Weekend Joy
We experienced a lot of joy this weekend as the schedule changed gears a bit. I love weekends at Huawni because we get a chance to slow down and enjoy very neat and traditional aspects of Camp.
Carving Trees, Cookout, Storytelling & Wild Woman Hunt
Saturday was quite a full day! Campers competed at swim, horseshoes, archery, and hotshot in the morning at activities. This is what we call individual competition, as campers who place in the top 3 spots get points for their tribe’s overall score. Campers also get a ribbon in their closing day packet for placing in the top 3. Saturday afternoon we put no our hiking shoes and hiked about one-half mile down the camp road to the Carving Trees. There we proceeded to engage in a large mud fight, as we played in a big crook in the Pinson Creek. It’s a beautiful spot as there’s a massive charcoal grey creek wall overlooking the swimming hole. We finished off the hike with ice-cold, delicious watermelon. By the end, we were covered in mud and watermelon, which means the hike was successful!
Saturday night we gathered in the Front Yard for a cookout. We had Huawni Hamburgers and campers took turns at the karaoke microphone. We followed up dinner with storytelling, as I told the Blue Wolf, Joe Shields, and Wild Woman stories under a crystal blue sky. It was a beautiful day. After storytelling we concluded with staff singing This Old House. This was Daddy Earl’s (my grandfather and founder of Camp Huawni) favorite song that he requested staff to sing when he used to tell stories. Then we loaded up on the trailers for a trailer ride and of course went searching for the wild woman. And, we actually spotted her! We finished the evening with a sing song under the starry sky at the pool. The stars truly were majestic!
Little Red Church
On Sunday morning we slept in and then took a trailer ride to the Little Red Church. The Little Red Church is a special spot for Camp for multiple reasons. The land where the red church building is located was donated a long time ago by Mr. and Mrs. Ben Adams, my great grandparents. It is such a peaceful spot. I love our time at the Little Red Church because it gives us all a chance to stop what we’re doing and reflect on the main things in life, most notably who we are and who God created us to be. The Little Red Church for me, and I’d argue many others, is a place where I feel especially close to God. It’s peaceful, calm, and there’s a certain serenity that’s hard to describe. I played God is so Good, He’s Got the Whole World In His Hands and we sang Father I Adore Your in the round. Billy read Romans 10:9-10, and then Erin and Will led us in more worship songs. For our message, the counselors, led by Erin Delony, put on a skit inspired from the story entitled You Are Special by Max Lucado. Campers even voiced how they’ve experienced seeking value from others’ dots and stars in an kind of open church forum. It was a restful time.
Sunday Hike
My favorite special activity is the Sunday Hike. We took a trailer to the Big Woods. I nearly got stuck at a wet spot, but thankfully the Kubota tractor made it through. We hiked from their past the natural springs, Lily Pad Pod, and Daddy Earl’s old cow pens. We then hiked to the Huawni Indian mounds, and finally wound up at Turtle Rock, where we enjoyed more cold watermelon and the Penson Creek.
Wiffleball World Series Round 1
Last night we painted up the wiffleball fields as Caddo and Tejas squared up for round one of the Wiffleball World Series. In the older division game, Caddo won 10-0. In the younger division game, Tejas won 6-0, as Gavin B. launcheda 3-run homer! Both tribes will square off again Tuesday night as the winner will take all in WWS.
Water Balloon Fight
As if the day wasn’t already full enough, we ended Sunday with our Girls vs. Boys Camp water balloon fight on the front yard. Boys Camp lined up near the volleyball field, and Girls Camp lined up in front of the Hilton. As Alex counted down to zero, we watched campers ascend in what looked like a scene out of Braveheart (without the gory part of course). Shaving creme and flour sacks made up the second wave of the assault, and it was a most exciting event. The fight resulted in a big dance party as one big happy family!
Photo Update
We genuinely appreciate your feedback about the delay recently with posting your CampInTouch photos. Our photographer was sick this morning, but we’ll be taking pictures at rest period and uploading those today asap.
