Monday, July 9, 2012

Farm Camp!


I just found these photos on a disc. I had thought them lost. This was the crew at Farm Camp in the summer of 2006. All but two of these kids are headed to college or are already there. One of these boys guest starred (with his dad) in Showtime's Nurse Jackie this season. Two others are in a band that has been playing in rather major places lately. And one of these girls, the one on the far right, is planning to own her own food business one of these days. 


They did farm chores in the mornings, planting and tending various organic edible growing things. They also had to clean out the cow stalls, feed and water all the animals, and milk the cows. They cooked and ate what they grew and consumed the milk they collected, the apple cider they pressed, the bread they baked, and poured the maple syrup they tapped from trees on the farm over their morning pancakes.


Rumor had it that they also cleaned up their rooms, but I was never too sure about that. 


In the afternoons, they went to the lake. 


They jumped off the lifeguard post and generally had a ball.


Back at the farmhouse, they experimented with contraband makeup (the girls are 12 here) and put on impromptu plays and performances.


They dried their swim suits and towels on a line strung across the porch. And preened. 


They also built things.


And went camping.


And rocked in hammocks.


And had cosy talks around campfires.


And went to the ballgame.


And painted signs. (There's the kid who grew up to play a green haired teen addict in Nurse Jackie. He did a very fine job.)


And waded in freezing cold rivers when it was getting dark. 


And went bowling.


And played baseball. And laughed.


And fell out exhausted on every bus ride.


And slept in huddles, creating bonds of friendship that would prove when they scattered to different high schools, and now to college, to be loving and generous and sure. 

25 comments:

  1. age 12 to 18. i think that's the heartbreaker. even more than 1 to 6. theyre still even willing to sit on your lap when theyre 12, if no one's around....even boys, altho dont ever tell anyone i said that.

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    1. susan, our son, age 20, still greets his dad with a hug and bends his head so my husband can kiss it. touches my heart, every time.

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  2. Farm camp sounds like something my youngest would love. Would you mind emailing me and letting me know where it is? Or perhaps we've already been through this? It rings a bell!

    Those photos are so wonderful --

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    1. Elizabeth, the farm is part of my daughter's k-8th grade school. Starting in 2nd grade, classes would spend a week there each season during the school year and those who wanted to would also go to farm camp for 3 weeks in the summer. I've written about it before, that's probably why it rings a bell. The farm is in upstate New York, in the Catskills. All these kids in the photos went to school together and had the farm chores down since second grade. There are other farm camps through that are not school based.

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  3. Farm camp- now THAT's an idea I can truly get behind. What a wonderful and amazing idea!
    Your daughter. She's just. So beautiful. Through and through and through the ages.

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  4. Love these photos! And truly, my Girl is totally using your daughter as an example. Wait until you see my post on Wednesday!
    m.

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    1. Mark, the braids! that summer ritual! We are parenting the same child!

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  5. The school sounds wonderful. would that all children could attend such well rounded good schools.

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    1. Kristin, it was a wonderful school, and it was especially right for my daughter, who was an extremely dreamy and quiet child. that school engaged her and brought her out of her head in a beautiful way.

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  6. Such a beautiful photo journal, Angella. . . tenderness and light in every one of them. Their warmth and yours warms all who come within orbit xo

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    1. Claire, dear friend, how lovely to see you here again. big hugs. xoxo

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  7. I love that you have these images to share with your daughter. . . and us.

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    1. grady doc, i thought these were lost so i was thrilled to discover them on a disc. thanks for appreciating them. xo

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  8. Oh....my heart. Once again, you've said it perfectly. xoxo

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    1. susan, those were sweet days, weren't they. they were the best. xxoo

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  9. Love!Love!Love!these photos. Thank you for sharing your memories with us.

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    1. Andrea, thanks for sharing in the joy of them!

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  10. What a great experience. I would have loved farm camp as a kid. (Except I didn't really like to leave home!)

    2006 doesn't seem like that long ago -- and yet so much has changed in your life, and your daughter's, since then!

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    1. Steve, 2006 was six years ago. I wasn't even in my fifties then! It doesn't seem so long ago, until I start to account for the changes...

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  11. How great is that!\
    fun, charmed. when i think of my own camp experiences I get a strong smell of wet wood and something dank under the bunk. haha.
    great photos, thanks. i love this.

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    1. deirdre, you live at camp! do you see it that way? you have made your life amid the natural world and it's magical indeed.

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  12. Love the photos, such joy and friendship!

    On Nurse Jackie, are you talking about Dr. Cruz and Charlie? They were an amazing part of this past season.

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    1. ellen, yes, that's them. . did you know they are real life father and son? the dad told us how hard it was to play that scene in which charlie overdoses. hardest scene he ever played, he said. did you recognize charlie's younger self?

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    2. I didn't know that, although Greg and I kept remarking about how much they looked like each other. I bet that was a bad scene to play, it was extremely sad to watch. I didn't recognize him in the pictures initially, but I totally see it now! Even without the green hair :)

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