postcards to takodah

Well, those campers whose folks stopped by the camp office on opening day to deposit letters—written in advance—into bins labeled by desired date of delivery probably received all their “mail.” My campers did not fare so well, hahaha! Caroline received only six of the twelve postcards I sent via the United States Postal System; Emmy Continue reading

Remember Lava? Lava my camp friend whom I met in Hobby Nook when the rain came pouring? Lava is the camp friend who taught me that she and another camp friend of hers every now and then look at each other and exclaim, either one at a time or simultaneously: CAMP! You know how it’s Continue reading

One of the lines from the camp song I’ve been inscribing on my postcards indicates that Takodah is sometimes a place where the rain comes pouring. Much as I might always wish for only sunshine at camp, the rain does sometimes come pouring. One of those times was a full day of considerable rainfall during Continue reading

Fun to take this early experiment with oil pastels from 2015, feed it to my paper trimmer, and repurpose the two halves as postcards! Continue reading

Takodah came into my dad’s life through my mom, and he was always the one who drove my sisters and me to and from camp. I remember stopping for a picnic lunch at Atkins Farm in Amherst, Massachusetts, on the drive home from Takodah to NJ one year. I was irritable, snapping at my sisters, Continue reading

For my family of origin, knowing where to go to camp has never involved any research, any decision-making, nor any comparison shopping, because there is no other camp than Camp Takodah. In 1921, a few years after the Cheshire County NH YMCA was formally organized, my maternal grandfather’s cousin (my cousin twice removed), Oscar Elwell, Continue reading

In April 2022, neurographic art came onto my radar screen. Totally caught my attention. I was on the cusp of a trip to Virginia to visit Caroline and Emmy (and their parents ❤️), so I packed up some art supplies and decided we’d try our hands at this new-to-us artplay together. I remember the Hobby-Nook-like Continue reading

I see photos posted online from Takodah—and I’m there! Nine years old, in Hobby Nook, sitting at a table crowded with fellow campers, summer air blowing in from windows on all sides of the building. I smell melted wax for candle-dipping, copper enamel baking on tie clips and clip-on earrings; hear laughter, chatter, muffled clatter Continue reading

Artist MaryAnn Shupe recently wrote a blog post about her need to start somewhere, which led me to remember and share with her a painting I did nearly a decade ago with an embedded declaration that the point is to start!, which sparked questions and email conversation about the hand-lettering I’d incorporated, which took me Continue reading

Singing at camp is The Best! All those voices in one place joined together in song. All those hand motions stirring the air. All the nonsense and hilarity or sentiment and sweetness of the lyrics touching a place deep inside us. All the clatter and clamor of everything going on in the dining hall providing Continue reading