There are several days during the summer that everything just goes smoothly. They are usually few and far in between, but on those rare occasions where the weather is perfect, your kids made it to all their activites on time, you actually got fruit during fruit call, and evening activity started within 30 minutes of the time it was suppose to, I find that simply stopping at the end of the night and just relaxing in quiet contemplation is really the only way to truly enjoy these days. On those nights I try to take a moment and realize why camp is called Starlight.
As an Army brat, now just a brat, I moved around a lot and most of the places were quite urban. The first time I really enjoyed a night sky was when I was about seven years old in the small village of Pleasantville, Ohio, at my grandparents home. There were so many that I quickly lost count and then eventually interest in the actual stars and I began to develop methods of counting the stars without actually counting them individually...I was/am a nerd.
So the first time I saw a night sky on top of Camp Starlight, I was completely mesmerized. The skies of Ohio could not compare. There were stars and celestial beings that couldn't be seen in the rural backyard of Pleasantville. I saw my first shooting star at camp. Or at least I thought it was a shooting star. It might have been a moth...or a bat.
I'm sure I'll get in trouble for divulging the location of my refuge but I find that the best place to see the stars is on top of Main Field. The boating dock is nice sometimes but the lights around the dock block some amazing sights. No! The Main Field is where it is at. I remember one night many moons ago sitting up there with a few friends. Nobody saying a word. Ok well everyone but me not saying a word. It was amazing! Then someone mentioned bears and we were all out of there.
If I have ever said anything extremely corny or campy it will truly be eclipsed by what I'm about to say but I find sometimes that to get through the winter months simply looking up at the stars brings some peace. I know that soon enough I'll be back on top of the mountain and see that shooting star. Or moth/bat.
