Pinchy’s Blog

Sheesh, how many trips do these campers get to go on?!  I don’t get to go anywhere, other than Westbrook office in September.  That’s the extent of my trips.  Campers are at the water park today and tomorrow.  I don’t like water, but I hear that it’s fun anyway.   Some campers went to see Portland on a trip - I hear they had some lunch (mmmm, lunch) in the Old Port area, went shopping at the Maine Mall, and visited the Cape Elizabeth lighthouse.   So this is the last week of first session, and we are heading into the final wrap-up activities, like Camp Show, and the Art Show, and the Dance Show…more shows….lots of shows….okay, you get my point.  Lots of fun stuff leading up to lots of tears on departure day.  Oh, I do love to see those tears…it means they really had a great time with their friends.   I wish I had more friends.  I only have my catnip toys - oh, and Pinesy.  He’s kinda cool.  Monique feeds me.  That’s cool.

Meowin’…

So yesterday and today are what camp likes to call ‘trip days’ - we take all the delightful campers out of camp on either day to a fun location in Maine.  This time, it’s Freeport, which is this really nice little town with tons of shopping outlets, Ben and Jerry’s ice cream, LL Bean, and other favorites.   I hear that this is the camper’s favorite trip of all!  If only I could go!  But nooooo, that’s not possible.  They say it’s too hot and that I’m too little.  I will have you know that I am NOT little (and very proud of that fact).  They have been trying to feed me the high protein food - yeah, blech.  I have been sneaking tasty treats on the side….don’t tell.  So the next trips will be spent at a water park - but that’s another 8 days from now.  Rachel has these really cool trips planned too - white water rafting, fishing, sightseeing, whale watching, and more cool stuff.

It’s a hot day today - the hottest yet.  Drink lots of water!

Meow

So today it’s July 4th, America’s happy day….oh how I love the BBQ cookout - not that I actually get to eat any of it, but the smells are good.  Matt and Monique tell me that I wouldn’t like the hamburgers, hot dogs, pasta salad, potatoe salad, chips, and dips, ….I would be willing to try it.  They tell me that my single can of minced and separated potted meat is best.  Who the heck are they to tell me what I like???!!  Okay, am I sounding like a teenager?!  Yes.

So we had another camp come visit today to play our campers in soccer.  It was amazing!  Our campers played hard and won!  The weather was great - not a cloud in the sky.  Another beautiful day in the state of Maine!  That’s what Pinesy always says….he sounds like a broken record.  Actually, that’s no joke….lost his voice for two days.

Tonight is the special beach party for July 4th and everyone looks forward to it - I don’t get to go.  I watch from my porch.  And the music is not my cup of milk.  But hey, the kids LOVE it. And we love them.

So that’s July 4th…another beautiful day in the state of Maine.

Meow out.

Yes, it’s day two of activities and today, I was out taking a few photos.  Oh, and don’t worry, you will be able to see some of those photos really soon.  It’s amazing…you should see the tennis courts!  The instructors are so energetic that they make me tired!  But I AM a cat afterall, so tired is how I live best.  I like being tired….okay, so back to the activities.  Today, I saw so many cool things that I wish I could do too, but for some reason, they only let me out to take photos.  Photo taking is not so easy when you are a cat with extra toes…polydactyl, they say.  Yeah, I say, bad news for me….toes get in my way.

So anyway, back to activities.  The music department already has amazing bands!  And you should have seen the opening Welcome Show camper band!  Wow, they were great!  Though they were loud…but soooo good.  I think they were better than the staff band…oops, did I say that???!!  No, but they were really good.

Do you want to know what cool activities I did today?  No?  Well, I am going to tell you anyway.  I ate.  I slept.  I took pictures.  Everyone else is running around and hurrying from place to place.  But me…I like eating.  Oh, and the food has been good too.  Really good curry last night.  If you like curry (I don’t).

Okay, next time, I want to talk about evening activities.  Tonight is the lip synch, which is always popular - cabins work together to perform a song with their counselors.  Oh, and they do tend to dress silly.  They like to think they are the next Spice Girls or Backstreet Boys.

Meow (that’s ‘peace out’ for cats)

So yesterday was arrival day for First Session and our campers are here!  We have campers from all over the world and it’s so exciting!  There’s campers from Saudi Arabia, France, Belgium, Russia, Brazil, Italy, and sooooo many other wonderful places…We are all so lucky here at Maine Teen Camp to meet each other and make friends!  The world is a small place here at MTC!  Parents, don’t worry!  We are going to take great care of each and every one of them!  I will keep you posted myself, here on my blog, so tune in and talk to me!

Wow, so time has completely gone by….all those 365ish days of waiting and waiting for camp….no more waiting!  It’s here!  Opening day is tomorrow and I am soooooo happy to see all those smiling faces of our teenagers.  The staff are ready!  There’s so much energy flowing from camp…tonight, we have a staff talent night and it’s amazing!   YEAH CAMPERS!!  See you all soon!

That’s right!  We already have seen a few of those MTC staff arrive here in Maine - Rick and Lyndsey are here to run the Evening activities…you know, all those really loud dances and theme nights.  Beach party is fun, but it’s sooo loud!  It chases all my squirrel friends away.  Then the Group Leaders are here…they are like the head counselors.  Those fantastic four - Kara and Amy, Baz and James….I have seen James also coach tennis and he’s amazing!  Baz (they refer to him as the Beast) eats a lot.  More than me for sure.  Kara is the fab basketball coach and Amy sails and lifeguards.  But yeah, they are the ones that all the campers rely on for solutions - sort of like their own counselors.  JB is here to get the ski program running - he’s been spending a lot of time on the new boat.  It sure is pretty and blue.  Speaking of water Nicky Rachel is here - She’s running the trips program that sends all the campers on fun trips out of camp…not that anyone should leave camp, but sometimes it’s fun to do that.  Did I ever tell you about the time I had a pet stroller and left camp??  Never mind.

Bruce and Meagan are here…Meagan runs the camp store where you are faced with decisions….decisions to buy snacks, MTC t-shirts, shampoo, or ummm, did I mention snacks?!  They don’t really have the kind of snacks I like.  Unless you think cats should eat Hershey bars.  Bruce has this really cool job of Travel Director.  He loves planes, trains, and automobiles….I like pet strollers.

And then Karl and Christian are here to run the Music program.  And this is no music program like you have EVER seen.  And I have to admit, I do love the Live Dance.  It’s where all these really cool campers perform on stage and do amazing stuff, like play rock music. I can’t do that kind of stuff.

Aurel is here to set up the Arts program - Aurel has a dog at camp, Freija.  I don’t get along with dogs.

Blaze is here and you should see the new Ropes course spider’s web!!  It’s so cool.  I wish I could climb after those squirrels up that ropes course….

The Chefs are here and they have been cooking some really good meals…not really what I like, but Matt and Monique are constantly reminding me of how good the food is…it makes me sort of jealous considering my diet is dry and bland.  Apparently I am considered an older outdoor feline now…yeah, you know what that translates to???  Old and not active.  I don’t ‘play’ enough.  I eat too much.  I watch too many daytime talk shows.

Anyway, there are many staff arriving every day, in anticipation of our campers!  They are hard at work, setting up all the activities and much more.   And I have to say, the campers are going to be very happy!!

Did you know that in just about 8 weeks from today, I move to camp!  And that means that all the campers move to camp in about 12 weeks.  That may seem like a long time, but it’s not.  Why, just 12 weeks ago, it was like January and now it’s April!  Amazing!

That means that in just 12 weeks, the snow will have melted…and THAT is amazing!  Really amazing….Snow is supposed to be pretty - it’s not - it’s wet and cold.  And snow has NO place in April.  Rain rain make it go away!

Finally, it’s Springtime. Here in Maine, there may be a few sorted piles of the white stuff still left by curbsides (well, it’s actually sort of greyish brown color), but the temperatures are finally starting to rise and well, I have a great feeling of things to come…things like CAMP!! I get to move to camp soon! I am soooo excited to see all those grey squirrels and chirping birds…oh how I love those little creatures….not that I would DO anything to them that may get me into trouble….well, I am a cat afterall. Cats love Springtime and I am no exception.

I left off talking about the environment and how camp is so naturally beautiful…no tall concrete buildings and sidewalks. Well, today, camp is beautiful, just in a cold, wintery sort of way…with snow, sleet, and freezing rain. Kris is complaining again about the freezing rain. Listen buddy, I don’t like anything wet either - I am a cat afterall. Kris, who I rarely see over the winter…(he tends to hide in the winter)…seems to be building a snow fort around his estate. There must be 8 foot walls of snow around his entire home. He thinks that by maintaining the snow wall, it will keep huge satellites that are falling out of the atmosphere away from his home. I know that if it lands in Stanley Lake, it’s going to be a heck of a splash and I think Kris will have a lot more to worry about than maintaining a snow fort!