I always have the same two initial reactions when I arrive at Camp Friedenswald. The first is a strange feeling of peace and home-ness, even though camp is very far from home. The second is awe. Awe at the trees. I look up and up and up because the trees around my home (Kansas) are dwarfs compared to Friedenswald trees. When the camp pastor, Holly Zehr, had us do the tree pose during morning watch, I couldn’t help thinking about how fitting it was because one of my favorite things about camp is the trees. The trees grow, silently and in their place, like guardians of all that camp stands for, while the campers run about, growing as well but with great noise and no knowledge of the value of stillness. Or at least, not many campers. It is, of course, impossible to generalize about campers as they have as much variety amongst them as the trees in the woods.

Kaitlin Abrahams, Summer Staff