We spent the past two months
Making art and teaching and being a part of
A glorious artistic commune in the woods
Our merry old land 
That “miraculously” appears every summer in the Connecticut woods
Where 6 summers ago
I fell in love with my husband
Beneath shooting stars and wrapped in the smell of peppermint.

For the first time in eight summers I dreaded coming back
All my fears were confirmed, and then some
But it was still Buck's Rock.

During team building
We built statues from cardboard and string
A perfect metaphor for the way all the shops come together
To create something
Out of nothing

The temperatures were mercifully milder
It rained on more Saturdays than I can remember
We only had 2 or 3 lunches on the lawn
The gong fell off its hinges
My super power of being immune to mosquitos was temporary
I was eaten alive and covered in large red welts and bites

I still can't quite believe we staged a full-scale production of The Who's Tommy in 19 days from start to finish.
I still hate the musical, but I love our show
Especially our glorious team.
At the end of sitzprobe, a bunch of campers came up to me,
Grinning from ear to ear
Ecstatic at having sung with a rock band
They hugged and thanked me for getting them there,
In all my shows at Buck’s Rock,
That has never happened before.
Our cast were tight-knit and weeks after the show had ended
Could be found singing the songs with ukuleles on the lawn.

I can't believe what an uphill battle it was to put together The Wizard of Oz.
I thought it would be easy.
It’s The Wizard of Oz. Who doesn’t know The Wizard of Oz?!
Turns out, lots of people.
Not having a full cast until the week of the show
Not having a full pit until the day before the show
Having to deal with difficult behavior from grown-ups.
I'm so proud of the kids for whom this was their first time on stage, ever.
The kids who came up to me and told me they were scared to be in the musical but now they can't wait next year because they want to do it again.

Seeing kids learning to express themselves
Helping them find their voices
Teaches me so much about myself
As a person, as a performer.
The cliche is unbelievably true
If you become a teacher,
By your pupils you’ll be taught.

I loved the evening activities
The hilarity of the slip n’ slide
The fierceness of thumb wars and staring contests
Having my tea leaves read by an earnest and beautiful camper
A multitude of plays and concerts and recitals
Inspiring, funny, moving, intense.

The honor of being a CIT-assist
Going to snack on the basketball court
Being able to go to the Falconridge Folk Festival
Watching kids learn to adult, 
They stumble and fall and fly

My secret santa, Nate
Gifted me the most beautiful portrait
I desperately wish it could be my headshot
It is exactly who I want to be.

Days off, a welcome break from the intensity
Picnicking at Lake Warramug
Ice cream in Kent
Camping in Housatonic State Park because Macedonia Brook was closed
When we’re surrounded by pine forest 
I want to abandon everything and
Build a cob cottage and
Become a park ranger and learn about eco systems and soil and
Be the kind of person who can identify all the different kinds of fungi

This summer,
I ran just over 190km through the Connecticut woods.
I taught voice lessons.
I sang with an orchestra.
I played in a flute choir.

At night
Fireflies danced in the dusk
Bioluminescent bums twinkling
I would fall asleep to a
Calamitous frog and cricket choir

If someone had told me, almost ten years ago,
That I would still be coming back 
Year after year 
And be married to a Buck's Rocker 
I wouldn’t have believed them
I am so lucky to have found this place. 

And here we are
And then, it is gone.
​
The end. ​