In the blink of an eye I have gone from Camp Director to coach.  I still have my clipboard but have traded my flip flops for cleats and am now on the field instead of Great Pond.  The transition from camp back to home life is often a fairly rapid one as school starts here before Labor Day and there is not much time to switch gears.  While saying goodbye to our camp friends is tinged with sadness we are excited to get home and reconnect with our local friends that we have not seen all summer.  All of the kids seem to have grown a foot and the forest is as always trying to take over my backyard!

The end of summer in Maine is perfect; gorgeous days and a little chillier at night.  There is a hint of fall in the air as red leaves begin to appear on the trees and apples and pumpkins become available at the farm stands.

Many of the summer folk have headed home and the roads are quieter and the lakes less busy.  Loons begin to gather for their winter migration and the calls echo longer in the crisp air.  Geese fill the air flying south and hang out on the soccer field snacking in the sunshine.  Lately a pack of coyotes has been howling just behind the house, sometimes living in the Maine woods can be quite an adventure.  There is a feeling of wrapping things up yet also the new beginnings of the school year and changing season.

I am ready for game day, for fun competition and outdoor exercise, for embracing this fall cycle of the camp season.  I eagerly anticipate the new enrollments that come in everyday and while I long for the long, busy, people filled days of summer I am content with the shorter, less intense reflective days of fall.

Only 293 days until camp!!