This past weekend, I went back to a place that is very special to me -
and I released some things. I released some anger. I released some hatred.
I released some discontent, worry and woe. I worked in the kitchen of
Camp IAWAH all weekend prepping food for a few groups that were
using the grounds for retreat-type purposes. Saturday morning at 7 am
came very early and a layer of freezing rain lacquered all of the main
walkways around the property. I almost bailed 3 times on my walk to
the kitchen. Once I was there, though, I found an old friend making
bacon on a sizzling grill.
Jim Lane.
Jim is from Newfoundland and now into his 70's. He has been a
mainstay of the Camp for so many years and his oddball sense of humour
coupled with his monstrous work ethic has been an inspiration to many
who have walked the grounds. Jim looked pleased to see me and gave
a bit of a 'oooohhh boooyyy, here's trouble' intro as I walked in.
I forgot how grueling a kitchen shift can be. Over the years, in my
leadership positions at IAWAH, I've always found some solace doing
the odd kitchen shift. It makes me feel real. You work hard, you cut
vegetables for soups, you make bread, you lift heavy boxes, you
investigate a freezer that sucks all of the warmth out of your body -
you earn your keep.
My wife and I had pretty horrible summers at IAWAH in 2008 -
the last time we worked there. There was a lot of garbage that went
on that year and I took a lot of the hit from the fallout of crisis
management. There's no doubt that Jim Lane knew about this - he
knows all.
I had the chance to have a good chat with the new director of
IAWAH. His name is Jeff. We basically buried the hatchet of that
summer and both admitted that we were both put in awful
circumstances - him by boards and higher-ups telling him what
disciplinary actions he should take (as it was his first summer in
2008) and me by receiving the blunt end of that action as a bit of
a scapegoat.
At the end of shift yesterday, I had to drive Jim Lane to the end of
the camp road as it had received a thick layer of snow after a night
of freezing rain and he didn't want to chance driving it. Jim asked
me about my chat with Jeff - even though he had said nothing about
it earlier. I said it went well. Jim said 'That's good, baie. Ya know,
we all make mistakes and wish we had done things differently and
blah blah blah, ya know, but in the end, we get up and we go on.'
I said bye to Jim and he thanked me for working with him over the
weekend. I burned a trail down Westport Road, and then on to 38,
crossing over Harrowsmith to Yarker on Wilton Road, and hit
the 401 to a picturesque pink/blue sky that occupied all of my range
of vision. I took the above picture yesterday.
We get up and we go on.
