memories of summer

If you're ever planning a trip to New England, here's what I remember of it a month later... which, generally, is a good indication of what's worth doing. I loved Bar Harbor, Maine (a great place to watch 4th of July fireworks), I ate my way through the factories of Ben & Jerry ice cream and Cabot cheese factory, walking through Salem is always cool, and I want to return to Mystic, Connecticut.

Then came creative arts camp. The ventriloquist was great, the illusionist fascinating, "The Potter's Wheel" was super...Valerie truly deserved the title "co-director" and the kids all jumped in there no matter whether it was step team, or singing, or spray painting blacklight puppets. It was a whirlwind of a week, but a fun one. I love grateful parents, and between donated snacks and Starbucks cards and thank-you notes...I felt truly appreciated.

For VBS I generally relaxed back at the sound booth while I watched the rest of my fellow co-workers (especially the children's ministers) sweat it out. I was already having chest pains going into the week, so I'm convinced Chad saved me from a heart attack (actually the official diagnosis was simply post bronchitis spasm). Nevertheless, it's always funny to me what invokes sympathy....and VBS generally gets lots of comments of, "I bet you can't wait until this week is over". Considering Chad did 98% of "my" part of the work, I just need to make sure HE gets ALL the credit due to him. The drama each day was fantastically done, and 500 kids hung on every word.

So now it's already August. Time for the requests for fall video demos. Time for quieter days while co-workers take last minute vacations. Time to appreciate the summer evenings that you waited all year for. So find your picnic basket....pump up your bicycle tires...run through a sprinkler. It's still summer.