Monday, August 13, 2007

Hirdstock

Hirdstock's coming up next Sunday. On that day it's my hope that faithful readers of this blog will do or sing their own Hidstocky thing, wherever they are. Give peace a chance. Be cool. We are the world. You can get anything you want--at Alice's restaurant. You can't always get what you want. Six for the six that never got fixed. There's a place in the world for the gambler. Teach your children. Blow in the wind. Don't be a master of war. Daddy won't you take me back. I'm sorry my son but you're too late in asking. And don't worry, the flowers haven't gone...they're right there where you left 'em...in Hirdstock field. I intend to dig around my personal archives and find some good photos from Hirdstock past. My first Hirdstock entry is this photo from 1983, an adorable picture of four people who were really into the all-afternoon concert in the sun. From left to right, justly famous dialysis camper Stevie Bell, Stuart ("Stu") Kaufer the long-time dialysis unit coordinator, Claudia Swain, and Pete Swain. That summer Pete was the out-trip director, and Claudia wasn't working in summer camp (but was continuing her work with our Environmental Ed program) yet she of course wouldn't miss Hirdstock for the world. Behind them (just behind Stu's halo of hair) is Allison Perry, then a camper. Don't you just adore the way Stu and Stevie are looking at each other? I can't do justice in words to the quality of their relationship, which extended over five or six summers, but love is definitely a word that comes to mind. Stevie, alas, hadn't known a whole lotta love in his life so maybe it's apt that the first time in this blog Stevie is being featured is at Hirdstock, with all its talk (and chanting) about love. Not empty, after all, for there, in the first row, there it was.


And here (just above) is a photo of the aforementioned Stuart Kaufer. This photo was taken during a day off, when Stu and Mike McNamee and a few others hiked up to Giant Ledge.