Just reminiscing...

This is something that I meant to post a while ago, but I just got busy and never got around to it. It's a list I kept all summer of all the reasons that Interlochen is the most amazing place on the planet.

Things I love about Interlochen...

1.  Being surrounded by trees

2.  Knowing people stayed in my cabin long before I was born

3.  Seeing the sun on the lake

4.  The way the rain sounds on the roof

5.  The smell of dryer sheets when you walk by Hemmingway

6.  Knickers and kneesocks

7.  So much ice cream at the Melody Freeze

8.  All the graffiti on the cabin walls

9.  Wearing a uniform

10.  Feeling the breeze from the lake

11.  Seeing the lake from my cabin window

12.  Sleeping with the windows open

13.  Being surrounded by people who understand

14.  Looking out at division from my cabin

15.  Girls in red knee socks

16.  The way nothing is ever really dry

17.  Friendship bracelets

18.  The way music comes from everywhere

19.  Waking up early and going to sleep early

20.  Falling asleep as the sun goes down

21.  Taps and slumber music

22.  Never setting an alarm

23.  Watching girls play amazing music

24.  Cabin nights

25.  Co-rec and mixer prepping and primping

26.  Black squirrels

27.  Morning flag and sleepy faces

28.  Using a flashlight at night

29.  Sandy cabin floors

30.  Reading to my campers at night

31.  Braiding so many french braids

32.  Trips to the beach and the dunes

33.  Incredible co-workers turned close friends

34.  First-time leadership roles

35.  The fact that jeans feel like a luxury

36.  Waking up at night when all the kids are asleep

37.  Singing Sound the Call

38.  Watching WYSO

39.  Being around such talented kids

40.  Being exhausted at night from working and playing so hard

41.  Bunk talks at night

42.  Hearing people practice in the practice huts during rest hour

43.  Bad coffee in Pinecrest

44.  Working office shifts and talking to kids and counselors

45.  Trips to the craft hut

46.  Being a part of such a huge history

47.  Feeling completely at home

48.  The Junior girls in Pinecrest

49.  Peanut butter No-Bakes!

50.  Jewish Services announcements

51.  Teaching kids to be well-rounded

52.  Hearing my senior recital music coming from an Intermediate practice hut

53.  Using a whole bottle of bug spray

54.  Wearing sweatshirts in the summer

55.  Team building games

56.  How live makes so much sense here, but no one at home will ever get it

57.  Knowing you're being changed in a good way

58.  Getting and giving hugs all the time

59.  Hunting for ghosts on nights out

60.  Dreading LSP's

61.  Having minimal things and clothes and being content

62.  Handwriting mail and getting letters

63.  Looking out at the water in Kresge

64.  Being myself and being ok with it

65.  Wearing socks with flip-flops

66.  Appreciating processed chicken

67.  Ad staff meetings when everybody is happy

68.  Knowing you're touching kids' lives

69.  Appreciating 7 weeks of summer camp more than 5 1/2 years of college

70.  Kayaking

71.  The wildflowers that grow everywhere

72.  Cherry yogurt in Pinecrest

This post can go on forever, and I know I'll think of more things, but that's a solid start.  Man, I miss that place.

Taps

I can't believe it's all over already. I'm back in Athens, back in my apartment, and about to get back into the swing of school. I spent the majority of the evening unpacking and trying to get my room into some semblance of organization. I folded away all my blue polos and navy knee socks, not without smoothing them over one last time, promising myself I'll be using them again in only ten months. Unpacking today had a sense of finality, a feeling of taking my summer and spreading it back into my life here. Everything I took out of that suitcase had a memory, a thought, an image, all creating a picture of the most extraordinary thing that's ever happened to me. The bear lying next to me right now is wearing a blue Interlochen sweatshirt, not unlike the one of mine that is hung over the black wrought iron of my bed. I can't bring myself to cut off the friendship bracelets just yet. My glittery locker tag has a proud new place on my door, and with just a glimpse of it, all of the feelings I experienced this summer wash over me at once. It's an odd mixture of utter contentment and a twinge of nostalgia for something I feel like I've known for far longer than seven short weeks. It's a feeling of finally being at home, of making mistakes and growing, of meeting people who've change my heart. It's bitter tears, regret, and hope. It's french braids and laughter, slumber music in the night, and the immense spattering of stars across the darkest sky I've ever seen. It's knowing that the place that I've always longed for is real, and it holds the same power for someone else. It's the tremendous roar of rain on the cabin roof. It's learning more of who I am while finding a world I fit into. It's ice cream cones, the giggle of teenage girls, and the promise of something bigger than ourselves. It's the jumble of music on the pathways, the call of taps at night. It's girls in bright red socks. Yes, yes. It was a good summer.