The beach does indeed put us all in a better mood. The steady pulse of the surf punctuated by the calls of seagulls provides a serene backdrop that our cluttered house can never match. The girls spent time taking their chances on the fringes of the surf, screaming and running from the sheets of foamy water rushing towards them. Jen and the boys stayed further from the water this time, hanging out on a beach blanket. Willow and I went tidepooling, finding a bunch of mussels and a few small anemones. Ascending darkness coupled with falling temperatures ended our stay.
I hadn't been to Natural Bridges since I was a kid. I remembered there being two wave weathered rock bridges then. Now there is only one, the more fragile of the two having fallen sometime during the late eighties or early nineties (I think). Perhaps it should now be referred to as Natural Bridge.
We're gearing up for Autumn here. Jen has turned her attention towards getting school supplies for the kids. Summer camp ends this Friday, to be replaced by outdoor school in a couple of weeks. As usual, I'm looking for ways to plug the gaps in my work schedule. I'll miss the summer camp kids. Many of them have been with us for multiple weeks. A lot of them I remember from last year. There's a real feeling of community at camp. I'm sure a lot of them will be camp counselors in a few years. Perhaps they'll be staff someday. This kind of environment is really good for kids if they're open to it.
I do have moments when I think it's kind of funny that I'm leading team building activities for these kids. When I was young I was not a team player. I still don't really see myself that way. I have always been a bit of a loner with an anti-authoritarian bent. Maybe it's my job to help the kids who also feel this way. The socialization process can be so complex for kids who are told that they must be part of a team when their personalities run counter to this kind of thinking. It is good to have teamwork skills, of course, but I can definitely relate to people who have no use for them...
But I ramble...
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