Trailblazer

The First Little Nguyen: blazing trails to forests far and wide.... ...with a camp photo and his nametag.
This week the First Little Nguyen has been enjoying his mornings away at Camp Blazing Trails. Of course, I have no photos of all of the wonderful things he got to do this week, so most of this post is going to be plain old storytelling. Earlier in the Spring, I was reading about a YMCA camp at Blue Jay Point-- Safety and Survival in the Outdoors -- which I told the First Little Nguyen about. The description I read to him included the words water, adventure, canoeing, archery, and fishing. I'll give you one guess what his response was!
His walking stick
So, my First Little Nguyen has been waiting the whole summer long for this week to come. And, finally, thankfully, it did! I have never in my seven years of being his mommy seen him as excited as he was on Monday afternoon when I picked him up. The first morning he went to Blazing Trails he was to take with him a sturdy walking stick to use on hikes during the week. His counselors ("Captain Planet", "Moose", and "Duck") used a sautering iron to burn his initals into it, along with BT09 (Blazing Trails 2009). A small hole was punctured through the top of the stick and a leather cord looped through it and tied. He was eager to tell me that day that the three beads on the cord (red, white and orange) were earned for a caring attitude, demonstrating responsibility and showing respect. Each day he comes home with new beads and stories to tell about how he got them. In addition to his desire to earn these beads, he set his sights high on the coveted "Camper of the Day" honor. Goals are good!
A string full of achievements....
Monday also brought a visit from a rescue helicopter from UNC Hospitals. Let me set the scene: the campers were led to a large, grassy clearing in the forest where they were asked to "keep their eyes on the sky for large birds." Imagine their surprise when that "bird" turned out to be a large white helicopter with a Carolina blue tarheel on its belly! The campers got to meet the woman flying it, and they were encouraged to climb into the cockpit to check things out. The First Little Nguyen was quite surprised how cramped the cockpit was, recalling how he was barely able to stand up straight in there. Anyway, the ride home was full of scintillating conversation as he unloaded all of the details including how many rescue helicopters reside in eastern North Carolina (14), how fast they travel ("Do you know that helicopter can get from here to Fayetteville in ten minutes?"), and which sorts of emergency situations they are used in.

On Tuesday (Fishing Day!) not only did he get to canoe, but he also got to go fishing. The First Little Nguyen loves to fish, but he hasn't had much luck in his past fishing excursions (so disappointing). Well, not this time! On this day, he caught "a catfish with whiskers and it was about eleven inches long!", reeled its poundage in all by himself, and KISSED it!!! Yes, my son kissed a fish! (Is that like young hunters drinking the blood of the first deer they kill?) Apparently, the counselors encouraged him to do so, saying it was traditional to show affection to your catch before throwing it back to swim free. I have not fished enough in my life to know whether or not this is true, but I felt compelled to disinfect his lips with Purell immediately (which I restrained myself from doing) after hearing all the reports of high bacteria levels in Falls Lake this past few weeks. Ick. But YAY for the First Little Nguyen!!! He has always dreamt of feeling that telltale tug on his fishing line and reeling in his catch by himself.

Events centering around targets, shooting and arrows came later in the week. As I pulled away from Rides In, I winced as I thought about bows and arrows. Surely, I thought, they will not give real arrows to children. Surely...right? Well, I had to flip around, park and quiz the nearest counselor to make sure. I walked away reassured...You can breathe now, Sarah. He recounted his stories of archery day, saying that it was really hard to "hit the targets" (floating balloons). But, he was happy to have been armed with a bow and arrow anyway. How often does a seven-year old get to shoot a bow and arrow these days? At our house, we don't often arm our children bows and arrows, so it was really a once-in-a-summer opportunity.

Today, his last day of camp, when I picked him up, he was full of more excitement than imaginable, if that is even possible. He won Camper of the Day, receiving a shiny silver bead to add to the string of beads on his walking stick. He was SO proud of himself, excitedly showing it to the Second Little Nguyen and I. Goal achieved...remember how that feels? What a rush! I felt all warm inside, kind of like I felt when I was 10 years old and was the "Top Cookie" in my Girl Scout troop for selling the 103 boxes of cookies that year.

Showing off the coveted silver bead...

The First Little Nguyen has loved the hikes on the trails each day, eating lunch on the forest floor or the shore of the lake, and a multitude of other things about Camp Blazing Trails. He has already asked if he can go back next summer. I think, given his enthusiasm, this will become a tradition for him each year. Who knows? Maybe he will follow in his Shafer cousins' footsteps and spend his high school years as a camp counselor. I think that would be right down his alley...or trail, that is.