Augustatrons!

FIVE years now I have been at Augusta…oh, what a wonderful home 

Those who I have met before will know me as Looby, my friends in England who I grew up with know me as Lucy Haynes, and those who have witnessed the past few months of my life will now know me as Lucy Haynes-Furman. But, if you take away all the labels, I’m still the same freckly English girl who loves the activities at camp that are high in the trees, and adores climbing fabric. I’m often in the camp Hobbit Hole (also known as “the office”), but this summer I’m hoping to return for a session back to a familiar haunt for me – Oak.

From 2006-2008, I was the Oak 3 Counselor, and boy, do I think fondly of the many incredibly fun campers I spent time with there. Camp, to me, is all about having fun, being in nature, being with friends and finding out new things about yourself - and that’s not just for you guys, the campers. Camp Augusta is a place for learning and growing, and that’s why I consider it so special to me. Since coming to Augusta (I avoid using the word “working” here intentionally, as it never feels like work!), I have learned how to facilitate a high ropes adventure, and I’ve had the pleasure of playing in the trees with a number of campers; I’ve learned songs that make me smile when I sing them to myself in my head in the supermarket; I’ve learned what really simple and organic food can do for my body; I’ve learned what Lazy Dog flavors I like; and I’ve learned that there are very few limits to what I can achieve in the world. Climbing fabric (aerial silks) was one of the hardest things I’ve ever challenged myself at. For the first 3 months solid, I worked on climbing and ground inversions. For days after my body would ache, but something kept drawing me back to the silk – the beauty of an art which requires so much grace and power combined. It’s an adrenalin rush like no other, and now not only do I get to play on the silks all the time, I get to teach it too, and share that passion with others…with you.

And, so here I am, at Augusta, just itching and waiting for you to arrive.

This winter I’ve lived at Augusta and witnessed how the different seasons can transform this place. I’ve seen snow covering the rocks around the creek, I’ve seen the lake EMPTY (that’s right!), I’ve seen a 3-legged coyote run through camp and seen the destruction of the dumpster by a very hungry bear. Just a few weeks ago, I saw the arrival of our new baby goats when they were just 2 weeks old. Petunia, Cookies, Deuce, Taco and Tumnus are still being bottle-fed, and we love and care for them as though we’re their Mom. They will be bottle-fed for most of the summer, so I have no doubt that they are looking forward to many campers being around to help give them their bottle. Oh, and they like to jump on backs, so be careful about kneeling down – they’ll sneak around like ninjas and climb you like you’re a Giant’s Junkyard before you know it…

In December, I got the urge to travel and see a new part of the world, so I flew to South Africa to see what I could find. I had no idea that it would turn into such a magical experience – while I was there, I hung out with a 3 month old baby Tiger, rode an elephant, bungee-jumped off Africa’s tallest bridge, caught 3 sharks on a rather rough ocean expedition, was in a plane that got struck by lightning, hiked to the very top of Table Mountain and finally, I hijacked a Soleil and bought her back with me. On the long trip back to California, I spent Christmas in England and New Years in Copenhagen (Denmark) visiting both my home and family, and some of my Augusta family in their homes.

Traveling always inspires me to write, and since I didn’t make time to write much in between all of my adventures around South Africa and Europe, I had the idea to start a Camp Augusta blog upon my return, where the camp staff around the world can write about both camp and what they’re currently up to in their home lives. A new entry was posted every week, or every two weeks since February, and you can catch up on the posts at www.blogspot.campaugusta.com. Oh, and stay tuned, I have plans for a camper blog during the summer 

Amongst many of the escapades I’ve pursued between the end of the last magical Augusta summer, I’ve embarked upon one of the most exciting journey’s of my life…by getting married to my adventure buddy and my love, known to many of you as the Pine Village Leader, Matt Furman. Camp Augusta was the place that we met, and we hope that it continues to be a place we call home for quite a while yet. Whether we stay here for years to come or escape on future travels to explore the far reached corners of the earth, Camp Augusta will always have a special place in our hearts.

And so, to the future – what will that look like for me? Well, I plan to use as many of the skills I’ve acquired in my life as possible. I graduated from the University of Wales, Bangor with a BA in Business and Marketing, I’m a trained Reflexologist, and I love working with youth. I want to be a part of our world moving in a positive direction, and I believe Camp Augusta plays a big part in that. Right now, at Augusta, I’m one of the Program Directors and I feel so fortunate to be able to be in a position of making sure that you, yes YOU, get to do as many of the activities that you want to while you’re at camp.  I also get to be a part of bringing you new activities to Augusta, so here’s a little snippit of what new fandazzley stuff we have for you this year:
-Aerial Hoop (Lyra)
-Boomerangs
-A HUGE new zip line
-Ninja Agility Course
-Unicycling
-Bow Fishing
-Aerial Yoga
-Bee Keeping
-Recycling Art
-Orienteering
-Etc etc etc….

And, remember, those are in ADDITION to all of the amazing activities we had on offer last summer. Crazy we are, I tell ya.

You can probably see why I love Augusta so much from the above – we’ll always be an evolving camp with lots of new skills to teach you and fun to be had. Many people will tell you that children “should” play, be carefree, enjoy the wilderness and take advantage of being young. I don’t deny that, but I also think that it wouldn’t hurt for everyone to do that occasionally…not just children!

After growing up in the UK, and traveling all over the world after I finished my studies, I couldn’t be more grateful to have landed here in California, now as a base for my future travels. One day I hope to go to Australia, India, Thailand, Japan and everywhere in between. I love to talk about other places and cultures, and I’m a big fan of international food. In New Zealand, I once ate alligator, kangaroo, buffalo and snail…I tend to not cook such obscure foods, but cooking is one of my favorite things to do. I could talk forever about my favorite things to do…I enjoy doing far too many things. Sometimes I just can’t choose – I wish there were more hours in the day, more days at camp, and more camp sessions in a year. Then I’d be more likely to get through most of the things I enjoy. Or maybe I’d just end up enjoying more things! Who knows.

With that, I challenge you to think about what things you enjoy, and then when you get to camp, come tell me about them! Maybe we can create some new activities together for camp in the future, or maybe we can turn your idea a playstation. There are very few limits at camp, and I feel blessed to be able to make the magic happen.

See you this summer!
Looby x