It’s been another joyous day here in the mountains of Merri-Mac! The sun rose and gave us a beautiful morning for the girls to wake up to and start doing their chores. We came down to the Tucker Inn for breakfast where we had a delicious Merri-Mac specialty: breakfast pizza! After clearing and singing morning songs, we headed up to the chapel where we sang  and danced to “Pharoah, Pharaoh” (a camp favorite) and listened to Miranda give a hilarious and beautiful talk about a time she accidentally ate a poisonous peach nut. After a little bit of free time, the bugle sounded and it was time for first period. As it was the first day of Tuesday/Thursday/Saturday classes, everyone had safety talk and learned what they’d be getting into in each of their classes–then dove right in! I ran into Cooking making some gorgeous pies, Archery starting to shoot, and DIY Craft learning to cross-stitch. After two periods, it was time for lunch, where we were thrilled to find a good southern meal: fried chicken sandwiches and sweet potato fries. After singing tribal songs and finding out that Seminoles won the Sock War last night, we were met by an exciting visitor and an even more exciting announcement: Santa, telling us that tonight’s activity is Christmas Eve! Everyone went wild, but soon it was time to quiet down for rest hour. Not for too long, though; everyone was ready to run to Trading Post when the bugle rang. After some free time to hang out, play in the creek, or challenge a friend to tetherball, it was time for activities again: Kayaking was practicing hip-snaps, PAWS was teaching the adorable (and recently initiated) puppies to sit, and Riding was already trotting over poles. Not long after fourth period was over, I started to see girls of all ages filing down the hill towards dinner wearing red and green–some even wearing antlers! Perfect for the night’s theme, we all had roast pork, cinnamon apples, peas, and potatoes, with pudding for dessert. Back up on the hill, older campers babysat the younger ones with fun activities like making visors for secret Santas, or creating skits for tomorrow’sChristmas Vespers. Once they were all tucked in, staff came around and caroled to every cabin–beautiful Christmas songs and lit by candlelight. Little do the campers know it, but they’ll all be finding a stocking filled with candy when they wake up tomorrow!

Love,

Merri-Mac Counselor Robyn