Snow and Friends

Camp's plethora of snow meant that it was the inaugural weekend for the ski trails, and the Ski Haus. I spent a busy saturday stacking skis and knotting boots back together. The morning was quiet, but the after lunch rush was insane.

If you are interested in skiing here, I would recommend renting in the morning - then you'll be set for the rest of the day and not have to wait in line with the ninety other people who decided to rent skis right after lunch. Just a friendly hint.

I really enjoyed the Ski Haus. Fortunately. I'm scheduled to spend my entire Saturday there again this weekend.

This weekend, I also enjoyed a visit from Amanda and Claire. We frolicked together in the snow. None of us had ever been snowshoing before, so Amanda and Claire convinced me that it would be a grand adventure and that we all needed to go together. They are persuasive people.

This is Claire, buckling on snowshoes for the very first time.

This is Amanda. It looks like she's putting snowshoes on but she's actually taking them off.


Claire and me not falling over.

Three snowshoes! And snow!

I can now cheerfully recommend snowshoing to any eager inquirers.
We had a great weekend together.

I can hardly wait for them to come back.

Wait.

Amanda is already back.

I have good friends.

Yes, I'm the shortest.

A couple of weeks ago, the seasonal staff was stripped of their coats and bundled into the cold outdoors. Tthe amazing BAM (check out her site http://bamphotography.zenfolio.com/) snapped her shots of our frozen smiles. PG has now passed along one of the pictures taken on that fateful day. This is it . . . the official group shot of Camp Barakel's current seasonal staff . . .

Note: we did not deliberately dress to match. We are naturally that co-ordinated.

Just a short update today. Faithful readers will notice that, on the right side of the page, I've added links to the blogs of the other seasonal staff people. Read away!

More snow fell this morning. This means that I will finally be redeeming the time spent training me for work in the ski haus. There is also much excitement, at least I am excited, because Amanda and Claire are going to be working/visiting for the weekend. Such fun!

More Snow

It's snowing!

We are currently being blessed once more with an abundance of snow.

My adventure for the day was when my car, despite being in park, decided that it would slide backwards down the icy hill. Naturally, this worried me. I hopped back into the car, having partially disembarked, and attempted to insert some control into the slide. Reuben and Dave Douglas rushed out of the house to assist and guided me in backing the car safely down the rest of the hill. Good times were had by all.

The Directors' meeting was today. In the conference room at the program center, there is now taking place the after-directors' meeting meeting. Lee Brown, Jeremy, and Jon Ford are all squeezed in there together, clustered around the one small table. In the words of Kevin Pierpont, a fellow seasonal staffer, "It looks like they're having a meeting about the paper-cutter" You can read more words from Kevin at http://kpont.com/

The Snow is Here! And so are the ovens!

Ignore my last post about the lack of snow. The snow decided to start sticking. This morning I woke up to a world dripping in white. I slogged my way to the East Side kitchen for food prep, thrilled with the prospect of tubing and skiing. Well, I would like to go tubing. Probably not skiing. I feel like that takes more coordination that I possess.

For those that don't know, there was a small electrical fire issue on East Side last week and the old ovens had to go. New ones were ordered but did not arrive until this morning. Once they did, a highly entertaining scene ensued:

For the first hour, a few men stood around looking serious and discussing strategy in low voices. The members of the group changed every once in a while, perhaps so they could include every possible male perspective. The in-depth discussion eventually concluded and they moved on to the next step.

This involved recalling some of the previously departed group members so that as many people as possible could squish around the ovens as they lifted them, one at a time, and squeezed through the door into the kitchen. I counted seven gathered around the oven, but only five supporting the weight. The other two orbited around the group, offering supervision and advice.

The two ovens made it safely into the kitchen and the group dissolved. Hopefully at least one of them is planning to come back to hook the ovens up.

I made it back home after food prep and was delighted to find that someone had kindly shoveled off my porch for me. That's one of the wonderful things about Camp; people caring for each other.

Snow, but no snow

Snowflakes fall gently from the sky, land on the mud and grass, and then disappear. It's a disappointing sight for any who were hoping to tube this weekend, but even with no snow, a fun schedule is all set. Ask the retreaters last weekend. They didn't have snow either, but they seemed to be having a good time.

Currently, I am wrestling with a spreadsheet that someone tried to update - unsuccessfully. And they did it in the most unsuccessful way possible, sorting only the second column alphabetically so that now people's first names are no longer with their last names or their other information. I'm not sure what else they did, but the information is only sometimes with the last name. This means I have to go through line by line and make corrections. Barakel jobs are always glamourous.

Speaking of glamour, I'm off to mail these awards. I will package them glamourously into their envelopes and send them glamourously on their way.

An Exciting Day

Twenty-four hours into the winter retreat season, I have managed to consistently display my habitual dainty grace. I walked my leg into a trailer-hitch, tried to cut my eye with a seatbelt, and did a complete wipe-out -- of course with a witness -- on the hill down from the office. Thankfully, I have a protective as well as sovereign God and I remain unhurt - with only a bit of healthy embarrasment and a slight limp.