These shots are from a trip I took with young Mondamin campers on the Pigeon River in the summer of 2022. When I look at these shots of the boys so eager to engage in the challenge and joy of whitewater - to know they had worked hard to get the skills needed to be there - I thought of this Mary Oliver poem that perfectly describes what we do at camp. We seek out challenges and prepare for them:
“When you hear, a mile away and still out of sight, the churn of the water as it begins to swirl and roil, fretting around the sharp rocks – when you hear that unmistakable pounding – when you feel the mist on your mouth and sense ahead the embattlement, the long falls plunging and steaming – then row, row for your life toward it.”
From “West Wind,” by Mary Oliver
