This past weekend we traveled to…
Camp Merri-Mac has been a major influence in my life. I was a camper there from age 11-16 and I was a CIT (counselor in training) at 17. It is very fun for me to think of all of the things I do in my adult life that somehow relate to my days as a camper. Art, crocheting, gardening, swimming, exploring the woods: all of my hobbies and interests have some sort of roots in Camp Merri-Mac. There are wooden swings in our backyard. We spend lots of quality time in creeks. We even live on a one lane dirt/gravel road (just like camp!) Pretty much on any given afternoon, I might as well be at summer camp…enjoying our low ropes course (zip line, slack line and again, those joyous wooden swings!), singing camp songs to the kids (since they were babies!) and just generally spending loads of time outdoors learning new things.
Though there was no gardening at camp, gardening is very much a camp-type pursuit (again, outdoors: learning new things!). The excitement of tribal competition (Go Seminoles!) I now find at little league games (Go Knights!). Chapel is now church and the alarm clock is Reveille. Well maybe that last one’s a stretch;)! My sister always tells me our laundry smells like the laundry at camp. This is probably because we always have at least a couple of articles of clothing that have gotten thoroughly filthy and wet (another important tenet of summer camp!).
A major reason I’ve never gotten my kids any video games or let them play on a phone and limited TV time is because camp was (and still is) always totally technology-free. True to form, even on the (looong! 11+ hours!) drive to North Carolina, the kids stared out the window and sketched on scrap paper; no ipads or video games on our road trips just like “in my day” (I can say that now! Hahaha)!
In my professional life as a psychiatric nurse I guide and encourage others to find joy, meaning and purpose in life: something I began to learn at camp. Exploring the deeper value of leisure pursuits and conveying the importance of exploring spirituality are passions born at camp.
And of course there’s the creek and mud and friendship of Baby’s Forest School: much like camp (year round!)
Even though Camp Merri-Mac and Timberlake are on the same campus, they keep the two camps quite separate. Until now I didn’t know too much about Timberlake but I figured it is probably the greatest place on earth for a boy in the summer; since that’s true about Merri-Mac for girls!
So off we sent our first-born, our precocious progeny, into the blue ridge mountains for the next two weeks!

Baby’s first time in a canoe! (canoeing was always my favorite camp activity and I took trips to the many rivers in the area)
We hiked for four hours (much of which was uphill!) Whew!
This area is a beautiful place for a nice drive…
Finally it was time for drop-off!
The counselors snap shots of the kids and post them to a parents’ site so fortunately we have a little window into what he is up to…
In 2012, a great camp friend of mine invited me to be a raft guide, the summer after my freshman year of college, which is where I met Smoochie. So no camp? No Smoochie, no little spies, no Spy Garden! Thank God for camp!
Wow, it looks so beautiful there. What a great experience for you and now the Spy – I’m sure he is having a blast. Your first pics are rhododendrons (sorry, not magnolia ;-) ) and the second is beebalm (Monarda) – the horto in me must comment, of course. ;-) Your pics of the kids in the car are hysterical. That is a very LONG drive! Are you vacationing in the meantime and then picking Spy up in two weeks? I can’t imagine driving both ways two weeks apart.
Ahhhh…rhododendrons!!! The foliage looks similar to magnolia; I thought they were just a different variety of magnolia. Cool, good to know!!! Well there are TONS of rhododendrons in those western NC woods. My parents are actually picking him up next weekend and coming here. Yes, too long of a drive both ways!!
I wasn’t going to mention that rock but… ;) Awesome photoshoot Ms Spy that Dexie TOTALLY nailed. I sometimes think that you guys must live on a very different planet to me. Your world is SO very different to mine. Part of the magic of the interweb that we can see other people’s worlds, through their eyes. Nature is a fundamental healer. If we get out and into nature (safely) we learn how to really live. Imagine how different your life would have been without Smoochie?! “GO CAMP!” :)
I agree about nature being a “fundamental healer”. I’ve just started hiking/running trails near our house more regularly (perhaps in honor of camp days)! Getting out into the woods for 30 min or so a few times a week is a great thing. Plus it is a great way to avoid weeding our garden! haha
Lol! You can also say that your garden has a LOT less weeds than the surrounding bushland so you technically are doing a great job as it is ;)
Have a great camp
Thanks!
What wonderful pictures and memories you will and have! Savor these great times! Miss you all so much!
Thanks! Miss you too!