The Family Camp Song

We returned from a few days at Family Camp on Saturday. Once again, I felt stirred to follow the questionable lyric proddings of my poetic muse, and this song for the Talent Show is the result. There is a cell phone video which I will do my utmost to make sure never gets shared here.

The OP Family Campers
by Katherine Chapman

Tune: Battle Hymn of the Republic
Inspired by speaker's (Karl Thompson) description of being a "circuit-riding preacher" and the first two lines of the old gospel song.
Lyrics sung by yours truly; accompaniment by Steve on the syllable "doom" - like "batter the doom drums" from Agamemnon, but more light-hearted, like plucking a bass fiddle. Additional "dooms" and charming hand motions by Tertia. Intro and vamp between verses is eight beats on "doom" - as close to bass as a tenor can get: Do Sol Mi Sol Do Sol Mi Sol -- and then improvised throughout on bass-ish/tenor-ish lines and keeping the beat as much as you can when you've only practiced it twice. Daniel begged off from making it a family act (and nailing the bass) by being appointed the MC of the talent show, and Quarta bailed because singing "doom" in a trio was beneath the dignity of a rising 9th grader. Soprano was trying very hard not to giggle or forget the lines, and even with the scratch sheet of lyrics in front of her ended up switching a few unintentionally. Here is how it was supposed to be:

The OP family campers come from all across the land -
With their hammocks in their hatchback and their bugspray in their hand.
They paddle in the murky lake, play volleyball in the sand -
   In Wamic, OreGON!

(CHORUS)
Glory, glory hallelujah!
Come on, children, we'll canoe ya -
Lots of fun times will come to ya
   As Family Camp goes on.

This August we converged upon the tiny town of Wamic,
And we all hope the Morris' boat won't sink like the Titanic -
But the ice cream stand is open soon so no one needs to panic
   After the great BANANATHON!

(CHORUS)
Glory, glory hallelujah!
Come on, children, we'll canoe ya -
Lots of fun times will come to ya
   As Family Camp goes on.

In the heat of the afternoon we go down the waterslide -
We eat cookies, fruit and pancakes till we're 50 inches wide!
Board games, golf and carpetball -- we play them all with pride
   In Wamic, OreGON!

(CHORUS)
Glory, glory hallelujah!
Come on, children, we'll canoe ya -
Lots of fun times will come to ya
   As Family Camp goes on.

-----------------------

It came to my attention after the fact that some people pronounce Wamic as "WAHmic" and if that is the accurate pronunciation, I meant no disrespect. Certainly, this girl grew up in Akron and Canton, Ohio, and a bit of the nasal on the short A's is a good antidote to appearing too pretentious, which we would certainly never want to do, especially at Family Camp. The mockery of the pronunciation of Oregon was perhaps a little more intentional. I count it a success, as I heard the tune being whistled and hummed on the evening air as the crowd dispersed.

The Bananathon itself was an eventful one, as two of the three teams had their canoes sink right off the start, but alas! my lyrics were already written and the muse had departed by then. Perhaps next year's poem will be a mock epic styled after "The Charge of the Light Brigade." Or a spiritual, "Down by the Waterslide." But it doesn't pay to overthink these things. Who am I kidding, it doesn't pay, period!

I need to go put ointment on my mosquito bites.

Family Camp Photos

Every year, the First OPC faithful and friends gather in central Oregon for Family Camp. There are educational speakers, fun activities for all ages, a lot of starchy food, a Talent Show (some say it should be called a "variety show" - see previous post), and a Bananathon.  Tertia really, really, loves the game called "carpetball" and I managed to snap the picture at just the right time to capture her gleeful expresson.

Both of these large but bedraggled moths were at the base of a light pole one morning, in various stages of what looked to be a hangover or perhaps something more serious.

 The highlight for some is the waterslide.  Some just watch.

 Some look forward to it all year long, but shriek with terror all the way down.

 Some create a splash larger than they are, obscuring my dedicated effort to capture them for their grandmother.

 And some go back repeatedly for as many times as they can fit in.

 I managed to capture a dragonfly in flight.

There are, of course, a lot of dishes to be done.

 I had a child on each team for the Bananathon. Quarta's team eventually won.

 Tertia's team placed second.

...

 Well, when you want to go left, you have to paddle on the right side of the boat.

A whistle shows all the tasks have been completed and the banana has been eaten. And that wraps it up for another year.  Some of us come back from Family Camp more exhausted than we were when we left.  But ironically, we aren't the ones who have been doing the high-intensity activities.  It is a mystery.

I am the Very Model of a Modern Presbyterian (The Family Camp poem)

I am the very model of a modern Presbyterian.

In erudition, I surpass the average seminarian;

I know theology, both redemptive and historical--

My library is organized in order categorical.

I’m very well acquainted too with all the views millennial,

I understand the sequence of the councils ecumenical,

I have profound insights concerning hymnody and psalmody,

With many harsh invectives on that “modern worship” comedy.

I write extensively on apologetics VanTilian,

And would never stoop to sing in a venue vaudevillian,

In Hebrew, Greek, and Latin I’m an expert grammarian –

I am the very model of a modern Presbyterian.

I’m “semper reformanda” in all matters theological,

With a gentle fondness for the classical and pedagogical.

I reserve particular disdain for the dispensational ,

Because it promotes everything emotive and sensational.

In ecclesiology my views are credal and confessional,

Eschewing all those trendy terms like “emergent” and “missional”

I’m sure I never will be accused of being remotely relevant –

Or may I be stomped upon by a rampaging elephant!

I’ve got at least five strong arguments to counter the Arminians,

I can “posse” and “peccare” with the wisest Augustinians.

I know the ins and outs of all the spheres Kuyperian—

I am the very model of a modern Presbyterian!

My views on orthodoxy derive from deep antiquity;

I renounce and calumniate all workers of iniquity;

I spend my time reviewing the Westminster Shorter Catechism

And never would take a part in any sort of fanaticism.

And so I came to Wamic to participate in Family Camp

(A more convivial experience than my final Koine Greek exam!)

I cheered for all the youthful contestants in the Bananathon,

And, to wrap it all up, here I am, singing this silly song.

Our worship has simplicity and also authenticity,

I acknowledge, even so, our undeniable eccentricity,

In short, from all eternity, I am pre-destinarian –

I am the very model of a modern Presbyterian!

August, 2015

(first performance, graciously recited by Dan Dillard, 8-21-15 at the OPC Family Camp talent show, Camp Morrow, Wamic, OR)

Katherine Chapman

Randomday Delayed - With Bananathon

I have been neglecting my blog, so I thought I'd do a catch-up for everyone with a Randomday post.

We went to Camp Morrow for 1st OPC Family Camp.  Daniel had to be on a red-eye flight early Saturday, so I drove him and Peter back after the Talent Show (at which a highly-amusing version of Telephone/Clue/Charades had speaker Larry Wilson trying to inform Mr. Southgate that a clown was killed on the volleyball court with a cinnamon roll).  He caught his flight and has just finished up his first day of classes in his sophomore year at Grove City College.

Of course one of the grand highlights of Family Camp is the annual Bananathon.  It happens to be the only event I have pictures for, too.

Secundus was a team captain this year, with Tertia on his team.  Here is the pre-contest strategy session.  Daniel and Quarta were on the other two teams, so no matter who won, we had at least one kid to cheer for.

 Turns out that even if the bananaholder is on his school's swim team, having to wear a life vest as a handicap slows him down enough that he might as well have stayed in his canoe.  There followed in close and dizzying succession the other events after the banana hand-off... splashketball, frisbee toss, pudding/bubblegum race, three-legged race, and the race to the flagpole with the banana being tossed from hand to hand.

 Secundus' team was victorious after he ate the banana (which was frozen) and gave a whistle.

Mrs. McConnell even found banana trophies... pretty cool!

Back home and after a full weekend to try to recover, I have ratatouille in the oven along with some chicken kebabs.  What do they have in common?  They are both ways to use up zucchini!  I didn't even come close with the double batch of zucchini brownies I took to family camp.  There are still 11 zucchini on the countertop.

I just checked on Daniel's plum wine in the cellar.  It has this little airlock contraption on the carboy to let carbon dioxide escape without letting in oxygen.  Before family camp, it was releasing a bubble precisely every 17 seconds.  It has slowed down now to once every 36 seconds.  I have no idea what this means though.

"The ability to simplify means to eliminate the unnecessary so that the necessary may speak."
                                   -- Hans Hofmann

Family Camp

We've been going to the 1st OPC Family Camp for more than 10 years now.  This is the first time to my knowledge that an egret has shown up.  And posed for photos, no less!

The older young folks spent much of their free time perfecting the Virginia Reel...

... and the waltz.  There was also Ultimate Frisbee.

And of course, the Bananathon.  Very hard to capture in just one photo.

The younger young folks would say it was over too quickly.

Saturday morning at 7:30, sleeping in after the Talent Show.

Secundus slept under the stars... until 7:35, which I think must be hard to do.

... and the leather jacket goes on even before the shoes.
Many thanks to Ben Hopp, OPC missionary in Haiti, for sharing about the work of the Gospel in such a beautiful and challenging place.

The Housewife's Lament

So we got back from Family Camp yesterday and are still recovering from sunburn, bugbites and exhaustion.  My rendition of the old folksong "The Housewife's Lament" was greeted with gratifying applause at the Talent Show.  In case you weren't there and want to check it out here's a youtube version that's similar to what I was aiming for (but I couldn't resist hamming it up a bit more than they did).  The song deserves to be better-known. 

Maybe pictures tomorrow.