pik up stiks

and thus marks the end of full day #1 of precamp 2006.

for those reading at home, this next batch of autumnattic posts will attempt to sum up and pick apart the preparations necessary in grooming a summer camp for a successful summer. consider this a lesson in appreciation. we'll go from a frosty, barren landscape wrought with fallen leaves, branches, bolted up cabins, seaweed and no equipment to a welcoming community of shiny equipment, mowed grass and freshly painted signs (yeah, right).

stat tracker #1: as of today at 6:30 p.m., the numbers break down like this:

total staff: 14

(2) owners, (2) directors, (3) unit directors, (1) waterfront director, (4) specialists/general counselors, (2) cooks

(2) children, (4) dogs, (2) cats.

it remains the time where everyone anticipates the myriad of virgin camp tanuga faces slowly trickling in by the day. new faces to remember and names to forget. "where are you from? how did you hear about camp? cool! you'll like it here. it's really great. welcome to the vacuum, bitch."

here's a few highlights from day #1:

5,6...you know the rest. how's this for behind the scenes? we virtually places sticks in the forest for campers to find later in the summer and proverbially pat themselves on the back. all of the fallen branches, sticks and even some twigs were thrown into tangled piles on top of the impossibly old tractor. aaron learned to crank the tractor today. don't laugh.

after the staff wenches tired out, 'grizz'ly decided to take a stab at it. as you can see, it's tough for him to place the sticks in the pile because, well, he likes sticks. a lot.

adam lined up paddles. note to selves: war canoes are heavy, and gas is expensive.

at the end of the day, cuts and blisters covered our hands but the pistons win mended our hearts.

baby parker appreciated their effort as well.

now that we've removed the sticks from the ground, i think we'll go rake some pine needles. isn't precamp great?

projected overnight temp in kalkaska, mi: 25 degrees.

**service note: due to the wireless capabilties at camp tanuga, the pictures for this post could not be loaded. please use your imagination until i figure out a more efficient way of getting the eye candy online.