Some Things We Always

It had rained for four days straight as it usually does in Michigan summer. As a camper I think I liked it. The things that annoyed me about camp--soccer, huffing down the beach stairs--came to a grinding halt. More time for counselors to throw their hands up and let us read during kayaking class. Extra time to snuggle into the cabins, flaps down. Sleeping was the best--we always had waves, now we also had storms. But now I was a head counselor and about to lose my entire mind. The first night was okay--sure, no luau, but there were some indoor games to be played. And then, what the heck, a movie night. And then the less fun games. And then we just didn't know. Every kid was bummed and lethargic. The tiniest ones were cooped. The staff was annoyed. In a desperate play, we announced we were just going to have to put on a show. The saddest last-minute talent show of all time? A little girl complained to me about her point values on her inspection sheet, I frantically tried to get a DVD player to work, an alum from my past showed up unexpectedly and started small talking with me and my coworker. I was extremely rude and left her probably feeling like an idiot for hiking up Messhall Hill in the rain. I remember crying as a friend of mine grumpily said she was not happy about how we were running things and vowing I would never have a job dependent on weather again.

But you can't actually just, like, get out of weather delays for life. I've been in tornados and storms and electricity blackouts and now a pandemic. We live in the natural world, no matter how hard we try to forget it.