A Week at Pinewoods

Canoes at Pinewoods
(click any of these pictures for larger version)

When I heard that Apple Crisp was taking a trip to Pinewoods music camp, I did not know what it would be like. Also, I had never been to sleep away camp before, making the trip into a totally new experience. Before we left, I felt nervous and uncertain. I should have been preparing to have the time of my life.

When we arrived, we were shown to our cabins by a girl named Megan and given a tour of the camp. Although the camp is stationed in Massachusetts, it is isolated from highways, cities, and any source of distracting noise. To add to my surprise, my friend named Eli was staying in the same cabin as I was, along with another boy named Adrian.


Bunkmates playing cards

My dad stayed in a different cabin by the name of Little Hundsdon, which was stationed near the parking lot. We spent the first day looking around the campus of the camp, and went to bed wondering what we would do the next day.

The ten to twelve year olds had two mandatory classes during the day. One was right after breakfast, and one was at two-thirty in the afternoon. Other than that, I had freedom to attend the activities that I wished and to spend some time with my dad, who led a workshop on drumming in the camp house. After a filling breakfast of eggs, fruit and oatmeal, Eli and I sprinted to the dance hall Newbiggen to start learning some bacca pipes steps. We soon learned that dancing bacca pipes consisted of laying two clay pipes (we didn't use clay for fear of breaking them) in an X-shape in front of us. Then, the instructer Sarah, taught us how to tap, hop, jump and step around the pipes in a series of movements that were amazing to see. I am surprised that I learned what I did from that class. It became one of my favorite activities in the whole day.


Dancing the Bacca Pipes

After this, the camp met on the steps of the camp house for crackers and juice. This is where I met up with my dad every day. After this we either swam, played for a callers work shop led by Sue Rosen, or explored a different type of activity. Later in the day, after lunch, Eli and Adrian always went to an ice cream making class. One day I came along, although some salt water got in our ice cream making it nasty to taste. We had to be sure to be on time for a storytelling class after this, so we ran there after the class was finished. There we learned some songs, and heard some funny stories from a comedian named Jackson Gillman, who entertained the camp greatly at morning and evening gatherings. From that point on in the day, Apple Crisp explored the camp together, taking a recorder class, or simply jamming in the camphouse. The last day of camp, I got a chance to make and walk on stilts with my Dad's friend as the instructor. That, I must admit was scary at first, but then I got the hang of it. When I got off the stilts, I felt like a midget.


Up on Stilts

Besides the extrordinary daily life of the camp, we got chances to some other exciting things. One of them was that the vibes could be heard at the dance every night. Some nights, I was allowed to play too, and I enjoyed the chance, since there were some talented fiddlers there.


Playing with the contra band

Another, was to take a private piano lesson with Bruce Rosen, who gave me some great pointers on contra piano. I had never met him in person, but he turned out to be a fun person to learn piano from.


a lesson with Bruce

Pinewoods was a fantastic experience. We met some great people, did things that we had never done before, and most importantly spent lots of time together doing the things that we like to do best. I would definately recommend Pinewoods to people who love contradancing, music and trying fascinating new activities.