Category: love

The Split Mind

indigoshellLeave a comment

As the day goes on, exhaustion starts to grow. Not that I’ve done anything besides sit around all day, but nonetheless, I feel exhausted.

It all happens unconsciously. I sit down next to two friends and then immediately memorize who’s sitting in the room with us. One, two, three, four, and then five adults. The boys take over the couches, and the girls weave around the snack tables.

The big game is showing on the TV, and I repeatedly flicker my eyes to the screen, keeping track of the score and any big plays that might have happened. There are also people outside playing ping-pong, and I try to mentally mark the people who are outside.

And while I’m so absorbed in the room, I’m also talking to the person to my left. The one that is so demanding of my attention, and I’m thinking about my inability to give it to him.

Photo cred; healthyplace.com

Because my mind and my senses are completely split, there is no way in bloody heck that I can ever pay attention to one thing and one thing only. My ears strain to hear the conversations on the couches and my eyes try to watch and make sure everyone is alright and okay. God knows why my mind just can’t settle down.

So now it’s the end of the day, but I don’t feel like I’m allowed to say “I’m exhausted” because I have literally done nothing but sit around all day.

ASITs, Attention! ASITs, Begin! Junior Missing, Junior Missing!

indigoshell

The buddy system – it’s a common thing among younger children, for safety, you know, for safety. With 240 acres of land and forest and potentially dangerous animals at every corner, campers must walk in groups of two or more at all times. Even Seniors and ASITs have to do it. Counselors are the only ones that don’t need to follow the buddy system, though I think they’re the ones that have the most potential to get injured.

The buddy system is fairly complicated. The ground rule is that you must have a same-gender buddy at all times. You know, so nothing happens. Last year, my female friend and I would have a male friend with us, and that was allowed. This year though, it wasn’t allowed, so the only way we could hang out with our guy friend was if he had another male buddy. It wasn’t a huge deal, really. The only complaints we had were “freedom” complaints, but most of us were too tired to really care.

When Juniors have their Free Time, us ASITs have to sit in an area and make sure that they have their buddies, water bottles, and name tags. We also have to make sure that all the animals aren’t too perturbed (a favorite word of one of my counselors) to be handled, nobody leaves their buddies to go to a different Animal Area, they take with them everything that they brought into the room, and above all that, we have to make sure that everyone’s handling their animal correctly.

My (specialty) favourite room is the Reptile Room, and let me tell you, having 10 juniors with 10 different snakes and lizards out can be a little stressful. Not only do we have to make sure that snakes and lizards are on opposite sides of the room, our Kingsnakes have to be five feet away from any other snakes, we have to make sure none of them touches the ground, snakes aren’t allowed around necks or shoulders, and we have to watch each animal for irritation.

For different Animal Areas, different rules apply, and different amounts of stress follows each area. But the same idea remains: keep the animals safe, keep the Juniors safe, and hope that the Seniors are smart and listen to their Counselors – because Counselors are the ones that work during Senior Free Time.

ASITs, attention! ASITs, begin! Cry a lot, cry a lot!

indigoshell

A 14-hour workday is not easy for anybody, especially not for teenagers aged 15 to 17. You have to, have to, follow the rules, or risk either being asked to leave camp or be demoted back to being a camper, which, speaking from experience, is a rather sad experience.

Being an ASIT gives you a lot more freedom. You don’t have to sign in and out during free time whenever you want to walk around camp, you’re allowed to have your electronics (phones and/or laptops), and you don’t have to be under constant Counselor supervision.

But with great power comes great responsibility. We, the ASITs, know more than campers, and often know more than Counselors too. During Morning Rounds, it’s our job not only to clean and water the animals, but to check for sick or dead animals. It’s usually and ASIT that discovers a dead or dying animal first, even before any Animal Specialists. Following that job is having the responsibility to not let any campers (or gossipy Counselors) know that an animal had died. Usually, a short “oh Dallas went to the vet” is enough to quiet a kid down.

ASITs are aged 15-17, so often times campers that are 17 years old won’t want to listen to a 15-year-old ASIT. “Threatening” them with a Counselor works most of the time, but some campers can be stubborn. Some rules are tough, annoying, or seem meaningless to the Camper and the ASIT too, but it’s there for a reason and ASITs do everything they can to keep campers and our animals safe.

The most frustrating part of being an ASIT may not be the hard physical work but dealing with animals and people who just don’t understand why things are they way they are.


Then there’s our mold problem…

ASITs, attention! ASITs, begin! Put ‘cho shoes on, put ‘cho shoes on!

indigoshell

A full day of being an ASIT starts at 7:15am and goes to, on a bad day, 9:30pm. Which is nearly 14 hours of work and “work.”

Morning rounds are the first thing we do every day, even before eating breakfast. After breakfast we clean our ASIT lounge and then head off to morning courses and classes

An ASIT tradition is that we take about 10 minutes to put on our shoes.

Courses are week-long commitments that can range from Riflery to Adopt-an-Animal. Classes are just for an hour. Seniors (ages 12-17) have courses in the morning and Juniors (ages 7-12) have classes in the morning, and ASITs are split up to assist with classes and courses.

Sometimes, assisting can mean you’re an extra pair of eyes and you get to join in with the class. Sometimes, assisting can mean teaching the campers how to be safe with the animals.

ASITs usually help with Junior classes and courses, as younger children in general need more supervision. Some classes and courses, like the Jungle or the Habitats, require more supervision because of special animals.

Our lemurs and large (4 foot long) lizard enclosures, for example, need extra supervision, as they can be slightly dangerous or more sensitive as, say, a ferret or parrots.

We have lunch and Free Time for about two hours, as well as Leadership Training, which is basically talks about enthusiasm or how (or how not) break up a fight between campers. After Leadership, Seniors have classes and Juniors have courses, and basically the morning is repeated.

Dinner, then free time, then we have Evening Activity. Activities, like the Bug Hunt and the Fashion show, require the ASITs to prep for it, which could be clearing out 20 tables and 200 chairs or simply spreading out around camp and hiding. Sometimes ASITs have to help clean up after Evening Activities, like putting the tables and chairs back or cleaning up water guns and balloon remains.

Curfew can be from 9:45pm to 11pm depending on how many ASITs we have and how well we’re behaving. Though, after a full day, most ASITs want to sleep by dinnertime.

Have You Ever Seen, An ASIT Company

indigoshell

This summer, I spent a grand total of eight weeks at summer camp. Yes, the same summer camp, but this time I was not a lowly camper.

I was an ASIT. 

An ASIT. Animal Specialist in Training. We, 11-25 of us, wake up at 6:45 a.m. to feed, water, and clean the enclosures of over 300 different camp animals. There are four areas; the Barn, the Animal Learning Center (ALC for short), the Jungle, and the Kennels.

Barn people take care of the Inner Barn, the Back Pastures, the Nursery, the Bird Nursery, and the Creepy Crawly Room.

ALC people take care of the Habitats, the Small Animal Room, the Reptile Room, and the Cat Room.

The Jungle and the Kennels are their own areas.

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I worked (I PAID TO WORK) as an ASIT for 6 weeks, meaning I worked in every area at least once. My pride and joy, where I wished I could sleep at night, was the Reptile Room. I memorized the meals of 7 reptile species in under three days. My greatest moment was walking into the ALC Kitchen and the lead Animal Specialist planted herself in front of me and said “just the person I was looking for! I need you to feed the reptiles!”

Chuckwallas, Mali Uromastyx, Green Iguana, Leopard Tortoise, Plated Lizards, Blue-Tongued Skink, Bearded Dragon, Leopard Gecko. For the sake of my own pride, I listed the reptiles (minus the snakes) that we took care of. For the sake of time and space I won’t write down their meals.

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The Habitats was the next area I memorized. Again, under three days.

Given the time, I assure you I would have memorized all the meals for the animals. I didn’t really try anyways until the last week.

O Swell

frog3Leave a comment

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O gee willikers mister. Today on the magic yellow dragon with wheels I had the privilege of traveling to lower. It was so nar. As I jumped in the clean pool the water greeted me with a warm embrace. It was swell. After mingling and speaking to my fellow OVS students I went on the greatest walk I’ve ever been on. A magic bear appeared before me, it said “ if you could have one wish would it be.” I simply replied “ I wish I wish I was a fish.” After that I wish came to true I turned into a great black fish whom was able to swim the seven seas.

The 10 Horsey Commandments

indigoshellLeave a comment

(Totally ripping off infamousdolphin)

Hello all equestrians and non-equestrians alike.

To the equestrians; these are some rules and/or commandments that I am very sure you follow already. If you do not (guilty as charged), then you should start following them.

To the non-equestrians; I’d like to, hopefully, open a little door to the world of the horse people. Some say we’re a different species. I sure have been called that before.

1. If thy horse poops in the barn isle thou shalt CLEAN IT UP
2. If thy horse is a sporadic nutball in the arena thou must LUNGE THY HORSE
3. If thou aren’t wearing tough leather boots prepare to have thy toes RIPPED OFF by thy horse
4. Cleaning thy horse’s hooves before riding is a MUST
5. If thy horse bites you BITE IT BACK
6. If thou falls off thy horse ye must GET BACK ON
7. Horses will try to buck thee off so thou must EXPECT THE UNEXPECTED
8. Unless thou wants to clean thy stall twice, cleaning thy stall BEFORE LEAVING is the wise choice
9. If thou feeds another’s horse expect to be SHOWERED WITH FLIES
10. Saddle soap and saddle oil are the best smells ever

Jack the Cat

enternity1030Leave a comment

I just finished my favorite story this year, which was about a cool little thing – oh no, the coolest little animal – Jack the Cat.

Before I did this story, Jack was just a friendly cat to me. Whenever I see him, he just meows to me as if he is telling me he is happy.

This time, I got chance to really get a closer look to this small thing. Finally it came to my conclusion that Jack IS the coolest cat ever!

Jack is a cool student.
As soon as school starts, Jack will come out and choose his class. He enters the classroom, lies on the ground and pays full attention. However, he is really hardworking because according to our math teacher Mr.Queen, Jack does not turn in his homework on time and he never takes any tests.

Jack also frequently comes to the library. He will get up on the tables, he will use somebody’s computer and he will sniff books. Does he really read or understand the contents? Who knows.

Jack is a cooler friend.
He shares his happiness with people by meowing to them. He is confident and even more comfortable of being a member of the community. He walks to people and request their attentions. Then he looks at you and you can feel his feelings pretty much. He is always there to cheer people up and inspire the community.

Jack is the coolest cat.
He wears his shiny golden fur and patrols around the campus.
Jack has embraced nearly all the qualities not only as an animal, but moreover, he builds up the special bond with humans and becomes an essential member of the school.


Jack is like a student at the school and he makes our community feel like home.
I’ll miss this special “classmate” a lot after I leave the school.

The Green.

enternity1030Leave a comment

How do you feel when the Winter comes?
How do you feel when no one understands your loneliness and sorrow?
How do you feel when they cut your bodies and burn them into ruins?

I see you standing there alone and sighed with grief.
You are afraid of being treated as your friends.

But now you have no worries, because right now there is only me.

Tell me your pain. Tell me your despair.
You have no reasons to fear, because now it’s the time for us to realize how important you are. Tell me your concern. Tell me your anger!

You are the gifts from nature. You are the painter who decorates our world into a colorful heaven.
You are the guards of danger. And you have beautiful names – trees.

As one human being, I am now standing out to tell you that we will keep working to rebuild you a comfortable home with hope and green.

People of the Earth, our environment is getting worse these days with the development of industries and political issues. For example, the variety of life on Earth, including “the number of species of plants, animals, microorganisms, the enormous diversity of genes in these species, and the different ecosystems on the planet”(Shah, Anup), is decreasing these years.

Fortunately, most of us know the danger and are trying to change the situation by doing lots of works in different countries. In China, people begin to pick up trash in streets, parks and schools as a community services. In Japan, “FUJITSU TEN is widening the circle of voluntary environmental action, with each and every employee fulfilling his or her responsibility as a member of the community. In addition, we perform tree planting and stock waterways with fish to help maintain biodiversity.” (Global Environmental Protection)

Take the action now and begin to do the smallest things.
Starting from picking up trashes and saving energy. Do not forget the easiest ones which can change a lot as a result.

How will you feel if the air is filled with clearness and fragrance?
How will you feel if the sky is colored into bluish-green as a mirror of beauty?
How will you feel if our friend nature starts to sing out with joy again?

I see your smile with desire and hope.

Therefore, let’s stay together as a whole family to resist this crisis with confidence and courage! We can not live without each other because this is a world of GREEN!

Moment to Shine

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If I have a moment to shine,
You are the one I shine for.
If I have the fate to fall,
You are the one I fall for.

The night filled with twinkling eyes
I meet you for the first time.
That’s the moment we share,
The moment of my life.

In the same century we live,
Under the same sky we admire,
I dig for every thing we share.
You are the theme of my life.

Beside the glowing fire I
Murmur, sadly
Your soft smile, glowing eyes,

Hide amid a crowd of stars.