Category: camp
(meme) Inner Child
A lunchtime meme, eaten with my fingers, as befits an inner child, snarfed from barelyproper. For some reason, the answer doesn’t surprise me at all, especially for those that know my relation to camp:
Weekend Observations
It’s been an interesting weekend so far.
This weekend, my daughter was supposed to attend a Temple conclave at Camp JCA Shalom in Malibu. Now, if it was me, I would have jumped at the chance! But she was hesitant. We brought her to Temple Friday afternoon, expecting her to get on the bus with the other campers. She was due to check in at 3:15 PM, and I had a 4:00 PM dentist appointment. But events conspired against us. First, we had some unexpected thunder and lightening cells in the valley. Pouring rain. Second, we had some unexpected separation anxiety cells in the Temple lobby. The net result: I missed my appointment (rescheduled to 3/23) and she was going to be driven up to camp Saturday morning.
So, Saturday morning, The plan for the day was for drop her at camp while my wife got her legs done; go out to the Fountain Pen Shop to pick up my pens; spend some afternoon time together; and then go to a free showing of The Last 5 Years my wife got us tickets for on Craigslist. Following the plan, I get S&F out of the house bright and early to get up to JCA Shalom. The normal route to get there is to take US 101 to Kanan Dume; Kanan Dume to Mulholland Hwy; Mullholland to Encinal Canyon, up a short road to Decker Cyn; Decker Cyn to Mulholland, and thence to the camp. First plot complication: Decker Canyon is closed due to storm damage. Have to run down Encinal to PCH, PCH to Mulholland, and then up to camp. We get there: Second plot complication: S&F isn’t sure she wants to stay. So I sit and wait, like a good dad, until she decides it is OK to stay. Of course, this makes it too late to go to the Fountain Pen Shop, so that’s scrapped. Around 11:45 AM, she decides she will stay the day, but I need to come back at 9:00 PM to pick her up. Call the wife—we release the theatre tickets. I head back home via a different, much better, route (Mulholland to Westlake Bl, down Westlake to US 101). You can imagine my mood.
Luckily, gf_guruilla and I did spend some time together in the afternoon. Some time with just the two of us was what we both really needed. Brightened my mood immensely!
We then went out for dinner (Roxie’s Famous Deli in Thousand Oaks), and did a little shopping. Drove up Westlake/Mulholland to camp, getting there around 9:00 PM. We just hung in the background talking to the camp director until the end of the Closing Circle (they had a great songleader: Robbo!). Finally picked up S&F. She had a great time, made a new friend, decided she prefered CHK/GHC to JCA Shalom, but still wanted to go home. Drove home, and we all went to bed.
So, we had a day whose plans were completely mucked up, and started out with everyone in a bad mood. We ended up with a pretty good day after all. Perhaps there’s a lesson to be learned there. I know that I was reminded that being a father means that you put your kid first, even thought that may means you get disappointed at times. There are sometimes larger responsibilities in life.
As I wrote Friday, I received a mailing from the HOA of the interval timeshare I now own in Kaanapali, Maui, HI. Since then, I’ve learned more about the situation. It’s a real mess. The impression I get is that there are a few disgruntled owners who don’t like the fact that fees were raised in order to get adequate reserves and security, and so now are making life miserable for the board, with claims and counterclaims, lawsuits and “confidential” documents, and loads of hurt feelings. Of course, I’m seeing this from the sides, not knowning the backstory having been dealing with my dad’s death when it happened. I did find this site with some information online, and I’ve been mailed more. I think I’ve got reading to do Monday.
Today. So what are we doing today. Most likely: staying home and cleaning up. This place is a mess. If I have some free time, I might work on doing some backed up FAQ updates. We’ll get S&F to clean her room (or at least, attempt to do so). Other than that: No plans.
Weekend Observations
It’s been an interesting weekend so far.
This weekend, my daughter was supposed to attend a Temple conclave at Camp JCA Shalom in Malibu. Now, if it was me, I would have jumped at the chance! But she was hesitant. We brought her to Temple Friday afternoon, expecting her to get on the bus with the other campers. She was due to check in at 3:15 PM, and I had a 4:00 PM dentist appointment. But events conspired against us. First, we had some unexpected thunder and lightening cells in the valley. Pouring rain. Second, we had some unexpected separation anxiety cells in the Temple lobby. The net result: I missed my appointment (rescheduled to 3/23) and she was going to be driven up to camp Saturday morning.
So, Saturday morning, The plan for the day was for drop her at camp while my wife got her legs done; go out to the Fountain Pen Shop to pick up my pens; spend some afternoon time together; and then go to a free showing of The Last 5 Years my wife got us tickets for on Craigslist. Following the plan, I get S&F out of the house bright and early to get up to JCA Shalom. The normal route to get there is to take US 101 to Kanan Dume; Kanan Dume to Mulholland Hwy; Mullholland to Encinal Canyon, up a short road to Decker Cyn; Decker Cyn to Mulholland, and thence to the camp. First plot complication: Decker Canyon is closed due to storm damage. Have to run down Encinal to PCH, PCH to Mulholland, and then up to camp. We get there: Second plot complication: S&F isn’t sure she wants to stay. So I sit and wait, like a good dad, until she decides it is OK to stay. Of course, this makes it too late to go to the Fountain Pen Shop, so that’s scrapped. Around 11:45 AM, she decides she will stay the day, but I need to come back at 9:00 PM to pick her up. Call the wife—we release the theatre tickets. I head back home via a different, much better, route (Mulholland to Westlake Bl, down Westlake to US 101). You can imagine my mood.
Luckily, gf_guruilla and I did spend some time together in the afternoon. Some time with just the two of us was what we both really needed. Brightened my mood immensely!
We then went out for dinner (Roxie’s Famous Deli in Thousand Oaks), and did a little shopping. Drove up Westlake/Mulholland to camp, getting there around 9:00 PM. We just hung in the background talking to the camp director until the end of the Closing Circle (they had a great songleader: Robbo!). Finally picked up S&F. She had a great time, made a new friend, decided she prefered CHK/GHC to JCA Shalom, but still wanted to go home. Drove home, and we all went to bed.
So, we had a day whose plans were completely mucked up, and started out with everyone in a bad mood. We ended up with a pretty good day after all. Perhaps there’s a lesson to be learned there. I know that I was reminded that being a father means that you put your kid first, even thought that may means you get disappointed at times. There are sometimes larger responsibilities in life.
As I wrote Friday, I received a mailing from the HOA of the interval timeshare I now own in Kaanapali, Maui, HI. Since then, I’ve learned more about the situation. It’s a real mess. The impression I get is that there are a few disgruntled owners who don’t like the fact that fees were raised in order to get adequate reserves and security, and so now are making life miserable for the board, with claims and counterclaims, lawsuits and “confidential” documents, and loads of hurt feelings. Of course, I’m seeing this from the sides, not knowning the backstory having been dealing with my dad’s death when it happened. I did find this site with some information online, and I’ve been mailed more. I think I’ve got reading to do Monday.
Today. So what are we doing today. Most likely: staying home and cleaning up. This place is a mess. If I have some free time, I might work on doing some backed up FAQ updates. We’ll get S&F to clean her room (or at least, attempt to do so). Other than that: No plans.
Note: This entry was originally posted on Observations Along The Road (on cahighways.org) as this entry by California Highway Guy. You may comment either here or there (where there are 
Views From The Top of the Hill
I’m home… and I’m tired. It’s been a long day.
We started with a family day at Religous School. The theme was “Honoring one parents”, as the students were studying that. The Rabbi pointed out how the Torah say “honor your father and mother” in one place, but “revere your mother and father” in another. We explored the difference on why the order was reversed, as well as the difference between honor and revere. The point was that this is more of an adult commandment, focusing on the relationship between adults and their parents at the end of their lives, so that the parents don’t lose respect. For example, you need to make sure their needs are taken care of (but not to your personal financial detriment), you need to not “sit in their chair” (i.e., attempt to take their place), you need to not contradict or argue with them (find another way to resolve the issue). We talked about why the father comes first on honor (which actually relates to support) vs the mother on revere (which comes from the word with the sense of fear): the rabbis indicated this is because children are used to the mother providing sustinence, and fearing the father. Quite interesting.
We also did singing with our kids, an art project, and a discussion. We also got to meet some more folks at Temple, and discovered our chiropractor is a member there (and has a son in our daughter’s class). We discovered this when I was complaining to my wife about my back bothering me, and she pointed to Ron and said: Go talk to him!
After that, it was Visit/Tour Day at camp. After driving up to Hilltop, we took a tour of the camp. I had forgotten how beautiful the view is from up at Hilltop; the picture to the right shows the view from the chapel. The camp is a lot smaller (120 campers vs. 250 campers), and is much more of a single family. For example, at Kramer, campers eat in cabin units, and do evening activities in units of 3-4 cabins. At Hilltop, you can eat with your friends, and evening activities are done as the camp. This should suit S&F much better. She also ran into folks she knew last year, discovered that classmates from temple will be at her session, and was being asked questions by potential new campers as she was someone there age who was there last year. I think she is now looking forward to camp. (Note: For those of you who are Jewish and have kids in 3rd through 9th grades, I highly recommend these camps. They are great for teaching Judaism, especially Reform Judaism, to kids.)
After that, I drove home from Malibu. A much easier drive than the last time, which was in pouring rain. I drove; everyone else slept. I’m tired now, but it was a good day. Camp is such a special place to me that it always leaves me feeling wonderful and relaxed. My safe home away from home as a kid. I thank my parents for sending me there.