

I ran camp for years and, true to form, those things you fear the most never happen, and those things you never dreamed of do.  Sometimes I guess they could coincide, but we have been blessed for them not to, and I expect this year will be no different.

Robert, Camp Manager

The mood in the Pavilion is full of youthful energy as staffers ranging in age from 13 to mid-20s take on the awesome task of caring for, guiding, and entertaining 60 campers for a fully week.  They're a bit nervous, especially those who don't have a lot of experience with people with disabilities.

This is where our Ranchers come in. 

The Ranchers, who live here year round, know the ropes, and they are able to both mentor the new staff and reassure them about the characteristics and capabilities of the campers they will serve. 

It's an invaluable role, and one in which the Ranchers appropriately take pride.  They're full partners in this enterprise.

And it shows.

Improv at the Ranch, wanted or not

Sterling tries to make Kyle laugh

I told Marci, who has bravely agreed to take on the 17th summer of Ranch Camp this year, that I wanted to start spending chorus time on coming up with games, songs and activities that we could try out to use during camp on the Ranchers--you know, see what works and doesn't work.

Well, I yesterday I had a particularly creative bunch of Ranchers to work with on this project, none of them willing to "color between the lines," so to speak.

Our first little game was "Poor Kitty."

Couldn't be simpler! Participants sit in a circle, and "Kitty" crawls from person to person looking pitiful. Kitty can meow, purr, hiss, and pretend to bare her claws at you or try any anything else she thinks might make you laugh.

Your job is to sit stone faced through it all and not laugh. If Kitty makes you laugh, you lose and you then become Poor Kitty.

Well, this was a short-lived game because the members of my gang can't sit straight faced through anything. The minute I (as Kitty) approached Sterling he broke into a huge grin and started laughing, almost falling off his chair.

"No, Sterling, you try not to laugh," I said, breaking out of my role for the moment. "You can't even smile or you lose."

Sterling tried to make a straight face but failed utterly so he now became Poor Kitty.

On all fours he approached Kelly, who looked away trying hard not to smile. Kitty meowed at Kelly, but she held fast for a second or so. Kitty got right in her face and hissed menacingly.

"Oh," she cooed, "what a cute little kitty you are." She then planted a big kiss on his face and started to laugh.

Enough of Poor Kitty! I moved on to "Doggie, doggie, find your bone!"

"Doggie" has to stand in front of everyone else while his bone is given to one of the participants. Then everybody calls out "Doggie, doggie, find your bone!"

Doggie then turns around and approaches the one he believes has his bone and barks. If Doggie is right, that person must give him the bone and now becomes the new doggie. If he is wrong everybody chants "Doggie, doggie, find your bone!" and he continues until he finds it.

Kyle retrieves his bone from Alaina

Kyle proved especially creative on this one. Doggie not only barked, he scratched fleas vigorously, shook hands, and relieved himself on imaginary fireplugs. When admonished not to do so he approached his girlfriend Alaina, licked her face vigorously and then barked.

Kyle retrieved his bone from Alaina

"Okay, okay, guys," I said. "Let's try something else!"

"No, I want to be the Doggie!" said Alaina. So the bone was hidden again and everybody chanted, "Doggie, doggie, find your bone!"

Alaina turned around, got down on all fours, and immediately succombed to hysterics. This set everyone else off and they all collapsed on the floor, howling with laughter, and reprising Kyle's clever ploy with the fire plug.

Method acting at the Ranch

Maybe next week. I'll be careful to make my selections a bit more thoughtfully.

"Go now!"

Session 1 of Camp is over and I went to closing Saturday morning.

I didn’t know as many of the camper families in this session—which was for teens and young adults—as I usually do. Most of the campers Miss Gay and I worked with the first 12 years of camp are now attending the adult camps.

But it’s fun to meet the parents and hear the stories of what they did the previous week. It's not unusual to hear that  Ranch Camp marks the first time ever their child has stayed overnight away from the family.

I remember when I took daughter Kelly to Camp Allen for the first time prior to her attending with all her buddies from our little church in Taylor. I wanted her to see where she would stay, show her where she’d eat, swim, do crafts—anything to help ensure a success for her first big adventure. She was eight that summer, but physically and functionally more on the level of a five-year-old, so there was reason for concern!

As we approached the commons area of the camp area her group would use Kelly scampered ahead of me and was halfway up the stairs before I could call out to her, “Hold on a minute, baby girl!”

At which she stopped in her tracks, whipped around, glared at me, hand on hip, and said firmly, “Not a baby! Just a girl!”

Properly chastised, I allowed her to explore her new surroundings without interference from me.

A week later, Jerry loaded the car with all the requisite items for a week away from Mom and Dad and headed back to Camp Allen. Kelly’s cabin was nestled high in the tall pines, up a flight of open wood stairs, which she took two at a time to the top and quickly laid claim to her bunk.

As I helped Kelly make up her bed and stow away her gear, Jerry cased the area for a place to hide out and spy throughout the coming week (his new plan, or so he claimed.) By this time I was comfortable that our girl would do fine at camp, but he had yet to be convinced.

Kelly, however, sat on her bunk with her little legs dangling down and brushed her hand toward us. “Go now,” she said firmly, pointing toward the door.

We imposed kisses on her freckled little cheeks, and instructions upon the counselors, and dragged things out as long as we could before heading for the car.

I had looked forward to my week off from mom duties, but instead found myself disoriented and missing my little sprite something awful. Jerry felt the same. We morosely ate supper and wondered aloud how things were going.

The following Saturday we were up at dawn and at Camp Allen before the campers had even finished breakfast. Kelly was mildly interested in us, but much more so in her friends and counselors. She sang the camp songs with gusto and fervently hugged “Mother Lacy,” the Episcopal priest who served as chaplain for that session, before consenting to get in the car and come home.

Once home she fell quickly back into her routine, but we saw big changes in our girl. She had lived life for a whole week without Mom and Dad overseeing every aspect of it. She’d made friends and scared the lifeguards by jumping right into the deepest part of the pool before they’d had a chance to assess her swim skills.

She’d let her counselor comb out her long hair without protest, done her crafts as best she could, and handled her grooming about as well as the other girls in her cabin seemed to have done.

It was her first glimpse of the possibilities of life outside the home, and she loved it.

At Ranch Camp closing on Saturday, I overheard campers telling their parents, "I want to come back again next week, Mom.  I don't want to go home!"

Charlie informed me that he planned to graduate next June, and then would be here to live full time.  I took Charlie and his mom and dad on a short tour of the Village.  Alan showed them around the interior of Barnabas House. 

This is the sad part of Ranch Camp.  So many want to live at the Ranch, but so few ever will.

But it's something to think about.

The Campers Are Here!

The campers are here! The cars came rolling in starting around 3:30 Sunday afternoon. Our staff and friends saddled up to greet the families and entertain them while waiting for the gates to open wide and the wild rumpus begin!

Week 1 is for teenagers and very young adults. It was great fun to see friends who haven’t seen each other in a year fall into each other’s arms.

Despite some rainy days, the fun continues unabated. Every camp director worth his or her salt knows a zillion ways to keep campers entertained indoors, and Denise and her formidable crew of counselors are no exception. Skits, karaoke, line dancing, crafts, games, sharing tables—not to mention mealtimes—are all popular pastimes.

Today, though cloudy, is basically dry, and campers had fun working with the mini horses and donkeys--the ones with four legs, not the stick ones in the dining room used for Western skits!

Tomorrow, incredibly, is their last full day. I say incredibly because camp did not flow so quickly when Miss Gay and I were the ones running it day after day. In fact, we always told the staff to expect Monday to last approximately 72 hours, after which things would move briskly by. Nurse Linda confirmed that yes, Monday was a long one.

Tomorrow evening Ranchers will join campers for the Dance. Oh, how everyone loves the Dance! If you’re ever in the neighborhood drop by. We guarantee you’ll have a great time.

One reason is, you’re required to!

We tolerate NO wallflowers among the staff. Everyone must dance, and everyone discovers that even if they didn’t feel like dancing, glory be—they’re having a great time and now you do.

And when’s the last time you danced to our all-time favorite: Y-M-C-A?

Only nine weeks to go, and lots more tales to tell.

Rancher Camp

Tuesday and today the Ranchers have been training the incoming counseling staff for Ranch Camp.  They do this by being "Campers" for two days, and they take their job very seriously. 

We do, too, even paying them their regular wage to do it.

Everything happens that will happen at regular camp in order to give the camp staff the experience.  Of course, our guys are such old hands at this (almost all began their relationship with Down Home Ranch as campers) it's really easier than getting a brand new--and much larger--group of unknowns each Sunday afternoon, but a rehearsal's a rehearsal, and every bit of experience helps.

First there's check-in--lice check (eeew!), medications turned in, ID bracelet put on.

Then there's all that gear to stow away somewhere, bunks to be picked out and made up, too.

Best of all is the chance to make some new friends.

After everyone's settled in and getting to know one another, it's time to go swimming, do crafts, have dinner and and watch the skits the counselors have been working on all week.

It's fun, but that's not to say some folks don't miss their regular bed and in-room TVs!

Up in the morning, it's time to go fishing.  The stories are good, as usual, and they weren't all about the ones that got away, either!

Later in the morning, there was the nature walk.  Most campers agreed it was a lot like working in Gardens--hot, sticky, and buggy.

In fact, when ask what kinds of wonders were seen on the nature walk, most everybody answered, "Ants."

Sure enough, Michael (below) brought back ants and their project for the day, a deceased caterpillar.

We talk a lot about hydration in the Texas summer heat, and many Ranchers now have "camel packs" strapped to their back. 

Here Sterling gives Kelly a sip of water from his.

Chris takes the stage during the pre-lunch break, giving his famous rendition from the Lion King.

While the Ranchers have been masquerading as campers, direct-care staff has been attending two-days of intensive training.

Tonight after supper, everyone will go home, have a shower in their own bathroom, and settle into their comfy rooms for the night.

Tomorrow, they're off to Morgan's Wonderland for the day, accompanied by students from the Texas State University Department of Recreational Therapy.

Friday, it's back to normal, picking the last of the berries, cleaning up after the horses, and cleaning the buildings to get ready for the real Ranch Camp. 

The Campers Are Coming! The Campers Are Coming!

As Denise reminds us every time we see her, there are only 27 days left until Ranch Camp begins. In June the first 50 or so campers of the season will tumble out of cars, vans, and buses, ready for a week of fun, friends, and activities.

Ranch Camp doesn’t get the respect it deserves. Naturally we tend to focus on our Ranchers; this is their year-round home, after all. But camp was our first program, created out of nothing in ’95 because we knew residency was still years away and we desperately longed to begin actively working with those we planned to serve.

Why camp? How important could a few days away from home in the country matter  much in the grand scheme of things?  You'd be surprised.

 I’m the one who pushed for camp, and I can testify to that, because when I was a kid, my camp gave me a vision and saved my life and sanity.

Shortly before my ninth birthday, in April of 1951, my father committed suicide after years of struggling with alcoholism and failure.

Like most such families, we lived in chaos, never knowing what to expect.  My grandmother, concerned about me in the aftermath of this tragedy, asked if I wanted to go to a girls’ camp in the Kerrville area for part of the summer. I don’t recall what I answered, but I wound up going to Camp Arrowhead for 5 ½ weeks, the first of several years I would attend.

What most kids learn in a family, I learned at camp—to trust the people in charge of my well-being, to follow rules in place for my own good, to relax in the company of friends, to be given the resources to learn new things, to know what to expect from day to day.

We ate in the “Filling Station” and got doctored at the “Pill Box.” We drew names to see what tribe we would be in (Pawnee or Kickapoo) and competed throughout the term for points to win a plaque.

We went to vespers on Wednesday evening and chapel services on Sunday. In the evenings we watched movies on the lawn and ate mountains of watermelon. I sang with the Pawnee Chorus and still sing the songs we learned.

I loved camp. I lived for camp. Even today, when I’m feeling stressed out, if I take a few minutes and think back to those warm sunny days spent on the banks of the Guadalupe—my holy river—I calm down.

So I know, deep down, how much camp can mean to a person. Even though we only get our campers for a week at a time, Denise and Don make sure they get the heart of the Ranch Camp experience--the friendships, the silly songs, the comforting routines, the chance to find out what you're really good at.  For a precious week, our campers build memories of happy times.

It’s their special time, their own retreat.  And it deserves all the respect we can give it.