Last evening drove over to the east valley along the East Branch of the Neversink, some miles beyond Claryville on the road that dead-ends at the Tison estate and the start of the back trail up Slide....and told a story to the kids and counselors at Farm Camp. It had rained hard during the afternoon but by the time I arrived it had cleared--blue early evening sky with lots of mist hanging up over the river and its feeder streams. They managed to build a fire and the kids came out of their yurts, sat on benches in a circle, and listened to an hour-long story with an attentiveness I'm not used to. Even in the main part of camp, in order to get the pure quiet one needs for good storytelling, one has really to strategize. I've told stories around the campfire in the middle of a village way up the hill, only to have another village, in all innocence, walk back loudly and excitedly from evening program right through the quiet story. It's just what happens in a camp of 650 kids and 200 staff. But at Farm Camp....oh boy. The few residents of the valley were home, maybe one car passed on the road the entire time I was telling the tale, and the kids focused on nothing but the fire and the sound of my voice. In this photo you see staff and campers making a fire from sopping wet wood, a few of the yurts behind them, and far in the background the main barn (goats, sheep, cows, a horse, and pigs there), and the main farmhouse (years ago the home of the Erts family).Don't know about this paradise within the FV paradise? Well, click here and learn about Farm Camp.
