Oak Ridge

sunday. june, 16

At seven o'clock Emily's alarm rings in the bunk above me. She shuts it off and groans. I feel it too sis.

I roll out of my bunk and use the bathroom, admiring my dark circles and bed head in the mirror. I allow myself time to quietly get ready for the day before getting the girls up. I know at seven-thirty the bell will ring to signal that breakfast is ready and I'm not trying to miss it.

I know that this is my girls' first camp so I try to be gentle as I go bunk by bunk waking them up. Emily goes a little rougher, but she's definitely not a morning person.

"Okay gals I know it's early, but we let y'all sleep a little later than usual because it's the first day. Breakfast starts in twenty minutes so let's all get ready," I announce.

The first girl out of bed is a seventh grader named Lauren. A few more campers roll out and climb down moaning and groaning. Emily sits back in her bed going over her schedule and I would do the same, but it's my day to make sure the other cabins are up.

Across the path, I bang on Scotch Pine's screen door and receive a shout from Princeton assuring me they're up. Next I knock on Dogwood and Myles gives me a good morning at the door. Across from them, I open the door to Sugar Pine and greet the high school girls who are mostly done getting ready.

By the time I make it back to my cabin and look over my schedule, the breakfast bell rings and we make our way to the mess hall.

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"Okay girls so every day, this will be our meeting spot," I say, gesturing to the lake sign. "So if I tell you guys to meet me at our spot, where do you go?"

"The lake sign!"

"Thanks," I smile and look down at my schedule. "Okay so each day we'll have two challenges. One after breakfast and one in the afternoon. Our team will compete against Chase and the Lightning. Our first challenge will be on The Field and it's literally glorified ring toss, okay?"

The girls nod and I explain how to play. They seem to understand so I hope they remember.

"Now here's the important thing. We are in the mountains so the air is thinner. If you ever feel like you need a break go sit down in the shade. But I cannot stress enough the importance of staying hydrated this summer. The closest hospital is like forever down this mountain so let's not pass out, okay?"

The girls nod and agree so we start to make our way across campus to The Field. We pass both junior and senior teams on their way to the woods for their morning challenge. I'm so grateful I don't have to handle that. Team-building obstacle courses are not my thing.