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January 2008 Updates January 1st: End of Winter Camp: If you missed it, check out December 2007 and slides shows for all the updates and photos.  January 14th-16th: Marco comes to visit:
Our friend Marco had quite a year. To bring those that might not be up
to speed, Marco has been staff for three different years at Cedar
Lodge, the last one being just last summer in 2007. Several years ago,
when Marco was on staff, he pledged to come back for at least one more
year on summer camp staff and then he was adamant that he was going to
take a part of the year to “see” some of the world. In 2007 he did just
that. He started out his trek coming to the states to work at camp from
June until we closed in mid-August. Then Marco stayed on at camp for
two weeks and worked at our Labor Day horse show, followed by another
week to help tear it all back down. Then it was off to Chicago,
followed by a bus trip out west to visit Yellowstone, Grand Canyon,
Washington state, and more. In October, Marco flew back to Chicago,
then all the way down to Florida where he met up with good friend (and
ex-Cedar Lodge staff) Dave O’Connor. The two of them flew from Florida
down to South America and spent the next couple months touring and
adventuring in that immense and beautiful country. By January, it was
time to close up all adventures, and Marco was back in Chicago for a
few days before his flight back to the Netherlands. He decided to spend
a large amount of that time back at Cedar Lodge, as he had always
wondered what camp would look like in snow, mud, ice and no leaves. And
so, on January 14th, I picked Marco up at the Bangor train station for
a 3 day stay. Marco kept very busy during his stay here and insisted
that we make no fuss and just carry on as usual. “Ok.” We said with a
shrug, and treated Marco like just one of us. After all, he is family.  Day 1, 2 and 3:
Marco decided that he would help the guys out cleaning barn on all
three days that he was here. The help was much appreciated, and to
Marco it was a bit of “Old home week”, as he had helped with many
chores during his stay after camp as well. I have included the photo
from September to the one from January so you can compare his style.  Day 2:
The guys were scheduled to gather, split and bring in the firewood that
I had cut for Chris’s house. Chris’s house heats entirely with firewood
and this is a necessary evil if you plan to keep warm. Of course, Marco
was the man for the job and even learned some new skills along the way.
  Day 3:
Marco was indeed amazed by the differences between Cedar Lodge summer
and Cedar Lodge winter. He took some very nice shots, which I thought
were worth sharing with you here, in case you too, had wondered just
what Cedar Lodge looked like without leaves. Sadly, on January 16th it was time to say goodbye. It should have been very sad, but it wasn’t. Every year we host a batch of new staff, and some of those stay on and become of our extended family. Marco is just such a guy. With that title, a parting is bittersweet, but rarely forever. I’m sure we will see Marco again in the not so distant future. His ties with us are extensive and he is determined to make this last year’s trip not his last. Who knows where he will be traveling to on his next trip to Cedar Lodge? January 25th-27th: Vaulting weekend: Kat wrote me on around January 20th and basically said, “Becca and I would like to come up next weekend and vault, is that ok?” Of course it was, so I threw out a quick e-mail to all advanced vaulters, and the weekend was on. On such short notice, Becca and Kat were the only ones available but that was fine with us. Both of them were slated to compete in the mid-March Barrel fest, so there was plenty to do to keep them busy. We vaulted on Moose on Friday, but after that, all decided that there was just too much work needed on the barrel to try to fit in the horse as well. All Saturday and Sunday morning, the girls worked on compulsories, freestyles and played with pairs. By Saturday afternoon, they were getting a bit burned out, so instead we switched to something new. This year, the goal for the team is to add in team events to their competition schedule. The upcoming barrel fest appeared to be a great place to start, as it was offering an event called “Two Phase”. Two Phase requires a team of 4 vaulters. All four compete at the compulsories to the right (opposite to usual) and then do a free style routine using all 4 vaulters, rotating through so that at least one is always on the horse/barrel, and all four do something, often in teams of 2 and 3. Two phase is a definite good place to begin if you are thinking about team competitions, which would be offering the same type of freestyle, except with 6, and so our team was eager to get their feet week. There was only one problem. We only had three members. Kat and Becca of course and Ashley had shown interest in being a third, but Charlotte and Claire would not be able to come work with them in time to get a routine together. Where would we get a forth member? In stepped Taylor to save the day. I’m sure when she stepped in the room, she only meant to ask me a question about medication or graining, but she was immediately volunteered for the empty spot, “just as a fill in.” she may have even been promised. The trouble was that once Taylor started vaulting, she was such a natural; we didn’t want to give her up. For all her years at Cedar Lodge, Taylor has never tried vaulting. Ok, maybe once, but certainly not much. That being said, she has certainly watched and retained allot, because she had more than a clue when it came to actually doing the moves. By the end of the weekend, not only was Taylor a permanent part of the Two Phase team, but she was well on the way to practicing her compulsories in both directions AND (thanks to the help from Kat and Becca) had a free style routine memorized. Like a good trooper, Taylor has joined the Cedar Lodge vaulting team and we are very excited about her addition. She has taken her job on the team seriously, and since her first weekend with Kat and Becca, has been practicing faithfully a couple times every week. Way to go Taylor, welcome on board. |