We were up and out early for our big day at camp. Today’s
schedule lured in two more resident campers despite the fact that revelry
sounded before noon. We set off for the city of Baltimore at 9:30am. While I
had hoped for lively conversation en route, three out of four campers were
otherwise occupied with ear buds and/or books. Undeterred, my most faithful
camper kept me entertained and helped navigate.
One of the reasons I love the Walters Art Gallery is that it’s
free. The other reason is that I always find a parking place right out front –
and today was no exception. There was even 47 minutes left on the meter! As we
entered the museum I challenged the campers to find the weirdest thing and the
funniest thing in the museum. One brother immediately tagged the other and
said, “Found it!” Too early for that kind of humor apparently.
We headed for the current exhibit, a modern art collection
which, while entertaining, left most of us wondering. This led to the question –
“What makes something art?” For surely if it’s defined by the pieces in the
current exhibit, I’ve got more than a few masterpieces in our playroom and
basement.
It didn’t take long for me to lose all my campers except
one. I stuck with him because A) he had no phone with which to track him down
and B) every security guard we passed warned him “Please, don’t touch,” even
though he never touched anything. (He did lean perilously close several times.)
We enjoyed visiting with some of our favorite pieces in the collection
– mostly weapons and armor, but then discovered a room we hadn’t seen before.
The Knight’s Hall is hidden in a little detour just off the Islamic Weapons
collection. Two campers were delighted to discover a checker board and
immediately sat down for a game. When another group of campers happened along
they collected an audience for quite a while until that group’s counselor’s
dragged them away.
As the game heated up, I had a chance to look at the small
collection in the room. There were a few odd pieces.
Any guesses?
Yep, Dwarf Centaur.
Chandoler Bust with Antelors. Hmm.
After briefly gawking at the prices in the gift shop we
tracked down the disappearing camper and left to get lunch. The mostly unanimous
choice (camp directors don’t get a vote) was The Hard Rock Café.
After finishing our meal (actually the moment they put down their forks)
the campers set off for Barnes & Noble promising to rendezvous at the check
out in 30 minutes. My favorite camper paid the tab and we followed. The ride
home was quiet – tummies full and new books!
Our original schedule called for kayaking at this point, but
everyone was plumb tuckered out by the big city and several had tummy aches
from lunch (in a moment of incredible self-control, I did not point out the correlation
between greasy processed food and tummy troubles). Since the absent-minded camp
director had neglected to reserve kayaks anyway, it was decided to substitute rest/reading
time followed by cookie baking for the kayaking timeslot.
The cookies were
delish.
I’ve decided that the name of the game in camp directing is
flexibility. We’ll see what tomorrow brings!
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