Watermelon, Cantaloupe – Let Me See You Burn That Rope

It was a glorious morning and a perfect day for more color war games and contests. Everyone was feeling the spirit with their faces painted and their hair sprayed with their team colors. Spirit and team pride runs deep here and everyone feels the excitement. I watched the GC girls play BBG and that could have been one of the most fun BBG matches I have ever witnessed. So much support, a lot of laughs,  tons of jumping around, several moments of stopping the game to dance, lots of random singing and smiles that would light up the darkest room. You just couldn’t watch this game without a smile on your face. I loved being able to witness such joy for an amazing group of 15 year girls.

Boy’s side had their track meet today and girls side battled in the pool with their swim meet. The kids had so much fun as they relayed to their finish lines getting cheers praise for their hard work and effort. To sit back and watch the encouragement we all give one another here is life changing. There was a younger camper who was nervous to swim in a relay race and thought she would let her team down because she wasn’t a really strong swimmer. She told her team how nervous she was and it took about a minute for them to rally around her and told her that she would never let them down. I overheard one camper say to her, “we are team, we do it together and we can do this thing today.” It gave that nervous camper the confidence she needed and she saw her laps with a ll her might. When she got out of the pool, her team was there hugging her with arms wide open telling her how amazing she swam. It’s just mind blowing what you can do when you have a whole team behind you.

It has been three full days of Color War battle and the score before this evening’s event was:

RED DC – 2437 points

Gold Marvel -2178 points

This War is still within reach for either team with 2750 more points up for grab. Tonight was a great event as we all headed to see the long-standing camp tradition of Rope Burning and Water Boiling. Counselors for both teams have been collecting wood and preparing for tonight. Their faces are painted with zinc to protect them from the burning fire that they have created and the entire camp, watches with great anticipation as to which team while burn the rope and boil the water first. Tonight’s win went to Red DC as they burnt their rope in 14 minutes and just 4 minutes later Red boiled their water. So tonight was a big win for Red DC.  Gold Marvel’s rope burnt within minutes after Red’s water boiled.  The water boiling for Gold Marvel was a challenge as they just couldn’t get their fire going but they had their entire team behind them, cheering them on and telling them that they CAN DO IT and NEVER QUIT.  They never gave up on their female water boilers, never not once! This challenge defines the tradition of Color War. Sitting on that hill on a chilly summer night, watching Rope Burn with your friends by your side will forever be etched in the memories of every single person there tonight.  It’s an awesome Color War tradition to be a part of and to witness knowing that so many campers before us has sat on that same field, watching ropes burn and water boil. We are all so proud and grateful to be a part of this long-standing tradition that will forever be a part of each one of us.

Life is so Great at Camp Chen-A-Wanda.

Chenny out.