It’s fall, y’all! Although I tend to think of August as the start of the season simply because it’s post-camp, October means it’s now official. I love this season. I love the cooler weather (though yesterday was 95 degrees mid-day – whew!) and the colors of the leaves. I love pumpkins, soup, cider, and apples. I love sweaters and boots. I love Halloween and dressing up!

With fall also comes a question I hear over and over again throughout the year. “Where are you working now?”

“Oh, I’m still at Ferncliff.”

There’s a pause.
Then usually a “that’s great!” or similar.
Then another pause. I see the hesitation and confusion. I always know what they’re about to ask.

“But… what do you do when it’s not summer?”

I always know it’s coming, but worry not: I don’t dread or get annoyed by it. I get it from friends and strangers alike. I didn’t truly know what the year-round work of a camp program director entails before I started working year-round, either.

The answer is, “Preparing for next summer, mostly.”
It’s an answer that is rarely satisfying to hear, though. What? You start preparing for next summer in August?! How much time does that really take? You need nine months to prepare for three months of camp?

Yes, absolutely! And usually around April I start lamenting the fact that I don’t have more prep months!

My boss Joel and I have joked about writing down every single thing we do during a workday. For one thing, it’d lend some insight into all the work we do when campers aren’t here. For another, it’d be a ridiculously varied list of items. One thing I love about my job is that I do something different practically every day.

Here’s what I did Wednesday of this week:

• Futzed with the touchscreen computer in the new dining hall. Failed to do what I was trying to do, which was determine if Microsoft Office had been installed on it. (It had been. On my to-do list: become better at using the touchscreen computer.)
• Reviewed plans for the old recycling shed to be used for camp equipment storage.
• Wrote birthday postcards to campers from this past summer.
• Settled on a design and ordered new birthday postcards!
• Updated social media sites.
• Edited a Camp-2-You informational packet.
• Called churches we’ve worked with in the past to discuss holding Camp-2-You programs with them again.
• Considered price estimates for camps for next summer, and agonized over what camps to offer next summer (which I think I do every day. I need to stop overthinking it!)
• Answered a dozen camp-related emails.
• Tweaked the staff application a little bit.
• Ate lunch and read a chapter of my book (a girl’s gotta take a break now and then.)

And that’s not even a full workday – I left at 2:00 for an appointment. Imagine what I could do with three more hours! 😉

Camp life is rarely dull life, even in the “off season.” The other nine months are not quite as fun, exciting, social, or outdoor as the best three months of the year, but trust me – sometimes it’s just as busy!

-Emily