A really difficult morning for Rudy. He woke with huge tears in his eyes and pretty much continued the crying until we dropped him off. At one point, he said in a shaky voice, “I’ll probably sleep great tonight…you know, cuz of all the weeping.” Poor guy. But listen, before you jump too quickly to report us to CPS, you’ve got to understand that last year, when we picked him up from camp, he did just as much “weeping” because he had to leave.
We sat in the receiving line, waiting to get checked in. Rudy Bear had a stomach full of knots due to the fear of the unknown, being gone almost twice as long, being worried about bigger tasks he may have to tackle, wondering about his cabin mates, you name it, he worried about it. We talked him through all kinds of scenarios and laughed a lot. The camp director, Clay approached the window and was very excited to see Rudy again. Then, our favorite admin staff member, Peaches, came up to the window. A fellow momma, she recognized the red eyes and swollen cheeks and offered her hand and a shoulder for him to lean on. He openly shared his tears with her and felt safe letting her know how sad he was. She assured him it would be so fun and he could come to her ANY time he needed a hug. The staff at Colvig Silver Camps are all so kind and understanding. We ALWAYS feel positive leaving Rudy with them.
The other campers enthusiastically greeted Rudy and said he could take all three top bunks, immediately dubbing him, “Rudy the Overlord”!! Despite his tears (still flowing) we know he kind of loved that. Dad climbed up in the bunk with help to get him settled in, and that was super cool for Rudes. This age group, “Spruce”, gets to stay in the “treehouses” at camp. Rudy is in the “Cracker Jack” treehouse!
Trying to stay positive and happy.
We had been gone a couple hours and we got this picture sent to us from Peaches, who kept calling him “Happy Rudy”, in hopes that he will believe it himself in time. Looks like it’s working just fine!
Feeling much better all around, and only a couple tears shed by me (once out of Rudy’s sight), we made our way back into town to get ready for our gig at EsoTerra Ciderworks, a place recommended by a friend we met last year in Nashville.
With our official “tour photographer” gone, I am sad to report that Jared and I really dropped the ball on any visual record of the gig. As I sat to blog about the past couple days, it hit me that we hadn’t taken ONE photo or video of our experience at Esoterra.
And, perhaps that makes sense. It was wildly uneventful.
Maybe the complete shift in management. Maybe the total lack of advertising, besides a couple of our tour posters in the windows. Maybe it was the location. Maybe it was the weekend. Whatever the case, Jared and I had a nice visit with the current manager, Robert, drank some tasty cider, and played a hell of a show to a few lucky guests, who totally made our night just by showing up and deciding to stay.
We ended our night with some quiet reflection, crossword, a late night salad and beverage at Steamworks, and a solid sleep in a king size bed that, when previously occupied by two adults and a starfish, was crammed at best, but this night Jared and I felt miles away from one another… Well, they can’t all be giant successes, right? Even the Stones have tough nights…I’d like to think.
