It was quite the night for Crystal Lake last night as we hosted our Session 1 Barn Dance! By now we’ve perfected the perfect playlist of songs to get people hype to dance along to their favorite tunes – Electric Shuffle, YMCA, Cupid Shuffle, Hokey Pokey, Cotton Eye Joe, and many more. We spent the afternoon enjoying the warm weather … Read More
Celebrating Easter Everyday
Mary Baker Eddy gave her church a Church Manual. The Manual gives lovely provisions for Mother Church members. Mrs. Eddy specifically gives a provision for Easter when she writes, “Easter Observances. Sect. 2. In the United States there shall be no special observances, festivities, nor gifts at the Easter season by members of The Mother Church. Gratitude and love should … Read More
Winter Camp Reflections
“You’re going to spend New Year’s at camp?” my friend said,”Isn’t that gonna be a little cold?” Well, honestly, yes. It was a bit cold. But it made the hikes around the lake invigorating and the light dusting of snow beautiful. The lodge and Alford Hall were nice and toasty, though. With fires crackling, we toasted marshmallows for s’mores, … Read More
The Gift of Truth
This morning while driving to an early meeting I was listening to a program on NPR. The topic was having a “no gift Christmas.” — the basic idea is that people have enough stuff and maybe the gift of time or presence is worth considering. I didn’t hear the end of the program, but the idea kept coming back to … Read More
Pond to Table Cooking at Alumni Weekend, 2016
by Holly Buchanan During Alumni Weekend we found a bumper crop of wild cranberries surrounding Hidden Pond! Several groups went picking, and then Betsy Huffman and I made cranberry bread for dessert on Saturday night in Alford Hall after a robust meal of spaghetti and meatballs, broccoli, garlic bread, and a fully-loaded salad bar. Making cranberry bread is a … Read More
April Nature Thought: March of the Salamanders
by Mark Catlin Early each spring an extraordinary thing happens. On the first warm evening with a good steady rainfall, the amphibians come out all at once from their underground beds, where they have been hibernating. When I say all at once, I mean literally hundreds of frogs, toads, and salamanders pop out of the ground and make their … Read More
Nature Thought for March: Coming Back
by Mark Catlin Yesterday morning I looked at the bird feeders in our back yard and there was a Crackle, several Starlings, and two Red Winged Black Birds. I was excited! All of these species do not hang around here (Rochester, New York) in the winter so . . . . . . they’re back. The spring migration has started and it is … Read More
Surviving My First Winter at CLC
by Megan Gerould As the weather continued to get colder and snow became a part of the forecast, I went to work making my cabin into a cozy home that I could take refuge in while watching the pretty flakes fall outside. I made a list of warm soups I would make, had the cocoa and tea packets on hand, … Read More
Nature Thought for January: Mountaintops
Recently I have been thinking about mountaintops. These are places one aspires to reach. This is because often it takes a great desire and discipline to accomplish a wilderness peak. One has to be wholly dedicated to giving extraordinary effort to make it all the way to the top. The rewards for not stopping partway are the simple exhilaration … Read More
Winter Camp 2015
After all the Christmas presents are unwrapped, and all the Christmas dinner gobbled up, many families struggle with boredom in the days following the festivities of Christmas and before New Year’s celebrations begin. This is never a problem for families who attend Winter Camp at Crystal Lake Camps. Despite the lack of snowfall, this year’s group of winter campers had … Read More
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