It rained all day today. The lake is filling and is no longer iced over, and this was my last Sunday alone. Staff training is still a week and a half away, and there will be no campers for another three weeks, but people start showing up this Thursday.

There seems to be an endless supply of 5 minute tasks, those things that need to get done sometime, but don’t need to get done now; and that will only take 5 or so minutes to finish, so I can TOTALLY get them done later. Except now there are about a month’s worth of 5-minute tasks, and just a little over a week to do them in.

Last week, the one I was most proud of was the produce meeting I had at the Sysco plant in Portland. A few years ago, I decided to switch all of our kitchen disposables -- paper plates, foam cups, and plastic forks and spoons -- to biodegradable stuff: recycled materials, non bleached napkins, corn forks. And this year I wanted to take it a step further. I’m switching as much of our produce as possible to local and organic. I haven’t got it all switched out, mostly due to unavailability, but I would say 90% of our produce and dairy is one or the other, and as much of it as I can get is both.

I remember 4 years ago now, when we switched our disposables. It was at least double the cost on everything. Some things were 4 times the cost, and cups were 10. It was daunting looking at the budget, but something was compelling me to take a step in the right direction. Four years later, our budget has adjusted, and I no longer cringe at the price when I order a case of environmentally friendly corn knives.

I think that’s one thing that makes camp so great. Even though the actual steps are sometimes hard, and though we may have to give things up, we do our best to make the right decisions, the hard decisions – integrity, safety, love. We profess to be Christians, and do our best to bring honor to that calling, the calling to follow Christ, step by little step.

Anne Lamott, in her book ‘Bird by Bird’, talks about her younger brother, who procrastinates on a written school report about birds. Her father, also a writer, turns to his defeated son, and says, “Bird by bird. Just take it bird by bird.”

I feel I have an entire aviary ahead of me, but for now lettuce is done, and I'm ready for whatever is next. Bring it on summer… bring it on.

-Baker John