apple of my eye

It's been awhile since there's a been a summer camp memory posted here and the sight of boots in a forest and the word 'nitch' (thanks Sara) brought back a string of consonants and vowels: EC-DC-IC-A.

The months of May and June were reserved for a science camp at one end of Camp Chief Hector (the other end did a social studies camp). Sunship Earth, developed by Steve Van Matre, is an educational program designed to get students familiar with the following terms: energy, cycle, diversity, community, interdependency, change and adaptation. I don't know how many times I repeated that chain of words during the three years I did the program but I can imagine that even if I'm old and senile I'll still be able to pull that one out.

Every term had a corresponding outdoor activity that was supposed to help students learn the concept. I think my favourite one had to do with cycle. Students gathered a bunch of duff and stuffed it into canvas bags; after which I read a story about how duff turns into soil. The kids all had big wooden mallets and pounded the bags while I read. As my voice became louder they had to pound the bags harder. When all was said and done, and my voice was really hoarse, the kids were pleasantly surprised at the transformation of the dead leaves and twigs into something almost resembling dirt.

My least favourite activity had to do with community. I don't really remember the premise anymore; I just know that I found it boring. It had something to do with a guy name Echin (niche backwards). For some reason someone thought it was a good idea to have Echin's rubber boots in the forest. This led me to develop a complicated backstory for Echin. Here's a very abbreviated version:

Echin used to be a lawyer (or some other white collar profession, it changed weekly) and didn't care much for the environment. One day he was struck by lightening (or hit by a car, this too changed often) and had a complete personality change. He became an extreme environmentalist - PETA, ALF they weren't hardcore enough for him. Eventually Echin left the big city and chose to live in the area that the kids and I were now walking through. Some weeks Echin was crazy and others he was not.

My hope was the students would lose all interest in whatever we were supposed to be doing and instead focus on Echin. Unfortunately for me this never happened.

It's kind of funny, and mysterious, that there's a pair of winter boots on the trail near my apartment. Maybe Echin's coming for me.