03-12-04 @ 10:57 am EST

All right, let's try a positive entry before I completely drive off all the remaining readers...

The last time I did a Random Memory was in May of last year. Yikes. Well, I've mentioned this a few times in Skew so far and have yet to get around to talking about it, so here it is--Random Memory #4: Camp Daggett.

Believe it or not these guys actually have a website. Here you go...

http://www.campdaggett.com/

Looking at what pictures do work on the site (some bad image linkage there...hm), I can see the place has changed DRASTICALLY since I attended. There was none of that modern stuff, or if there was, WE at least never saw it. There was electricity, sure, but that was about it.

Now anyway...near the end of the school year it was often customary for the entire class to take a field trip somewhere, and in elementary school that field trip happened to be to Camp Daggett, on Walloon Lake in Petoskey. I seem to remember going there at least twice, though it might have been only once. This trip lasted like two or three days I think, so it was an overnight thing. The trip took place in May as it was before the end of the school year and it was still slightly chilly outside. (You don't get full-on summer weather in Michigan until late June, at least.)

Since by now I'm not even sure how many times I went there, these memories are just snippets, perhaps from the two (?) occasions I went. I believe this was in fifth and sixth grade, though I could be wrong. Sorry! All I know for sure is that my old best friend, Mya S., was with me, and at least on one of those trips her mother came along as a chaperone.

Camp Daggett, at least back then, consisted of a mess hall (I'm assuming this is what the site refers to as the "lodge"), a sort of basketball court set down in this little depression, the lake itself, a sort of crafts/recreation facility building, some wildlife area including an obstacle course, and the cabins, which were all named after Native American tribes...I remember the Blackfoot cabin in particular, though I'm assuming they also had such things as the Iroquois and Ojibway, etc. There may have been other buildings but I can't recall them. The girls and boys of course slept in separate cabins and these were all located along this trail which wound up into the woods. Bathrooms were located in a building of their own, as at night if you wanted to go, you had to wake up the chaperone and have them take you. (Heaven forbid a twelve(?) year old should walk several yards at night on their own!) I remember that waking the chaperone was the most difficult thing for me to do--I HATE bothering people--so I tried to go to the bathroom as little as possible, which for me was hard since I have such a weak bladder! Fortunately, at least one time I remember having to wake Mrs. S. (Mya's mom, who chaperoned our cabin), she had already gotten up for somebody else, so it was killing two birds with one stone.

My random memories of the trip(s) to Camp Daggett are thusly.

* On one occasion when we had nothing better to do at the cabin, we decided to clean. I had the broom and I started sweeping the floor. Somebody had a tape player or radio and "Sweet Child O' Mine" by Guns N' Roses came on and...I started dancing with this broom as if I were playing the guitar!! The other girls laughed while I just swung all around the cabin with this broom like some sort of maniac. Far from being self-conscious I remember I rather enjoyed that bit of impulsive stupidity.

* It was our duty to keep the small grounds around the cabins clear of leaves and such. I can't remember this detail very well, but I know that we woke up one morning to find that the ground outside our cabin had been neatly raked...in the middle of the night! There were fresh rake marks and everything! We talked amongst ourselves and found that none of us had done it--at least, nobody was willing to confess. We assumed that perhaps some of the boys from the boys' cabins had done it as a prank. To this day I still have no clue what exactly happened there.

* I must confess that even though she was my best friend's mother, I never exactly got along very well with Mrs. S., especially as our chaperone. She was one of those more rational, unemotional, brusque people I don't get along with properly. Nevertheless I always managed to hold my tongue. This held for when she chaperoned our cabin. We had to get our sleeping bags ready at night and as I pitched mine (or whatever it is you do with a sleeping bag), the conversation turned to a centipede that we had spotted crawling around in the cabin earlier that day. Feeling very anxious, I asked, "Can it crawl up into our beds?" To which Mrs. S. replied, "Yes. Now get to sleep." ...Thanks a lot, Mrs. S.

* Another unpleasant sleeping bag memory was of me having to change for the day or night. I could not do this in front of the other girls. Fortunately everyone was understanding enough to turn away or stand guard as I changed my clothes inside my sleeping bag. This was difficult, but at least I didn't have to do it more than a couple of times!

* At one point I recall Mya and I wanting to leave a bit of ourselves behind in the cabin. There was already lots of small graffiti on the cabin walls. We went up to the top bunk and wrote in tiny print on one wall, "Who cut the beans?" This was our equivalent of "Who cut the cheese?" Rather lame, I know, but remember we were only about twelve. ^_^

* Even at that early age I believe I had already started to acquire my present-day affinity for owls. In the little crafts or recreation center or whatever it was, there was a stuffed animal display which featured a big stuffed owl, complete with fake yellow glass eyes. Mya and I ventured in here alone one day to look around. At some point one of us exclaimed that the owl's eyes were following us around the room. We both paused and stared at it, then moved our heads, then started slowly to walk to the side. And it was true! That owl was STARING at us, no matter where we went! I'm sure it was just an optical trick...but still, it scared the bejeezus out of us. We hightailed it out of that place immediately.

* A similar incident involved Walloon Lake itself. Mya and I were already vastly interested in Egyptian mythology, and for some reason as we walked down toward the lake one day, we started talking about the Egyptian gods. One of us said something like, "Wouldn't it be odd if Sobek (the Egyptian crocodile god) was watching over us, right now?" I don't recall why we mentioned Sobek in particular, if we did...but at that moment we got a good view of the lake, and BAM, far below us...I seem to recall we were above the lake somehow...on the lakeshore, we spotted an old log which had been painted...to resemble an ALLIGATOR or CROCODILE! With green skin and glaring eyes and sharp teeth and everything! Mya and I turned to stare at each other with wide eyes--and then RAN! (Yes, we were adventurous, but we were still chickens.)

* There were some actual activities involved in attending Camp Daggett, and these included some survival-skill-type things. Well, at least as much as you can call learning to boil water a survival skill. Remember our age. I recall us all sitting out in the woods one evening as it was getting dark, trying to start fires on our own and then to boil water. It was a competition. Whoever boiled water first, won. (Won WHAT, I have no clue...I think it was just prestige or something. Heck, twelve year olds will crow at winning anything, no matter what the prize.) We were all separated into groups to do this. I remember our team was in close competition with the one next to us. We had to get kindling to catch on fire, and then spread that fire to the sticks, and everything. So tedious! The group next to us got their fire going relatively quickly, and BOY, did those flames leap up. I was so jealous. Meanwhile we worked and slaved on our dinky little sputtering fire, but finally got it going. We all got out our pots of water. The group beside us had gotten a little complacent with their big fire and so didn't try so hard anymore, but we were still fighting to keep our fire going strong. We put our pots of water on the fires and...the other group's fire started to DWINDLE. Meanwhile, ours kept going...and OUR WATER BOILED FIRST! WOOOOOOOHAAAAAAAHHH! What's that they said about the tortoise and the hare? Slow and steady wins the race! :D

* It's hardly a memory at all, but I remember that Camp Daggett was the place where I first tasted wild leeks, which grew all over the campgrounds. They actually weren't that bad, especially considering that I hate onions.

* One day, we set out on this long, LONG walk off the campgrounds proper, through the woods, and out to a wide field...just to stop on the edge of the field as evening drew on, to see bluebirds landing at a bluebird house in the middle of nowhere. Seeing as bluebirds are quite a rare sight in Michigan...this was a treat. I do not believe I have ever seen a wild bluebird, or ANY bluebird, since. Afterwards, we sat at the edge of this field as the stars came out and stared up at the sky, pointing out all the constellations we could. It was so quiet and peaceful, I can't even remember the walk back to camp.

* I can't recall if it was the same day as the bluebird expedition, but on one occasion we went walking out to visit a pond. I remember it had some smallish pine trees and such around it. I think we were there to catch insect specimens or turtles or whatever we could find. I remember finding a waterstrider or some such, picking it up in my hands, and carrying it to the teacher, when OW!!--the damn thing BIT me! I immediately let it go with surprise--I hadn't even known that type of insect could bite! I felt rather stupid that I'd so eagerly carted this bug off, not knowing it could hurt me like that; plus I had no trophy to return to the teacher. :/

* Perhaps it was on the same occasion as the trip to the pond--it probably was--when I had to go to the bathroom, REALLY BADLY. But we were way out in the middle of nowhere! Fortunately the teacher--I seem to remember it was Miss Jellison, my fourth and fifth grade teacher, though I could be wrong--had brought a roll of toilet paper along, but there were still no outhouses or anything! I am still embarrassed about having to have her keep guard while I went behind a PINE TREE. Can you believe it?? Me going behind a PINE TREE at this pond while all the other students are walking around! Humiliating. *dies* Well, at least there was toilet paper. o_o;

* I already mentioned the little basketball court set into the depression further down from the cabins, closer to the lake and out front of the lodge as I can recall. There was a metal basketball pole here. On more than one occasion we would hear this loud RAT-TAT-TAT sound emitting from the court. It turned out to be a very lamebrained woodpecker...busily pecking away at the metal basketball pole. I wonder if he ever found any insects that way. O_o

* Another activity was participation in the obstacle course set up in the woods. By now I can't recall all of the things this featured, but I believe there was a wooden log bridge--just a horizontally sloping log--with rope handles/rails attached between the trees. I actually overcame my fear of the (admittedly small) height and enjoyed walking across this thing--tightly holding onto the ropes, of course. Mya and I enjoyed taking turns on this and some other things on our own time. Then came the group participation. There was this wall overlooking a pit, and a rope swing to get to the other side. I begged off as I'm terrified of heights, so the teacher (Miss Jellison again, I believe) said it was all right if I just walked across the pit. So mostly my "participation" was simply watching the others try to make it across. This was easier said than done, however, as they had to keep passing the rope back to the others still waiting on the other side...and at one point, the rope wasn't flung far enough, so it dangled uselessly out over the middle of the pit! No one could reach it! The students stood on both sides of the pit and stared at the rope thoughtfully. Then as Miss Jellison and I watched, they hatched a plan. First, somebody fetched a big branch. Then, all the guys took off their sneakers. They tied the shoes together by the laces, and then attached these to the branch. Then, the biggest of the boys--I believe it was Bob B.--leaned out over the pit as far as he could, and SWUNG the branch until the shoes finally swung out and looped around the rope by their strings--a sneaker bola! They caught the rope swing, and a careful pull brought it back to the right side so the rest of the students could swing across. To this day I am still impressed by the ingenuity of that group of preteens. Who else would have thought of something like that?

* One of my not-so-proud moments involved some interesting books I found in the back of the "lodge" itself. There was a bookshelf in the corner and I located several books in some sort of occult young adult series. They all had black covers with the front covers torn off (hm, were they stolen?--dunno). One book was entitled Blood Sport (I don't recall the author or the series name) and was something about some sort of vampire dancing troupe...by now I don't even know. o_o I don't know why I was so interested in THAT particular book; maybe it was just the only one I got a good look at. In any case, I took the book from the lodge to read it...and never returned it. It's probably still upstairs or in the basement of my home somewhere...*meek apology*

* One night we had all gathered to eat in the lodge/mess hall and after dinner (I seem to think it was spaghetti), they turned on some music and started dancing. I was so awfully self-conscious, as I had never once danced before--I mean REALLY danced, not just jumped around like a spaz--so I sat on the table bench drawn in on myself. The teacher, I think, plus one of the camp counselors, a man, tried to coax me to dance with everybody else but I felt so stupid, I didn't even know HOW to dance! They kept wheedling and wheedling at me and finally the counselor took me out to the dance floor and showed me how--all I had to do, pretty much, was just move around to the music. I still felt very self-conscious (trust me, this was WAY different from my stupid swinging around with the broom in the cabin!), but it wasn't nearly as bad as I'd thought it would be. Up to then I'd really thought dancing was some sort of arcane thing which involved plenty of learning--not just moving around as the mood suited you. After a while, I even grew to enjoy myself. I remember that as the first time I ever really danced, and I owe it to that camp counselor whose name I can't even remember.

* Sorry to end it all on a sour note, but as this took place at the end of one of the trips, then that's where it has to go. We were finally on our way home from Camp Daggett and the bus ride just went on FOREVER. It's only about an hour from Petoskey (near the camp) to Cheboygan, but back then it seemed MUCH longer...maybe it was, taking stops into account. I remember we stopped at some roadside park for a while, a nice grassy sunny place with trees which seemed to be in the middle of a city; I think some of the students played with a Frisbee. I had to go to the bathroom but I didn't want to get the teacher, Miss Jellison (I know for sure this time! ^_^ ), upset, as I don't think there was a bathroom nearby, or maybe we had only limited time. So I held it in. The ride continued and at last we pulled in at Black River Elementary School and filed into the gymnasium through the back door. UGH it was such a mess in there with all these tired sweaty students and their huge bags of belongings! (I had used my dad's army bag, which was this LONG, HUGE green thing...like a sausage...and so VERY heavy for an eleven or twelve year old.) By now I really really REALLY had to go to the bathroom!! Everybody was just milling around in the gym, maybe taking a head count, as I went to Miss Jellison and meekly asked if I could go to the bathroom--which was just several yards down the hall, straight from the gymnasium. To which she snapped, "NO!" and demanded that I wait until everybody and everything was cleared up. I felt so awful...I crept back to my bag and had to wait in agony until we were done before I could go relieve myself. I can't blame her for wanting to snap as she, like the rest of us, was tired and hot and irritable, but come on man, this was my BLADDER we were talking about! It was only DOWN THE HALL! >_<

As I said already though, I finally got to go, after which Ma took me home...and that was it of my Camp Daggett adventures.

Wow, you know, I'm surprised I remembered even THAT much of all that happened. I'll probably even remember some more after posting this...but at least I have finally yammered about the mystical Camp Daggett I have been promising to talk about for so long. Despite the few down notes, I really enjoyed my trip(s) there...though I have only one photograph of the entire experience. It's of me, wearing an old quilted blue coat, standing by this roadsign which decorated the corner of the path. It's one of those signs like on MASH with all the different placards and placenames pointing every which way. In the photo my hand is nearest to the sign saying Egypt...and I'm shrugging and grinning at the camera as if hopelessly lost. I'm assuming that Mya took the picture, as she's nowhere to be seen. :/

I'm still wistful over how such simple things as a painted log and a stuffed owl made everything seem so magical, and how boiling water and catching a rope made everybody feel so proud and accomplished, back then...too bad that some things change with age, hm? Well, that's my entry for today...hope you enjoyed it. Tar...