As the first month of 2012 comes to a close, it is pretty amazing to take a look back and see all we have accomplished in four short weeks. The first day of the New Year I arrived on camp, bags in hand, for what I knew would be an incredible adventure in a new job and new home. Two hours later that adventure started when Melissa called to inform me that in four days we were all heading down to Boca Raton, FL and we were driving!
Week one passed in what felt like seconds due to preparing for the Camper Reunion. A drive to South Florida that took fifteen hours on the clock, felt like a working lunch in the Mini Van. Then, two days later we left Boca and headed back to the Mountain. Between the many bathroom stops in unique smelling (yes, smelling) towns, a few re-routes on the GPS, a sensational Tim Tebow win for the Broncos, dinner at Firehouse subs, and a very impromptu 1 A.M. to 5 A.M. stop at a quaint Holiday Inn Express, I came to a quiet understanding of the blessing I had received after being offered a job at Camp Highlander. After just one week, I felt as if I had known these people I call my “co-workers” my whole life, and I knew first hand, what Melissa meant when she said that I was becoming apart of a family when I accepted this job. The following weeks, of a typically dreary month, continued to be as blissful as the first. Camper shows in Anderson, S.C. with the Long Family, Greenville, S.C. with the Wimberly’s, Mooresville, N.C. at the Shannon household, another trip to Florida where Karl visited the Markel’s, Cross’, Weiss’, Hankin’s, and Short’s (whew!), Memphis, T.N. we stopped by to see the Waples, and wrapping up the month at the Guthrie’s in Morehead City, N.C. have kept our spirits high, and driving skills sharp! As we continue around the southeast, reuniting with old campers and meeting new, future campers, our hearts are filled with immense joy. In every home we enter, and every picture uploaded onto our computers, there is a brief glimpse of the endless love within the Highlander Family. With Reunions, camper shows, and the phones ringing with registration and staff applications alike, the feeling of Camp is all around. Kinfolk Magazine contributor, Julie Walker, sums up the warm, exciting hum in the winter office when she writes, “Summer couldn’t feel closer, although it is months away.”
After being a long time camper myself, the feeling of immediate community I found in my first weeks here on the Mountain paints a perfect picture of the “camper experience”. People of all ages, hailing from different homes across the nation, come to this Mountain for such a brief window of time, but instantly become apart of something much bigger than themselves, our Highlander Family. We all arrive, to this picturesque setting, as strangers. Yet, in a few fleeting moments campers will come to their own quiet understanding that they belong. Two, Three, Six, or maybe even Eight weeks later, campers look around at the people they call their “cabin-mates” and feel as if they have been brothers and sisters their whole lives.
In a month filled with new beginnings, travel, hard work, lots of laughter, and a few rainy days, I have had the opportunity to be a “new camper” here at Camp Highlander, and it is an experience I wish I could gift to every child. Our Camp Family is currently spread far and wide, and we have loved coming to see your homes, and meeting your friends and family. However, I simply cannot wait for summer to get here, to experience our whole family being reunited in their summer home. Old familiar friends will reconnect, and new eager campers will become members of a strong family, built on tradition, and more importantly love.
Katherine
About Karl and Shelley Alexander
