Unity at Camp

NEVER UNDERSTOOD WHAT THEY WERE TALKING ABOUT. I ARRIVED HERE IN WILSON IN FEBRUARY OF 1993 AND ALL ANYONE COULD DO WAS TELL ME HOW MUCH I WAS GOING TO ENJOY CAMP LAPIHIO. THEN THEY PRECEDED TO TELL ME WHY: FIRST THERE WERE THE SHOWERS TAKEN IN FILTHY LATRINES AT THE END OF A GARDEN HOSE SPOUTING ICE-CUBES. THEN THERE WERE THE INSECTS: HORSE FLIES THAT COULD CARRY OFF BIG DOGS AND SMALL CHILDREN; MOSQUITOES ABLE TO CAUSE ANEMIA WITH A SINGLE BITE. AND OF COURSE THERE WERE THE SNAKES. I BEGAN TO WONDER WHAT IT WAS ABOUT THIS PLACE THAT MADE IT SO SPECIAL. I MEAN, I HAD BEEN TO CAMP BEFORE AND I NEVER DEVELOPED SUCH A NOSTALGIA FOR PRIMITIVE LIVING.

BUT THEN I EXPERIENCED IT FIRST-HAND. IT WAS JUST WHAT THEY SAID: HOT, STICKY, AND PRIMITIVE, BUT WHEN I CAME BACK I WAS JUST AS SOLD ON THE CAMP AS THEY WERE, BUT MAYBE NOT FOR THE SAME REASON. WHAT I OBSERVED THERE WAS THAT AS WE ALL WENT THROUGH THE HEAT TOGETHER, AND SWATTED MOSQUITOES TOGETHER, THERE BEGAN TO DEVELOP IN THAT CAMP A WONDERFUL SENSE OF UNITY. IT PRODUCED A UNITY THAT NO AMOUNT OF SERMONIZING EVER COULD. IT WAS A UNITY THAT CAME FROM A COMMON EXPERIENCE.