We’ve been having a busy winter at Camp Onas!

We were sad to cancel the Winter Reunion, but since it was a slippery mess here for several days, it was definitely the safe decision. Our year-round staff has been busy with scheduling rental groups for the spring and preparing for another amazing Onas summer! 

Rose & Thorn is a long standing tradition at Camp Onas, where campers and counselors share their rose (the best part) and thorn (the lowest part) of the day with their bunk during bedtime. We thought it would be fun to share our rose, thorns, and buds (what we're looking forward to) with you from the past year. 

My rose for 2023 was all the visiting I got to do with dear friends and family at the end of the year. I feel fortunate to have so many wonderful people in my life, and extra fortunate for the opportunity to spend time with them in person in 2023!

My thorn is that when I looked for photos to share, I found I didn’t have very many… 

And my bud is an intention I’ve set for myself in 2024 to spend more time with friends and family (hopefully taking more photos this year, too)! 

My rose is getting reading glasses this fall. Having them has renewed my interest in some of my hobbies; it's funny how that works.

My bud has been watching the pond rise and the water table refill this winter!

Though there have been many "roses" over my years at camp, one stands out to me, even though it happened many years ago.

Each summer, we have Senior Counselors that fill the role of Director's Assistants.  Although I work mainly remotely now, back then I worked in Camp's office and worked closely with the DAs as they spent much of their time in the shared office space.  These are the counselors I got to know well because of our close working proximity.

This one particular summer, after the campers and staff departed at the end of the summer, I found a note, written on a torn off piece of a yellow legal pad, on my desk.

The sweet note said how much this DA enjoyed working with me and was grateful they got a chance to know me, and that I helped make their job even more pleasant.

I saved that note in my desk drawer for years, and when I started working remotely I made sure it came home with me.  It now has a spot on my office wall where I can see it every day.  A small gesture that really made a huge impact on me.

My 2023 rose was traveling to Budapest, Hungary with my partner and friends to see the World Track Championships. Budapest is a beautiful city and it was wonderful to take in the architecture, visit the thermal baths, and eat a chimney cake. I had never been to such a large arena and it was exciting to see American athletes at the highest level, like Noah Lyles and Sha'Carri Richardson, perform. 

My thorn of 2023 was injuring my knee on a hiking trip. The trip was amazing and beautiful but I haven’t injured myself like that in quite some time and the recovery has been humbling! 

My bud for 2024 is the April solar eclipse. I'm planning on seeing it with my sister!