4-H Camp & Open Space

[Chris Weaver]

florian schrieb:

> why not offer the
> camp as a place (think tank) in form of open!space for the government
> for giving space unexpected solutions, which never did come from
> the former and fomal think tanks.
> it may happen, that on that way the camp and you will get more funds
> than ever had been asked for.
> going back behind a question and going on beyond an imaginable answer
> may serve when being forced. and it is leading naturally to an invitation for
> an open!space.
> inviting instead of fighting...

Thank you Florian for these wise words.  Brian, Joelle, and Tova have also
expressed to me their support for your idea.

The day when I invite state legislators to an open!space at the camp is a
ways in the future.  Here in the mountains we are five hours, and a great
cultural leap, away from the state capitol and its policy-makers.

But the deep meaning of your suggestion was not lost on me.  On Friday at
the camp I hosted a meeting of state Cooperative Extension agents from the
seventeen western counties.  It was their meeting to facilitate, not mine,
but o!s magic has a way of sneaking in...

We have had a week of heavy rains and cold nights.  The lodge is unheated,
and the rain was drumming on the old roof when I arrived, early.  I built a
fire in the stone hearth, and set up the chairs in an open circle, with the
fire filling-in the northern arc.  The participants did not request the
customary tables, but pulled their chairs in close to the fire, and in the
course of the morning, some rifts and animosities that had gone unaddressed
for years were voiced, shared, and melted away in the circle of open
conversation.

The agents voted to contribute $500 from their beleaguered budget to the
campaign to keep the camp open, and they sent out a challenge to the other
six districts across the state to each match their donation.

At noon our camp chef Jane served vegetable soup and chocolate-zucchini
cake.  The agents left for their home-towns with reluctance and with smiles
of satisfaction & wonder....

With Love,
Chris

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