{"id":69,"date":"2008-05-29T13:36:57","date_gmt":"2008-05-29T18:36:57","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/marktime.org\/?p=69"},"modified":"2009-02-17T10:17:51","modified_gmt":"2009-02-17T15:17:51","slug":"start-of-summer-meme","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/marktime.org\/?p=69","title":{"rendered":"Start of Summer Meme"},"content":{"rendered":"

I’ve been tagged by Toby Brown of Classical Presbyterian<\/a> for a meme.<\/p>\n

Start of Summer Meme<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n

Whether it’s the smell of the grill, the taste of fresh lemonade, the glow of fireflies or the pull of your fishing line, many of us have distinctive senses about what makes for the sign of summer.<\/p>\n

So, you all know the rules–fill it out on your own blog and tag other blogs. If you have no blog, answer it in the comment section here.
\nLet’s dive in!<\/div>\n

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1.)\u00a0 What first tells you that Summer is here?<\/strong><\/p>\n

Two things:\u00a0 First, the need for air conditioning.\u00a0 Second, the First Sunburn of Summer.\u00a0 The latter generally happens in late April on a gray cloudy day when I’m out at a festival of some sort and forget that I need a hat on my sparsely-populated head.
\n
\n2.) Name your five of your favorite distinctively Summer habits or customs.<\/strong><\/p>\n

    \n
  1. The Summer Afternoon Nap<\/li>\n
  2. Cooking on the Grill<\/li>\n
  3. Mowing the Lawn<\/li>\n
  4. Volunteering for check-in on Sundays at church camp<\/a><\/li>\n
  5. My Birthday<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

    3.) What is your favorite smell of Summer?<\/strong><\/p>\n

    The odor of the first few big, fat raindrops that fall before the full thunderstorm hits.\u00a0 This is the smell that signals a reduction in humidity and temperature in the near future.<\/p>\n

    4.) What is your favorite taste of Summer?<\/strong><\/p>\n

    Grilled cheeseburgers.<\/p>\n

    5.) Favorite Summer memory?<\/strong><\/p>\n

    Sitting around the campfire in the evening at Work Camp at Camp Johnsonburg<\/a>, circa 1984.\u00a0 Work Camp was special.\u00a0 The 50-70 campers were spread across all age groups from entering 3rd grade to graduating from high school.\u00a0 The cost was half of a regular unit because the work camp spent mornings doing work on the camp.\u00a0 I remember painting buildings and one year even re-shingling a roof.\u00a0 The younger kids did things like cleaning campfire cooking equipment and lanterns.<\/p>\n

    Every evening the entire work camp would have a campfire together.\u00a0 We had our own leaders (the same every year) and our own set of regular songs.\u00a0 The evening campfire was a cross between the traditional campfire, a bible study, and a worship service.\u00a0 The work campers were a close-knit group – many came from two churches that founded the work camp and they and others repeated work camp every year – but they readily accepted new people.\u00a0 It felt like a giant family even more than regular camp.<\/p>\n

    I’ll pick one specific memory.\u00a0 In 1985 I was a CIT (Counselor in Training) and for work camp I got to co-counsel with the Associate Pastor of my church (my youth pastor).\u00a0 He was also the chaplain for the week.\u00a0 The last night of work camp was always a communion service.\u00a0 At the time I was already a deacon, and the Book of Order limited service of communion to elders or “deacons, if sufficient elders are not available”.\u00a0 The communion service that he and I served at was my first chance to serve communion – something that was only ever repeated the following summer at Triennium.<\/p>\n

    Alas – Work Camp is no more in that form.\u00a0 The closest thing today is that some churches will send a group (youth or adult) up to live in a cabin for a week and do a project.\u00a0 Those folks don’t interact with the camp program much.<\/p><\/div>\n


    \n6.) Extreme heat or extreme cold? Which would you choose and why?<\/strong><\/p>\n

    Extreme cold.<\/p>\n

    For one thing it’s easier for humans to “fix” extreme cold.\u00a0 Heating is generally easier than air conditioning.\u00a0 I dislike temperature extremes at either end.\u00a0 Secondly, I’m a real homebody and love the snuggly “stay inside” call of a cold snap.<\/p>\n

    7.) What books do you plan to read for the season?<\/strong><\/p>\n

    Because of the economy (national and personal), I’m re-reading things from my shelf.\u00a0 Most of that is science-fiction.\u00a0 Right now I’m reading The Tower and the Hive (Rowan)<\/a>\"\" by Anne McCaffrey.<\/p>\n

    One book that I have ordered is:\u00a0 Fearless Fourteen (Stephanie Plum, No. 14)<\/a>\"\" I like the Janet Evanovich “Stephanie Plum” series in part because it takes place in Trenton NJ but also because it’s REALLY funny.\u00a0 Note – those easily offended by foul language, risque topics and less than Godly behavior probably won’t like these.<\/p>\n

    8.) How does the Summer affect your faith? Is it a hindrance or an ally?<\/strong><\/p>\n

    An ally.<\/p>\n

    I’ll preface my remarks with a reminder that I’m a strong introvert.<\/p>\n

    During the rest of the year, church alternates between hard work, painful interaction with some (including some nasty fights on the web … ahem), and high moments.\u00a0 I love working with the youth group, see the value of my work on committees (though they are a form of stress for me sometimes), and experience the difficulty of an introvert functioning in a large community.\u00a0 We are called to be in community, but our current structures aren’t really designed to make introverts comfortable.<\/p>\n

    In the summer, all of the “large group” aspects of faith get less intense.\u00a0 Our church has no air conditioning, and as a result attendance on Sunday drops WAY off.\u00a0 Committee work slows down or stops completely.\u00a0 The youth group doesn’t meet regularly which is both a bad thing (I miss them) and a good thing (I can get to sleep earlier on Sunday evening).<\/p>\n

    There are a few summer-only things too:<\/p>\n

    Church Camp<\/a> – Carolyn and I will go up to help with check-in a few Sundays this summer.\u00a0 We generally spend about 3-4 hours in the afternoon doing medical checks or doing the complicated and crazy job of managing the medical paperwork.\u00a0 For that work, we get the privilege of spending the whole day there.\u00a0 We generally arrive in time for Staff Worship in the morning and then have a leisurely lunch with our camp friends.\u00a0 Sometimes we stay for dinner (if it’s not too hot) with 100-200 excited kids and staff.<\/p>\n

    Montreat – for the first time, I’m going with my church’s youth group to the Montreat summer youth conference<\/a> (week VI, in case you’re going).\u00a0 I’m doing this with some trepidation – the last time I did something like this was Youth Triennium in 1986 when I WAS a youth, but it should be fun.\u00a0 We have something like 10 youth and 4 adults going for the program plus another adult in a support role.<\/p>\n

    Last, let’s not forget that my return to the church was sparked by a conversation at camp at lunch on a Sunday that I did check-in.\u00a0 Summer is generally pretty good to my faith.<\/p>\n

    Let’s see.\u00a0 I tag:<\/p>\n

    Cheesehead in Paradise<\/a>
    \nAlan of     Some Amusing Blog Pun<\/a>
    \nGannet Girl of     Search the Sea<\/a>
    \nAdam Walker-Cleaveland of     Pomomusings<\/a>
    \n    Little Miss Sew and Sow<\/a>