S.T.A.F.F.: Spirit

In the Starlight Playhouse, just to the left of the stage (stage right for all you theatre majors) are five flags that hang for the entirety of camp. The upper senior boys bring them into the rec hall (Starlight Playhouse doubles as the rec hall) on the opening night. On the five flags are five words; well there's one word on each flag...total of five words: Spirit, Tradition, Adventure, Family, Fun. During one of our many activities in the rec hall I noticed that these words spelled S.T.A.F.F. I was kind of bored but I thought it was really cool because it was completely unintentional. These next couples blogs are going to be about what each word means to me.

The first installment then shall be: Spirit

It is shockingly hard for me to define what spirit "is." The way I like to define spirit is through attributes. The desire to wake up every morning with the goal of having a better day than yesterday. The willingness to do everything you can to get the most out of life. The knowledge that at the end of the day you left it all on the field, so to speak. 3am creeps up on you and you press on with the set and costumes because you know there are too many people depending on you.

Spirit, however, is one of the easiest things in the world to see. Every morning everyone makes their way to line-up at the flag pole. David shows his spirit by waking us up with "Good Morning!" We begrudgingly respond "Good Morning!" We raise the American flag (once a year we MIGHT raise the Canadian flag) and we show our patriotic spirit by saying the Pledge of Allegiance. We enter the dining hall and a whirlwind of spirit, a kaleidoscope of cheers and chants, a plethora of pot banging and napkin shaking commences. These demonstrations of spirit are infectious and continue outside of the dining hall to bunks and fields.

I hear stories (though I've never had the privilege of seeing) the spirit of the Glick during "Inspections." He finds a way to make something so cumbersome, so tedious, so trivial into something memorable. His spirit is infectious! He takes his enthusiasm, his spirit wherever he goes and he gives it to others.

Whether on the fields or courts, the Playhouse or the Dining hall, the Spirit of Camp Starlight lives and breathes in every single person. It's what wakes you up in the morning (that and reveille), gets you through your day, and keeps you up at night talking with your kids about what they did that day. Spirit is what gets you through a 100 F day. Spirit is what gets you through a game you're losing 42-7. Spirit is what makes you come back to Camp Starlight year after year.

I should have gone pro...

As many people know, I originally came to camp to be a swim instructor/lifeguard/swim coach/BAMF! What people did not know (but would soon find out) was that I am an AMAZING athlete with ZERO coordination! It's like watching Helen Keller in the Daytona 500. Since CSL is generally a sports related camp (with an amazing arts & crafts as well), I realized this inadequacy fairly early in the summer. I had known since childbirth that I was not meant to play basketball or football. As a youth, I had a stint into soccer which no one would have ever guessed based on my ability to kick a ball at a 90 degree angle to myself while trying to kick forward. There were various other athletic endeavors that I wanted to pursue but one more than most...Tennis!

I had never played tennis before. My mom had bought me a racket when I was in the 8th grade because I wanted to try to join the high school team. I was on the court with her for 30 minutes before I realized I would never play the sport. I am not saying that I was bad but I think Stevie Wonder would have a better chance at winning the Cricket National Championships.

So there they were. Six brand spanking new courts and a beautiful pavilion to boot. There were new racquets for the kids (and the counselors who didn't bring their own) and a team of tennis specialists. It was my second chance at playing the sport I had given my entire attention span one summer day. I don't exactly remember my first lesson but I do remember that there were three balls vollied to me and I miss two of them...the third one made its way to the Front Office porch.

So after my initial lesson I was ready to take on the big guy Terrence himself. For those that don't know him, Terrence was the Head of Tennis. A large South African man who had been at camp for a million years. Of course, I didn't want to take him on by myself so a doubles match was set up. Terrence with a tennis specialist and me with a tennis specialist. I want to say that my tennis skills would rival Pete Sampras; that Rafael Nadal would whimper at my serving abilities; that Andre Agassi would sell his soul to the Grey Lady for my back hand. I want to say these things. And I shall! I was AMAZING!!! I had a 2% first-serve percentage. Every once and a while I'd actually return a ball that went over the net. But my back hand...my back hand was something special. Not only would my back hand get the ball back over the net, but it would land on the other side too...just two courts over!

There we were my partner and I, down 5 sets to 1. Terrence was serving and it was 30-30. One more serve to end the match and finish off an amazing career. Of course, Terrence had to be serving to me. All I can really remember of the next 4 seconds of my life were how slow they went. I saw him throw the ball into the air and it was like someone pushed the slow motion button on my life but it fell down at a rate much slower than 9.8 m/s/s! The serve was effortless and I remember closing my eyes and flinching.

Then it happened. Apparently in my stellar awkwardness my racket made solid contact with the ball. As usual, the trajectory of the ball made it look as if it was going completely out over the fences but something happened. A Miracle! As if the angel of tennis Arthur Ash himself came down and pushed the ball towards the Earth the ball landed...right behind Terrence...in the crossroads of the the sideline and the backline. It was in! The perfect return. Terrence was dumbfounded! I didn't finish the game...I left right then and there! On top! As it should be!