How did it go? It went well. I have to say it was probably the most incident-free; no problematic men to throw out, no major racial incidents unlike last year. The worst thing that happened was I got sick and lost my voice; couldn’t sing on Sunday night and could barely talk on the final two days, but all things considered I’ll happily take that over what happened last year.
Financially it’s hard to say; there’s so much money still coming and going, and I don’t know where I’m going to land with the hotel bill. I’m tempted to say I’ll be about where I was last year. We’ll see in about a month when everything is cleared and paid and I can compare where I am to where I was last year at the same time. Obviously I made it through the whole year last year without borrowing ahead - even had enough to cover a $25,000 garage wall repair without going into debt - so I can manage another year like that. I think curbing our travel budget and other things like extravagant birthday parties and sleepaway camps really helps. It sucks not having extra, but right now I’m just glad to be surviving.
The whole feel of the camp made me hopeful for the future, too - I don’t think I need to worry about this event fading away any time soon. There’s so much good will and joy around it; it’s something people depend on. I don’t think I’m going to lose more people next year. I think I’m either going to level out around 900 and stay there for a while or start gaining people back. I only lost 80 people from last year which is less than I’d anticipated. And the price increases helped stave off big losses. So I’m ok.
It was exhausting having to jump right into getting up at 7 to get kids to school all week - today was the first day I got to really sleep. Still fighting off whatever this lurgey is - I tested for covid and came up negative, so I think it’s just a nasty head cold.
This year the kids were more on their own than ever - the H made a bunch of complicated projects for himself so wasn’t there to supervise them. Thankfully they played with some other Lindy hop kids that they see every year. I had told them that they’re going to have to take a little agency and get themselves down to the food room alone and grab a plate. I don’t know if they ever did this; I also don’t know if they ever brushed their teeth or put on sunscreen when they went to the pool. I guess this is the one time I get to experience hands-off 70s and 80s parenting wherein I don’t know where the kids are or what they’re doing. It’s weird, but I’m too busy to be concerned about it.
It’s odd to think of a time, not too far off, when they won’t need to be driven home to go to school anymore or be picked up as we’re unloading the truck or, god forbid, not even come to the event at all because they’ve got their own stuff going on. That’s a profoundly bizarre thought but is pretty likely to happen - the day may come in just a few years where they really have nothing to do with it at all. I wish they had some interest in all this stuff, but they just don’t. Oh well! They want to make their own way in the world. I respect that.
For now I’m too in the weeds of event wrap-up to even think about what’s next - visiting the cabin, our Christmas road trip, my fall garden - but hopefully in a week or two the fog will clear. I went on a bit of a spending spree buying soft goth clothes from companies with names like Vampire Freaks and Disturbia to plot out my fall identity. Next week I return to my exercise classes and volunteering efforts. I’m going to lean in heavy to activism now that the midterms are just weeks away. All hands on deck!!
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