alexandriacardinals

August 5

[OK, this is the last full day.  It begins with a pre-breakfast lake swim – one-mile from town (far side) back to camp.  I believe there were 10 participants this year.]

[I went to the swim area to perform my cub reporter duties.]

[There was a young lady already on the dock wrapped in a towel.  I asked her about the lake swim.  She said she had already completed it.  I looked out on the lake and a long way away were the camp pontoon and motor boat who follow the swimmers if help is needed. It seems the winner more than lapped the field!]

[Then another young lady finished, Ally, who is Ruby’s older sister.  The two finishers looked out on the rest of the field who were still a long way from finishing.]

[Can you see the bobbing heads out there?]

[We lost a long time camper last year.  Cindy was also Rita’s best friend.  They came up to Alex together many years ago.  Cindy had always wanted to try walleye, something not readily available to those living in the Hoosier state.  Well, she loved it and had walleye for breakfast, lunch, and dinner the duration of her stay.]

[Cindy bequeathed enough to Camp Brosius to start its own endowment fund.]

[Nope, didn’t do archery this year.  Looked like it was too far to walk.]

[The Biddies do their final Hobi Cat . . . ]

[Chris, Beth, and Vickie cheer them on from shore.]

[Lookin’ good, though Rita looks like she’s prepared to bail should something go wrong.]

[Maybe this one is a landing attempt?]

[Chris goes out to be the catcher.]

[Reetz was checking out her new shades!]

[Last night party and sundae fest.]

[And here come the kids, introduced by group.]

[Katie as Supergirl.  The evening’s theme was Super Heroes.]

[There’s no need to fear – the Green Pantern is here!!]

[The Super and Katie try a little line dancing.]

[Somehow entered Wisconsin undetected by local constabulary?]

[The DOM also performs weddings and cleans toilets.]

[“Supergirl!”]

[“The Super!”]

[“Super Moth”]

August 6

[From Facebook:  CAMP, THE FINALE: You can tell it’s the last day when the porch clothes lines no longer contain swimsuits, towels, and assorted dainties. The ole sandaled feet took a real beating. You can see the heavy wooden rocker on the porch – they are everywhere! I kept hitting my toes on them to the point of near amputation. Lest you were wondering how tough are old toe nails, I broke the metal handle on the Trim trying to trim them! After a week we were not unhappy to say goodbye to the stairs – there are 70 from our cabin down to the lake and the mess hall. That means 140 steps three times a day just for meals, plus all the other times you go down to the lakefront just to punish yourself. We have local CPA’s working on the number of stairs a camper traverses in a week. We survived the 7 1/2-hour drive home yesterday to catch the evening performance of “A Sea Doo Named Desire” as it was appropriately much ballyhooed to us over Facebook all week!

 

August 7

[First day back home – should have taken pictures of the Super’s gardens before we left.  They looked a little worse for wear now.]

[But she was happy to be home.]

[We went the winery for the usual Sunday afternoon music. The “stage” was empty? Checked inside, nobody knew whether or not there was going to be music? So, we went to Dairy Queen!]

Last post from camp is worth two quotes:

Up Next:  Maybe back to Europe now?

August 4 (cont.)

The Christopher Farm & Gardens (cont.)

[I took about 140 photos here so thought it better to make it a two-parter.  Beginning again with Lake Michigan, which I’m told is a really Great lake.]

[Go, Cardinals!]

[Chris and the Super at the Great Lakes watershed.]

[Like the Minnesota turtles!]

[This is our niece Beth.  The following video will show you what she’s been up to!]

[Enjoying the products of the farm.]

[Well, at least they got this guy back on his meds when returned to camp.]

[Rita and Beth, related in the usual mother/daughter way.]

[Really, really young wine.]

[I heard she gives a hoot?]

[I never met a squirrel I didn’t like . . . well, except for the one that bit me!]

[Easter Island?]

[And a little touch of home here . . . ]

[We Alexandrians make a point of searching out these bridges everywhere because you will find them nationwide, in parks, golf courses, et al.  We’re friends with the previous owners (when it was Continental Bridge), Bruce and Kathleen, and Kathleen now owns Cherry Street Books in Alex where daughter Jami works.]

[The owner of these gardens likes railroads.  This is his personal one that runs through the property – for his use only!  Just a note on the owner, Jay Christopher – he was the founder of Pampered Chef.  Since I am neither pampered nor a chef, I’d never heard of it?  But apparently by selling to Warren Buffett he’s been able to cover the costs of building such a place!  😉  ]

[From Japanese gardens to Roman gardens to . . . ]

[And now going under the Alex bridge.]

[The Biddies with Karina, another camper we’ve watched grow up over the years – she’ll be a senior at Northwestern this year with a double major in communications and computer sciences.]

[The hostas were just planted  – in 3 – 5 years they will totally cover the ground.  Here Beth engages a brontosaurus, proving once and for all that humans and dinosaurs once co-existed.]

[The Super in Jurassic Park?]

[And Rita always wanted a pet triceratops.]

[Pterodactyl ate my hat!]

[Yup, gives a hoot!]

[When I posted some of these photos on Facebook, comparisons were made to Butchart Gardens on Vancouver Island.  There are similarities, though Butchart is open to the public.  They are similar in size – Butchart is 55 acres and Christopher is now 69 acres (and still growing).  Butchart has spectacular topography and Christopher has views of Lake Michigan.  I visited Butchart 25 – 30 years ago and recall taking this picture – but I didn’t feel like searching my archives to find it so I just borrowed one from the internet.  😉  ]

And now on the way back to camp . . .

[My guess would be a firefighter’s house?]

And back in camp . . .

[Go Cards!!]

[Mary and the Super cooling their heels after the gardens tour.]

[Anne still working the waterfront.]

[After dinner the penultimate night, it’s time for the pontoon ride – Katie and the Super.]

[Ed and Elke as the Sputh Roundhouse retreats in the background.]

[Rita, Beth and Chris]

[The DOM, Katie, and the Super]

[Ed, Elke, and Vickie]

[The pontoon ride was cut short when a storm came up – but it broke the heat wave!  Back in the cabin, it’s once again time for euchre.]

Press close, bare-bosomed Night!
Press close, magnetic, nourishing Night!
Night of south winds! Night of the large, few stars!
Still, nodding Night! Mad, naked, Summer Night!
~  Walt Whitman

Up Next:  More camp . . .

August 3

[Meanwhile, back at the waterfront, The Biddies are still Hobi Catting!]

[OK, not Hobi Catting very hard!]

[And games were up next for the kid in all of us.  Some of us “do,” and some of us “report.”  It was an uncomfortably hot day so I relished my usual role as “reporter.”  From our usual clique, here nephew Chris takes on Scott, a/k/a, DOM 1, in horseshoes.  Chris took advantage of his relative youth to shoot down the DOM.]

[You will notice from the photos that the photographer was always shooting from the shade.]

[And here Ed, he of the smooth delivery, tries his hand (or foot?) at horseshoes.]

[Note the follow through – good balance, full extension, probably a good result!]

[Corn hole was ongoing at the same time.  Many athletes competed in both, showing great endurance and a willingness to partake of the beer cooler.  Her Vickie, a star last year as I recall, tries a toss.  She was likely held back by her partner, the DOM.]

[After dispatching the DOM, Chris had to take on Jack, someone in his own age group.]

[Good match, and Jack emerged as the 2016 champ.]

[Meanwhile, back at corn hole, Vickie attempts to overcome her partner.]

[I believe the DOM was starting to tire here.]

[After the official matches, Ruby gives it a try with her dad John.]

August 4

[The schedule from the previous day:  I begged out of the Marsh walk as the humidity was off the scale and Beth reminded me about the mosquito issue.  Line dancing was cancelled, likely as a result of my misadventures the day before.  But I did cover the horseshoe/corn hole tournaments.]

[I can’t get on the internet?  😦  ]

[Seven of the next 12 photos include a dragonfly with whom I was trying to communicate.  Well, sometimes just sitting on a lakeshore in an Adirondack chair can send one into lala land.]

The Christopher Farm & Gardens

[And this was our field trip after breakfast.  I had never heard of the place before though it was only 16 miles from camp.  Several campers opted out as it was another hot humid day, and it involved a 2-hour walking tour.]

[From its website:  Welcome to the world of The Christopher Farm & Gardens, where garden design, horticulture, wildlife and education intertwine to create a magical place. In total, 400 acres along a mile of Lake Michigan shoreline shine with 50 acres of composed gardens. The Gardens are a living expression of all that owner, Jay W. Christopher, finds meaningful, inspiring and beautiful. The mission of The Christopher Farm & Gardens is to bring together horticulture, landscape design, education and the arts to inspire and enlighten guests.  We are dedicated to providing a space for enjoyment, understanding, and conservation of native plants, trees, animals and the Lake Michigan shoreline.]

[The Biddies as role models.  By the end of the tour, all thought these were the most impressive private gardens they’d ever seen.  So, despite my repugnance about this kind of weather, I thoroughly enjoyed the day.]

[Every thing we see here was an alfalfa field 20 years ago.  All trees under 50-feet tall were planted since then, and the ponds and landscaping were all constructed since then.]

[A path to Lake Michigan.  For the most part I’ll let the photos speak for themselves.]

[The Super and Rick attempt the maze.  Luckily, they were able to find their way out!]

[One less Packer to worry about!]

[Some gardens are purposefully natural.]

[Lake Michigan]

[The Gardens will be continued on the next post . . . ]

A lot of parents pack up their troubles and send them off to summer camp.  ~  Raymond Duncan

Up Next:  More camp . . .

August 1

[Favorite part of the day, going down for breakfast with a bright sun shining on the Sunfish sails.]

[The first class The Biddies were able to drag me off for – line dancing . . . ]

[In short order, our instructor, Payton, advised The Biddies to never bring me to another dance class – that I’m a menace to myself and anyone else on the dance floor.]

[Ed, Rita’s in-law (spouse of Elke; father of Chris who’s the husband to Rita’s Beth), cut quite the dashing figure on the dance floor.]

[Then I was saved by the dinner bell.  Here the aforementioned Scott, with Vickie, explains to the Super the proper hand movements in line dancing.  Touch your finger tips together and try not to stick your thumbs in your nostrils . . . ]

[Then the Queen of Sheba’s pontoon motored by.]

[The mess hall counselors had perfected the art of carrying dirty glasses single file.  I can report that the young man facing the camera is the chef’s grandson and hopes to go to the University of Minnesota.]

August 2

[And my second favorite morning vision is of fog over the lake . . . ]

[The Lodge, across the patio from the mess hall.]

[Waterfront, with the three new Hobi Cats, soon to be favorites of The Biddies.]

[Stairway to the clouds . . . ]

[Ye Olde Swimming Hole]

[Where we read and ponder the universe.  The mess hall on the left; the Sputh Round House on the right, where the early birds get coffee before the mess hall opens.]

[Chipmunks and squirrels help clear the detritus after meals.]

[Katie taking launch on a Sunfish.  Her relationship to our group is as a close personal granddaughter-type friend of Rita, and she comes to camp whenever she can.]

[Now an experienced camp-trained sailor.]

[The Biddies begin their relationship with the Hobi Cat.]

[And there they go!]

[Sunfishers returning to port, where waterfront staff attempts to catch them before they take out the front row of Adirondack chairs.]

[5th-year campers, Phyllis and Jack, both doctors of geology at Austin Peay University.  They were probably the first non-IUers to enroll in camp when it was opened up to the general public.]

[Jack’s recent book.]

[After 5 years of sailing practice at camp, this year they became the regatta winners.]

[The waterfront person here, Anne, is a camp legacy.  Her parents have been bringing her here every year so we’ve watched her grow up.  Now she’s a sophomore to be at Kent State and a camp counselor.]

[Here come The Biddies, hopefully for a soft landing!]

[Safely aground!]

[This was adult dinner night.  Send all the kids into town to bowling alley with a few bucks in their hands, and the adults were free to do whatever it is adults do, thus unencumbered?]

[Rita, Beth, Ruthie, Elke, and Vickie]

[Their reverie was broken by the appearance of specimens with a Y chromosome.]

[And we hadn’t even opened the wine yet?]

I hate camping, but I love summer camp.  ~   Zooey Deschanel

Up Next:  More camp . . .