This Porch

This porch. The Kokomo Longhouse porch. This is my home base. This porch has been my place for the past seven summers as I worked with the CILTs. It might seem like just a porch, but it's so much more than that.

This porch is where we meet campers on the very first day. They tentatively walk up on to this porch to shake their counselors' hand or leap up the steps to hug their old friends. On this porch they get their lice check and then go inside to pick their buck. We hand them their CILT binder and baby pen on this porch.

This porch is where the CILT Pack gathers. We sit on the benches, the picnic table, the ground. We scrunch together so that we can fit in all 48 of us. This porch is where we debrief clinics and spending time with our adopted cabins. We plan the songs we'll sing at the nursing home on this porch-- screaming chapel songs and strumming out chapel songs on the guitar. 

This porch is where we laugh. We play Psychiatrist and watch one person try to figure out the secret pattern that the rest of us all know. We play 4 on a Couch and try to memorize everyone's identity. Sometimes we spit water on our friends and call that a game too. We blow bubbles from our bubble wands and take pictures on Wolf Shirt Wednesday.

This porch is where we green hat ideas. We brainstorm for Opening Campfire themes like Color Run, Blue Man Group, Where's Waldo, Mall Walkers, 'Merica and Camp Crimes. Together we think of possible cheer songs. After we come up with lyrics we practice over and over until they're memorized. This porch is where the magic comes from.

This porch is where we gather in our brown t-shirts and teal hats before Closing Campfire. Counselors put on best friend necklaces and fill fanny packs with snacks, a camera and a can of pop or Red Bull. Before the horse parade goes by, we practice our graduation song over and over. We sing our song at the top of our lungs and dance around even though we're so sad we have to leave tomorrow. This is our CILT porch and our CILT family.

This porch is where we have one on ones. When devotions finish at night sometimes the conversations need to keep going. It's not unusual to see a counselor and camper sitting on the bench. If you got closer, you would hear them talking about life and friends and family and God and faith and how all of that fits together. This porch is where some of my most memorable and meaningful conversations have taken place.

This porch is home to little girls at the end of the summer. The Braves and Blazers that leave their flip flops on the deck and fill the picnic table with bottles of sunscreen and cans of bug spray. The porch where Country Line Dancing clinic meets. This porch is the closest to flagpole and pop stop--the perfect location. This porch is where three cabins of campers share breakfast in bed on Thursday morning.

This porch is where we say good bye. We stand on this porch, looking for our parents car to pull into camp. On Sunday morning, with campers still wearing their unit t-shirts from the night before, we say good bye while wiping the tears from our eyes and giving one last hug. This porch is the first and last spot where everyone is together. The Longhouse Porch is a time capsule of so many favorite moments at Camp T. This porch is my favorite.