It is easy to see why generations of campers have fallen in love with N-Sid-Sen. It is an absolutely gorgeous piece of property. There is a long stretch of shoreline, with a very protected cove for swimming. The local volunteer fire department has a boathouse with their fireboat next to that cove, and they have put in a dock which is shared with the camp. The property is forested, primarily with pine and fir trees. The cabins have been updated. Some have bath facilities in them, others have a bath house nearby. There is a large lodge, a dining hall and an outdoor pavilion with a roof and open sides. Across the state highway from the main camp is a large undeveloped area with 3 miles of hiking trails.

There are a few roads and trails in the main part of camp, all of which are laid out in circles, so you can find your way by continuing on your walk.

Being a lifelong church camper, there are parts of camp that feel very familiar to me. We unloaded our things from our car and then parked it in a common parking area near the camp entrance. The camp is set up for walking. Those who need assistance with mobility getting around camp have access to a golf cart, but the rest of us walk. It is part of the process of slowing down and simplifying life.

At least for our cell phone company, there is no signal in camp. We did find a place with a very weak signal, but we won’t be receiving the nearly constant flow of pictures and messages until we leave camp. The camp does have an internet connection and wi-fi is available in one of the buildings, but I won’t have access to the wi-fi at the time I am used to publishing my journal. I’ll connect to the Internet and publish my journal between 7 and 8 am on most days. I’ll have to see how it goes. I have a week to develop my routine before it will be time to head back home.

I’ve forgotten how much the cell phone is a part of my daily life these days. I realized that I had not left any other contact number with our children when I headed out for camp. Last night, I carried my computer down to the place where there is wi-fi and managed to send an email to our children with the camp’s phone number in case of emergencies.

We used to accept even more isolation at camp. When we were growing up, and in the years when we managed Camp Mimanagish, there was no telephone service in our camp. An emergency message from the camp had to be delivered by driving more than 20 miles to the nearest telephone. An emergency message to someone at the camp was delivered by a Sheriff’s deputy who drove more that 40 miles to deliver the message. We didn’t have any emergencies demanding that type of communication during the time that we were managers. I made one emergency trip to town with a camper who had an allergic reaction to a bee sting. All of the rest of the things that happened at camp were things that we were able to handle. We spent the entire summer without access to telephone in an era before the Internet. We got our news from picking up a newspaper once a week when we made a trip to town for groceries.

Our current mode of constant connection through our cell phones and computers is not the only way to live. Next time I come to camp, I’ll d a little bit better job of disconnecting and plan for the simple joy of simply being in a beautiful place without the need for all of the communication. However, for this trip, I didn’t plan and I have a fair amount of communication that is needed in order to keep things moving with the rest of my life. I’ll be checking my email a couple of times each day to keep the work from piling up too deep before I get back to home and office in a week.

I’m doing my usual trick of writing in the wee hours of the morning. I got up from bed and came into a room in the common area of the lodge where we are staying. As I write, there is a bat that somehow got into the building. It is flying around in the rafters overhead. If this were my home, I would feel a need to solve the problem of the bat that got indoors, but switched into my camp mode, I realize that the creature is doing no harm at present and tomorrow during daylight hours there will be time to try to figure out how the bat got into the building and to escort it to an outdoor space, if needed. It is possible that the creature is confused by lights that are normally not turned on. It is also possible that it has been coming and going from the rafters in this building for some time. It poses no danger to me.

Living with the other creatures of this planet has been a part of human existence since time immemorial. We have developed ways of creating places for ourselves that keep most of the critters outside and having them come inside seems like a bit of a threat. I’m glad that the place where we are sleeping is not a place where the bat can get. And I’m glad that the creatures that can get into this building are small like the bat. I would prefer not to be surprised by a raccoon or a bear, but I’m not worried about that.

I’m hoping to see deer in the morning as I get to know a bit more about this special place. Camp is about the community. We eat together, sing together, worship together, and learn together. But camp is also about the space and about being closer to the natural world. I guess living without a cell phone signal with a bat flying overhead is just part of the process. It’s going to work out just fine, I’m sure.