The riflery instructor Paige has been announcing a lot of names lately of girls joining the “Bullseye Club.” Being able to shoot a bullseye in riflery is not easy. It really does take a great deal of practice to learn how to sight the rifles and remain steady while shooting. Each rifle can have its own quirks to consider as well. That’s why the girls will tell you about their favorite gun, all of which, by the way, have names like Othello, Captain Jack, and the Fresh Prince.

In pottery, Katie and Will, our dynamic lead ceramics instructors, are inspiring the campers to create some really cool pieces. In addition to simple tiles pressed with nature patterns, they’ve been making mugs from clay slabs, adding complex designs, a handle, and colorful glazes. We’ve also seen amazing sculptures of animals and trees, and plenty of pots being thrown on the wheel. We’re beginning to fire all of this session’s pieces in the kilns, so it won’t be long before we can see how all the pottery turns out.

Today was also a day of tie dyeing in “Hodge Podge.” This happens about once a week around here. We bring out the gloves, rubber bands, and squirt bottles of dye, and pre-soak the shirts in a mild solution of urea (which helps dissolve more dye in water and keep the shirts wet longer). Armed with multiple colors of dye, the girls love twisting, tying, and folding the shirts. You’ll be amazed when you see how they turn out.

The kitchen treated us to “International Day” today, with each meal inspired by a different ethnic cuisine. Breakfast was probably the most unusual— a traditional Tico (Costa Rican) breakfast of scrambled eggs, black beans and rice, sliced avocado, slabs of mild white cheese, salsa and fresh berries. For lunch, we switched to Mediterranean food and had homemade hummus, falafel, pita bread, olives, feta cheese, tomato and cucumber salad. And at dinner, out came steak fajitas (with grilled onions and peppers), beans, tortillas, fresh guacamole, chips, cheese and salsa. This was a great day to eat at camp!

Clyde, Kelsey and Tara took an advanced kayaking trip to the Nantahala river today as well. They packed a lunch and headed to the river for the whole day with a small group of seniors. The Nantahala has a few technical rapids but also a several gentler sections making the trip a nice mix of action and time to talk. Clyde is great about telling girls about the river and coaching them as they approach each rapid. Back at camp, the girls were excited to report clean runs through the last big rapid, the Nantahala Falls, with only one swimmer at the very end. That’s a great accomplishment!