It’s prime foliage time here in Maine. At Camp Runoia we are surrounded by such stunning beauty that it is often hard to visually take it all in and difficult to capture it’s magnitude in a photograph. The days are crisp and clear, perfect for hiking and being outdoors yet too chilly to be out on the lake and the water is certainly far too cold now for a dip. The air has the hint of the winter cold that is soon to come. As the seasons seem to be changing so quickly and summer still doesn’t seem all that long ago, it is hard to imagine that in literally two weeks the trees will be bare. We will be heading into the 6 months of the long Maine winter and we won’t see leaves again until mid May. Summer homes are shuttered, the tour buses will be heading back down the highway and a more dormant phase of life here will soon ensue. It’s already so quiet and walking through camp feels a little like a spooky, Halloween ghost town. Our Runoia, Great Pond summers are truly amazing and the rest of the year is pretty spectacular too.
How cool it would be to have a time lapse video of a year on Great Pond. It would be fun to see how the view from the boathouse that we all relish so much would change through the seasons. How interesting it would be for those that only ever see the summer view. Who knows what surprises would be captured on camera. The deer that lurked around the edges of the cabin line during the summer have once again become more confident in their solitude. They have taken back the space among the ferns. Their hoof prints now mark the paths that not too long ago were tramped by flip flops. Our girls too have moved into their new season, the carefree days of summer are behind them and school days are full and busy. We hear the laments of parents who are navigating the logistics of school activities, sports and just trying to find time to fit in everything that needs doing. Staff are back at college or their jobs, needing references, figuring how they can make just one more summer of camp work in their lives and plotting how they can travel half way around the world to see their camp friends.
The camp seasons are not typical of other industries, we spend couple of months in the summer engaged and surrounded by people and doing ‘camp’ and then our energy switches to analysis, construction and planning. At this time of year our contact with people is less in person more through technology and certainly far less frequent than the hustle and bustle of daily summer camp life. We still hold our camp connections and relationships dear and are thrilled to hear from campers, staff and families about how life is and how they are looking forward to next season.
We truly can’t wait for summer to come around again yet are enjoy this changing season of Runoia life.
There is always time to embrace the beauty that Great Pond has to offer us whatever the season.
Hopefully your fall days are filled with pumpkins and apple cider!