This post should have happened a long time ago, but the time is just flying here out in the Absorka/Beartooth Wilderness of Montana at Christikon. I guess that is a testament what a positive experience I am having here. Over the past several weeks we have had a family work weekend, a couple weeks of staff training, a camp session with developmentally disabled adults, and are now in our first session with middle school kids.
It is hard to believe that I showed up in the mountains before June started, and even harder to believe that we are only a little over a session away from being half done with the summer. Once the middle school kids leave, we will take a day for a bit of rest and then head out for one more week of staff training on the trail as we prepare for the backpacking programs to start. I look forward to this time as it will be the last stretch of any length that the staff with be together without campers around.
On the whole, our staff has bonded together quicker than I could have imagined. Several folks who are returning for a second or third summer here have all commented on this. It makes me feel good to be involved in a community where people support each other for a common goal. And this word community...It's one that gets tossed around a lot out here, and one in which I have been thinking about for several years, ever since the latter half of my time at Valpo. Lots of people talk about what a special place Christikon is because you can't find a community like this out in the "real world" or back at college. I tell my friends that I have a bit of a different experience. My community at Valpo was like a family. We played together, ate together, cared for each other if we were hurting or sick, and laughed and cried together. Having to leave that community due to graduation is something which I have lamented often over the past few years. Being in this place with these people who care feels like home, and I am grateful for that. With a little luck, our bonds will only become stronger as the summer rolls on.
The mountains which surround this place continue to inspire me, and the sound of the Boulder River on the other side of the road is a peaceful one when I take the time to stop and listen. As the rains of late May and early June seem to be giving way to warmer temps and bluer skies, I look to the weeks ahead with anticipation and a sense of peace.
