wordsworth

Ellen: I’m getting ready for bed. Tired?
Thanks for telling me about Steven’s photo. I realized I hadn’t seen it. So, I looked through pages of the Circle F site I hadn’t seen and found his photo.

Anyway, I kept looking and I found this one of you. I hadn’t seen that before today either.
I’m tired. But I don’t want to sleep. I want to talk with somebody.
“The best of us can find happiness in misery” Hmmm. Did you? You must have?
Another line in that song is “I don’t care what you think as long as it’s about me.” Sometimes I feel like I am that self-centered.
Did you notice the T-shirt that said “Everything would be OK if everyone read the instruction manual”?

Did she catch anything?

There’s a movie about a beat poet living on the edge. In the movie there’s a scene where he’s in the passenger seat of a convertible waiting for a traffic signal to turn green. In front of the convertible is another car with lots of stickers on it. The poet says something about the stickers. I can’t remember if he, as a poet, was annoyed with the sticker’s lack of originality, or the automobile owner’s lack of originality. I just remember that I liked the idea of being original, and the idea of advertising my beliefs face-to-face, one-on-one, in action. Speaking with action.
Yes, of course, the correct action, action that doesn’t land me in jail.
Good-night. Dad

Dear families,
It is hard to believe that tomorrow is the last full day for our first session campers. I don’t know about you but it has gone by so quickly for us. Tomorrow is full of last day activity. Rodeo practice, camp games, general swim, packing, banquet and final dance. In case you are wondering here is the schedule for Saturday.
9am- parents start arriving to pack up their camper or campers
Come to the Lasso Lodge to see portraits of your camper
10am- Horseshow at the Circle F arena
When you leave camp, you will be stopped at the gate and asked what camper you are checking out. Also, we will have a few questions to ask you, as well. Such as: How did you find Circle F? Postcard, newspaper(which one), magazine(which one), Google or what search engine. Why did you choose Circle F? We really appreciate your input as it helps us to grow, change and improve. Once again, thank you so very much for allowing us to spend 2 weeks with your fantastic children. Have a safe drive here. See you Saturday!
Diana, Murray and the gang

When trying to explain personal integrity or teamwork, we can always utilize teambuilding games, personal examples, and heroes of our past. However, there is no teacher like nature that so poetically and pricelessly demonstrates the power of individual development and communal cooperation.

We developed P.A.T.H. (Pioneer Adventure Teambuilding Hike) knowing that nature is the supreme classroom to develop team and individual morals, values, and principles. The Pioneers are the oldest group of kids at Circle F Dude Ranch Camp, located off the 60 freeway in Lake Wales FL.

The girls and boys have separate P.A.T.H. excursions and spend the night on part of the 500 acres that sits behind the main part of Circle F Dude Ranch.

They begin the hike at the office, where the rule of “one positive comment for every negative comment” is explained. If we can keep the kids looking at the positive from the beginning, they are much more likely to see the other lessons that nature will teach them along the way.

We then head to the north side of the lake, walking in an area where most of the campers have never been. The sun shines from the west side as we curve around the 40-acre body of water. The live oaks common to this area hang overhead and shade our path.

We play a few teambuilding games and talk about reflecting on ourselves, and what it means to have integrity. Each tree has its own purpose in life- to grow, to provide nutrients for the earth, to create a forest. This gives us the opportunity to pose the question; what is your purpose?

We move into the back acreage hiking through a sugar sand trail and a live-oak canopy. The mile long trek through the foliage always brings time to talk about the snake trails through the sand, the raccoon paws, and the beautiful variations of spider webs strewn across the tress, or wrapped around wayward branches. The kids are always fascinated that they are going to be living with these creatures, and that we all use the same land to survive.

Arriving in a clearing we begin some more games, integrating the need for teamwork and communication in everything that we do.

We hike through the forest once again, and head towards an open pine area. We build our own shelters from tarps, our own fire out of dead, down, and detached wood, and cook our own food. The need for community and cooperation is emphasized here as we settle down for the night, filled with food and tired from the hiking. Everyone has much to ponder; personal integrity, teamwork, and community, exemplified to us through the beauty and wonder of nature here on Circle F property.

Sensational Saturday brings us to the beautiful day of special programs! This morning we broke up into four teams and played ZANY OLYMPICS! Our fantastic events included tug-o-war, backward-three-legged race, opposite arm softball throw, and balloon pop! We all had a fantastic time playing the ZANY games, and the winners will be announced tomorrow!

After lunch, we moved into Carnival… face painting, fortune telling, bouncy house, slip n’ slide, and two amazing water slides… what a beautiful day in the sun! We had counselors at each station directing our campers to the fun activities. Prizes galore and water extravaganza kept us running around in the fresh water and the bright sun this afternoon. We concluded the daylight with a general swim, and a tasty meal of barbecued chicken! YUM!

We also started our recycling competition for Session 1 2009- boys vs. girls! Whoever can collect the most cans, plastic bottles and cardboard, sort them, and also come up with creative ways to express how we can be more green at Circle F will determine the winner. We will announce the winner next Friday, and at the Rodeo! We are so proud of our campers, counselors, and all of Circle F for wanting to be more green, and working to recycle, reduce, and reuse everything we can! Way to go!

Tonight will be our opening campfire. This is a tradition from the beginnings of Circle F that introduces the campers to how the Circle F family commenced in 1952. We have 12 speeches given by counselors, then the traditional “wood chip throw” where returning campers and counselors add their wood chips to the fire. We also have ashes from last year’s campfire placed in this year’s fire… and each year we build on this tradition. It is a beautiful time for us to respect and think about those who have made this place into what it is today, and how we are going to shape Circle F for tomorrow.

Tomorrow, we wake up for a day of wild animals and roller coasters- BUSH GARDENS!

Thank you for reading… Wear Sunscreen and Drink Water!

The ladies of Pioneer Land returned this morning with faces painted and a bit more nature-savvy. With the first PATH (Pioneer Adventure Teambuilding Hike) of this session completed, we are more pumped then ever about how much our Pioneers love the outdoors! We began last night at 5:00 pm, and hiked around the beautiful Sunset Lake. We had several team building activities, teaching the Pioneers leadership, friendship, teamwork, creativity, communication, and the importance of taking care of oneself. The night was concluded with wonderful sac burgers that we cooked over an open camp fire, and of course, smores. After making our own shelters out of tarps and rope, we settled down for a good night’s rest under the pines in the back part of the Circle F property.

We marched in this morning with our face paint (ash from the fire) and concluded our “PATH” with the traditional lake run.

It is so true that we are one big happy family here at Circle F! It is a beautiful thing, sharing each other’s stories, laughter, love, and water craziness!

Tonight’s evening activity was Water Mania- a fantastic program focused on cooling down and soaking suds! The first station is giant slip n’ slide… a soapy spin on the summer classic plastic runway. We just add some soap, some rubber inner tubes, and the Co-bucks are slipping down all the way to Pioneer land!

Other water games are spread out through camp so everyone has an opportunity to race, throw sponges at opponents, and try to fill their buckets the fastest.

We can only hope your day was as eventful as ours! Here from Circle F, we wish you a Tremedous Thursday- all day long!

Hello camp family,
What a day! A day at camp is like a week in the “real” world or so the saying goes at camp…it is soooo true. The day was filled with activities and laughter. Trail riding, rock climbing, paintball, sports, arts and crafts, spirit squad, photography, nature lore (they found a yellow rat snake) and the kids have talked about it all day. The best part of the day is watching the kids be kids. They walk together and talk and laugh without a care. The activities are wonderful but the friends and relationships make camp fantastic. Tonight we had the YeeHaw dance. There were lots of cowboys and cowgirls. There was hay and even a horse made an appearance. The youngest campers had their hayride tonight and had stories around the campfire and s’mores. The Wranglers won a movie and pizza during “Deal or No Deal” the other night and are enjoying that treat this evening. I’m not sure what they find more exciting, pizza, the movie or staying up later than the Pioneers! Tomorrow will surely prove to be exciting. We are having “Zany Olympics” and general swim in the morning and “Carnival” in the afternoon. We will post pictures for you so you can join in the fun. Enjoy your weekend and your time. It is only one week until we see you once again. Boy, does time fly!
Diana, Murray, Mike, Mia, Devin, Bri and the Circle F gang

Hello Everyone,
Another beautiful day at camp. The temperatures are pleasant and the kids are having a blast. The day started with flag raising and a great morning thought about positive thinking. We were off to a breakfast of pancakes and sausage, cereal, fruit, juice and milk. A very yummy start to a day full of activities. Riding did their testing for skills, paintball reviewed the rules and safety procedures as did rockwall and waterfront. The Summit and blob were huge hits. Nature Lore found bugs to feed to Mia’s spider. You can bet I leave that to them! Arts and Crafts had lots of activities going and the Spirit Squad make wonderful signs for tonights dance. The kids did a good job staying hydrated, of course we remind them all day long to drink water and wear sunscreen. After a dinner of spaghetti and meatballs the campers were off to the “Welcome Dance” which is a very popular evening program. Most of the younger children love to run and play in the field and then go into the dance and back out for more running and playing. It is so wonderful to watch kids just be kids. They are so happy.
We are trying very hard to get the pictures up but are having some difficulties. We will do our very best to have them up as soon as possible. We know you are all waiting to see your campers.
Thank you again for making our lives special by sharing your children with us.
Diana, Murray, Mike, Mia, Devin, Bri and all of Circle F

Hello Everyone!
What a fantastic start to the summer!!! All but 9 campers were checked in by 12:15…I think that has to be a record! Thank you to all the parents that had to wait to get checked in.
I can’t tell you how great things are going. The afternoon started with cabin team building activities and went into outdoor games. There was kickball, basketball, dodgeball and more. Afterwards the campers and counselors returned to their cabins to establish some cabin rules. Next thing you know it was time for dinner! Fried chicken, mashed potatoes, brocolli, salad, rolls and chocolate cake, oh my!!! We ended dinner with a pledge to be good and treat each other well. After dinner we had our a swim test for all of our first time campers. We are getting ready for our cabin photo scavenger hunt. Each cabin runs around camp searching out objects or certain people, take the picture and move on to the next thing. They have 30 minutes to get as many as possible. It is a great way to introduce the different areas of camp and work as a team. As soon as they finish with that activity it is on to counselor skits. Each activity participates in a skit to introduce their activity and themselves. They have been practicing all week and excited to finally perform for their campers. The evening ends with store and then it is off to bed. Back in the cabin it is time to brush teeth, get clean and ready for bed. But, wait there is more…. Once everyone is in bed they will do their nightly cabin gathering. They talk and get to know each other better and begin the bonds that will last a lifetime. Sleep will be welcomed by all. Goodnight and please don’t worry, we will take good care of your most precious children. Thank you for allowing us to be a part of their wonderful lives. Sleep well. We will check in again tomorrow for an update. Watch for pictures going up either tonight or in the morning!
Diana, Murray, Mike, Mia, Devin, Bri and the whole Circle F gang