Thursday, July 15, 2010

I’m up in Central California with a ton of friends—97 in all—on our annual King’s River! This is the group’s 32^nd year and our family’s tenth.

When we began coming, there were no other families with kids as young as ours. But over the past few years, there’s been an upsurge of younger kids coming, the result of those who grew up on these river trips now having kids of their own.

The best part of watching a new generation of kids come on these floats is watching how the older, twenty-something-year-olds mentor the younger ones…without having to be told to. Not only that, but they really enjoy passing on the pearls of wisdom their years of floating and camping along the river have taught them. In additions, they enjoy helping to keep a watchful eye on the little ones, which provides an opportunity most young don’t have these days—the chance to have a little freedom to explore and keep themselves occupied without the hindrance of electronics or gadgets.

One of today’s sources of entertainment was a lizard that was caught, not harmed, but kept as a pet for a few hours. It even went into town with us, sitting atop the wide brim of a hat, and had breakfast with us. Well, we ate breakfast, it watched. After, we came back to camp and returned it to where it had been found. It was great to see how entertained the kids were with the lizard. Confirmed what we’ve always known, given the chance, kids will occupy themselves.

The rest of the day was comprised of long floats, short floats, kids chasing one another and adults and kids playing ping pong, volleyball, croquet etc. They young played with the tiny, the old played with the teens, and all had a great time. Wonderful to watch. Even greater to be a part of.