The summer when Eliza was 11, she went to a week long sleep away camp at the Ben Lomond Quaker Center. We’re not members of the Religious Society of Friends, but Julie had long been curious about their practices. She had been looking for ways to enrich our spiritual lives. Based on what we read, the Quaker way aligned with our values and its education system benefited many people we admire.
The BLQC is on 80+ acres of redwood forest in the Santa Cruz Mountains, which have long been exerting a magnetic pull on me. From our home over the hill, I’d been studying the land maps, with dreams of my own mountain compound. Driving down to the center, I was excited to see in real life the campgrounds, event venues, and retreat centers; public and private, secular and religious. The kids had been to Camp Campbell before through school, the YMCA offers programing there too. Saint Aloysius, Mary’s place, Camp Harmon. I’ll do a post on my SCM land seeking another time.
A few of the Quaker values that Julie told me about was that they were egalitarian, inclusive, and believed everyone had a role to contribute to the community. That was clearly evident to me in the short time between arriving and dropping Eliza off.
Like any summer camp, there are the “grown-ups”, the counselors, the counselors-in-training, and the campers themselves. And this camp’s staffing was no different. There was a director: a gentle-mannered pony-tailed man who seemed about our age but ageless at the same time. While he was the “adult in the room”, managing the 20s-something and teenage counselors, it didn’t seem like he needed to lean on his age or position to exercise his wisdom.
The counselors operated with an ease and agency that I found refreshing compared to younger people I’ve encountered elsewhere. I was impressed by a counselor that gave us our tour and took Eliza in. She must have been 14 or 15, wore a crop top with cargo pants, and a nose piercing. To me she looked plucked from a 90s mall rat movie and dropped in the middle of the woods. But there was no eye-rolling, no disinterested sarcasm. When we asked questions, we had her full attention. She’d pause to think, reply sincerely with eye-contact. She understood what she knew but also understood the limits of her abilities. It wasn’t self-consciousness but rather self-awareness and presence that put us adults at ease. And Eliza seemed drawn to her energy— simultaneously edgy and competent in a way she had not encountered previously in a young person.
As we met more of the staff and community, I felt more reassured that we were leaving Eliza in good hands. The personalities were different but the underlying vibe was consistent— it was all hands on deck to give the campers an amazing experience, and everyone had their own unique skills to contribute and role to play. We said our goodbyes, and Emilia was probably the saddest out of all of us to separate from her older sister.
Eliza ended up having a great time and the staff was so complementary of her when we picked her up. She’ll be returning this summer.
