Moon River

FMGC Reunion Blog---Part 2...about one month late! But I am finally able to write it...

So where did I leave off?

Oh yes...

218 steps

218 steps up Old Baldie (the mini-mountain/big hill)

So we get down from the hill/mountain and realize that we have a lot further/longer to walk to get back to the campsite than we have time for...because they are holding lunch for us.

Someone got out their cell phone and made a call and about 10 minutes later 3 cars showed up to pick up the crazy ladies...at least we weren't 15 women piled in the back of a Dodge Ram pickup truck...

Here's the best part...I got to ride in MB's car. Now I don't know why that is such a big deal to me but for some reason I remember thinking I wanted to ride in her car when she was my counselor. So she shows up and I go running straight to HER car because by damn I was going to ride in HER car!

I sat in the back with Tink and just kept saying "I am riding in MBR's car!"...it was just joy...and I don't know why...

So we get back to the camp and eat lunch and then it was time to go to the REAL Friday Mountain Girls Camp property.

For some reason everyone took off without Jane and I...thank goodness for cell phones...we caught up pretty quickly...

After a wrong turn or two we ended up where we needed to be...

Hallowed ground...

FMGC

Friday Mountain Girls Camp!

The cabins were gone but the owner of the property had restored the "Big House" (where we ate) and...

and I still can't believe this as I type it...

the Nature cabin was still standing!

That old thing was old and dilapidated when I was a camper so it is truly a miracle (or Act of God) that it is still standing.

The pool is still there...

Tennis courts and flagpole and gymnastics area are no longer there but...and again I can't believe this as I type this...

the bell was still there!

And yes, we all took turns ringing it.

So we began to wander around...each of us lost in our own thoughts and memories.

Tears flowed freely...laughter abounded...lots of hugging and holding...

Inside the Big House the new owner had pulled out some old photos he had...and the cabin signs for many of the cabins were up on the wall.

I stepped outside to see Elizabeth rocking in a chair...in tears...overwhelmed with love for the place we all called "home" for a few weeks each summer.

The screen door slammed behind me...we both jumped a bit and smiled...and then I said:

"Isn't that the BEST SOUND EVER?!?!!?"

She said: "Do it again"

So I did...over and over...and MB did it with me. It made many of us tear up to hear that sound of the door...because we could remember walking through it to get our meals and hearing it shut behind us until the next girl grabbed the door.

We set out for the creek and the horse lot and the place where we had church every Sunday.

I cried at each spot...except that thankfully the horselot shed was gone and it was really over the fence and I wasn't technically standing in the horse lot...and it made me cry with memories of my horrible riding...and the Eagle Drill...

We stood where we had church...it is truly a place of God...so beautiful and peaceful...and I could hear the prayers of our pasts as we sat there...I could hear the beautiful voices of our younger selves worshipping God and being grateful for that very very special place.

Many of us took off our shoes and waded in the creek.

The first thing I did:
LOOK FOR LEECHES

For some stupid reason I was terrified of leeches...and there where leeches on the sides of the crossing (which is gone now) and leeches in the water. I was totally terrified that a leech was going to get on me. The Daddy-Long-Legs never scared me and I wasn't worried about scorpions (although someone was stung in the cabin every year) but I was really afraid a leech was going to suck out all my blood.

It was a stupid fear...

I reminded Julie (the camp director and one of the greatest influences on my life) of my silly fear...she just laughed...I felt like I was confessing to my mom...it was great...even if I was confessing a totally irrational fear!

So off went the shoes and into the creek I went...the water felt good...it felt special...as it ran over my feet I was 15 again...standing in the water during Nature period...and I was worried about the leeches...but I got over it...and no, I never saw a leech...

We went to the riflery range...now it wasn't TECHNICALLY the riflery range that I shot it because the range got moved the last few years of camp...but it was still the FMGC riflery range.

I had a cell signal there...

So I updated my facebook status (I don't "tweet") and put:
At the FMGC riflery range with MBR!!!!

Best. Status. Update. Ever.

Because I was at the riflery range with my beloved counselor...and I was so happy knowing that the reason she didn't come back after my first year of camp was not my fault! (because her dad made her get a real job)

So we headed back to the main part of the camp...I walked with Jane and my friend Tracy...we took our time.

When we got to the pool Tracy and I spontaneously burst into tears...I don't know why but we just cried and held each other and it was a very perfect moment. I love her!

It was about time to leave...we walked around once more...

and then...

we had...

FRIENDSHIP CIRCLE

in the exact spot we had friendship circle every night at camp...

I got to hold Julie's hand...I bragged about it to everyone in the cirlce:

"Look at me! I get to be next to Julie!!!!!!!!!!!!"

because that was a very coveted thing to do when you were at camp...

We started to sing "Friday Mountain" and about 3 words in tears were streaming down my face...and I wasn't the only one...

the boo-hoos were audible...

I'm not sure there was a dry eye among us!

I'm not sure anyone was still singing the song except Mary Jo and her beautiful voice (she is my new best friend...love love love her!)

It was a truly spiritual moment...and unless you were there, it is hard to understand and I can't fully or properly describe it...but I will treasure that moment for the rest of my life!

And then someone had the bright idea to take a photo...there was a lot of runny mascara at that point but we piled on the porch of the Big House and took the photo anyway.

And then it was time to leave...

That was the hardest thing of all..to leave...because that property is sacred ground to the girls of FMGC and having one last chance to step on the porch of the Big House, one last time to ring the bell, one last look into the pool, one last glimpse of Friday Mountain (the mountain) was very very very special.

So off we went...but we had another special thing to do...we went to see Uncle B!

Now Uncle B was our own very special Nature Guy...and I love him even if he made me touch a tarantula. Uncle B lives in a nursing home in Dripping Spring and is over 100 years old.

When they wheeled him out to us I think he was a little overwhelmed and not too sure about who we were and why we were there. But then he "woke up" a bit and started talking and telling us stories...

and he remembered...

and he told us a few secrets that we never knew and even had Tink run up and get his stuffed (taxidermy) pygmy skunk. We had a grand time with him...

And then we sang to him and I know at that moment he felt more love than he had in a long time...because we all poured our love into that song and I pray that he will, when he goes to Heaven, know that he was an angel on earth to many girls...

even if he made us hold a tarantula...

We got back to the camp in Wimberley and had dinner and then had a grand campfire and roasted s'mores and sang songs...and drank some wine...some of us did...

And I said goodbye to Miss Annette and showed her how I could still do a "develope" (a ballet move). I can't wait to see her at the next reunion!

Then it was lanyard making time...

yes, it was late at night but we made lanyards!

and drank some more wine...

and took showers and sat in pajamas making lanyards and all of us coveted Elizabeth's reading glasses with the headlights on them...

Now how crazy is that?

Because one moment we were all 15 years old and the next we want reading glasses that light up!

So we stayed up late and had another fun night and drifted off to bed knowing that the next day would bring the pain of goodbye.

We got up, had breakfast, and packed up...it was truly like the last day of camp...

We took a lot of photos...I will treasure them...

Saying goodbye to Julie was as painful as ever so I was really happy that I got to leave the camp and then have lunch with her and some other friends from the reunion.

And my friend Mimi met me at the restaurant and I got to spend time with her...which was glorious since she wasn't at the reunion.

So there it is...my recap of the reunion.

And I can't wait until the next one...literally I wish it was this weekend because I could do it all again tomorrow...even the 218 steps!

So thank you to Sue and Tracy for organizing and for my Aunt Jane for coming with me and for all of the friends that were there...I love you all...

Because Friday Mountain Girls Camp was much more than a camp...

it was a safe place for us

it was "home" for us

it was a place we could be our true selves

it was a place where you might be a Wrangler or Buckaroo but first and foremost you were a camper

it was a place that for 2, 3, or 4 weeks you were surrounded by more than friends...you were surrounded by girls you had a deeper bond with...

it was a place that our hearts soared, our spirits ran free, and where the best part of ourselves shone like a beacon...

it was...more than a camp...more than a group of cabins...

it was...the best place on earth

and for 5 summers I was there...but my spirit still lives there and the lessons I learned at camp and the friends I made and the memories in my heart will forever imprint my life...and my Friday Mountain friends all share the same feeling.

Friday Mountain...calling back to me...

I may not be able to go back to the campsite...but I will forever be able to be a Friday Mountain girl!

Inspiration Song: "Moon River"...the FMCG girls know exactly why...