Bud Cox has been (as I kid him) AWOL a lot this summer. Not really AWOL...just (predictably) out of camp. He's driven trips to the Adirondacks several times. During session 3 he was up there pretty much the whole time, supplying two trips, moving by van back and forth between them. He's picked up trips coming back from New Orleans twice. He's done luggage runs to airports and bus-stops. He's led hikes for adult groups at Straus. He's kept the brochures stocked and neatly stacked in various racks ("literature" is Bud's word, pronounced "LIT-ti-chure" with a little Bob Dylan snarl) and once in a while he and I have sat in the Ad Office watching the Mets game on my computer. But until this week Bud has not offered programs to the villages. Today he's spending the whole day at the Sap House (9/10ths of a mile east of the main entrance to camp) showing campers and counselors how we gather sap and distill it into maple syrup.
Toward the end of the morning the Mac Boys (teenaged boys with various chronic disabilities - quite an amazing and fun-loving group but often a bit unruly or digressive) made the trip to the Sap House in a couple of buses. When I arrived Bud was describing the sap in the trees in late winter and the Mac Boys were totally attentive. It was a great scene. I caught it in a few pictures and also recorded a portion of it.
Have a listen here.
Bud Cox has been (as I kid him) AWOL a lot this summer. Not really AWOL...just (predictably) out of camp. He's driven trips to the Adirondacks several times. During session 3 he was up there pretty much the whole time, supplying two trips, moving by van back and forth between them. He's picked up trips coming back from New Orleans twice. He's done luggage runs to airports and bus-stops. He's led hikes for adult groups at Straus. He's kept the brochures stocked and neatly stacked in various racks ("literature" is Bud's word, pronounced "LIT-ti-chure" with a little Bob Dylan snarl) and once in a while he and I have sat in the Ad Office watching the Mets game on my computer. But until this week Bud has not offered programs to the villages. Today he's spending the whole day at the Sap House (9/10ths of a mile east of the main entrance to camp) showing campers and counselors how we gather sap and distill it into maple syrup. 
Toward the end of the morning the Mac Boys (teenaged boys with various chronic disabilities - quite an amazing and fun-loving group but often a bit unruly or digressive) made the trip to the Sap House in a couple of buses. When I arrived Bud was describing the sap in the trees in late winter and the Mac Boys were totally attentive. It was a great scene. I caught it in a few pictures and also recorded a portion of it. Have a listen here.
