This Substack has been adapted from an essay for Kripalu Resources.
When I was a pre-teen, my parents sent me to summer camp on Cobbosseecontee Lake in Maine. We played dodgeball and made lanyard keychains. I developed an unreciprocated crush on a surly French-Canadian boy and coveted the pink satin short-shorts of my more fashionable cabin-mate. I signed up for water ballet and swam around in circles to the tune of “We Got the Beat” by the Go-Go’s. The best part: I took Outdoor Living and learned how to sustain a fire with birch bark and pine needles. I liked the sap smell on my hands and the quiet, hidden geography of the woods.
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