I am sure that most of us have suffered through Summer Camp. I went to several ... finally managing (I think) to be sent home from one in disgrace. And so a few weeks ago it was with some trepidation that I headed off to Camp again. And this camp was both different in some ways and in others the same.
I had signed up for a knitting camp with The Alpine Adventure Agency. I headed up into the Dolomites to a small "camp"called San Martino di Castrozza and a wonderful "tent" called The Grande Hotel des Alpes. It was tough there. The chefs were skilled and the sommeliers were amazing. We had the usual "camp fare" of venison soaked in wine with wild mushrooms, struedel with creme Anglais, lots of things with wild woodland berries ... I think I may have gained weight. And the wines there were to die for.
Then we were forced to hike through the usual campish scenery (if you were an extra in The Sound of Music that is):
We learned the science of cheese making at a local latteria where they have just a bit of cheese on the shelves being wiped down and aged:
We prowled the forests looking for various types of edible mushroom. We ate the good ones but these were the bad ones:
And for our "Crafttime" we had knitting since it was actually a knitting camp. Myrna Stahman (who will be sainted later this year for her unending patience) taught us how to knit Faroese Shawls and Seaman's Scaves. She was amazing ... even when she ripped back 10 rows on the middle stitches of my shawl and then knit them back up correctly while carrying on a lively conversation with the class. It was the best class I have ever taken. And we were able to take our knitting everywhere we went and that was fun too.
That is Myrna ... carrying on a conversation with me and knitting at the same time. I can only dream of being that coordinated someday. So, this time Camp was fun. And maybe next year I can go again ... if I can finish my shawl.
Only the wind sneaks
Into my room on this night
Guttering the flame
