August 3rd, 2008
Here at camp we have this wonderful thing called the Gorman House. It is actually the name of the house in which the Directors live. However, every Sunday morning it tuns into a huge breakfast for all the staff here. Come anytime between 9 and 11 am and get your fill of french toast, sticky buns, toast, bagels, yogurt, granola, eggs, fruit and assorted other amazing breakfast foods. People wake up whenever they want, come get some food and move on to getting ready for their campers. I, however, like to come and actually eat for the whole two hours.
Working at camp makes it hard enough to eat anyway, but working in the kitchen just makes it worse. There is just so much going on, and by the time we get chance to eat there dishes piling up, or no food left. This is a serious problem with the amount of hard work the average kitchen staff here is doing. I am not the average kitchen staff, though, as I am also training hard throughout most of the week. Refueling is a must if I want to become a world class skier (which I do).
This is where Gorman House Breakfast comes in. I get a chance each week to refuel from all the working out I’ve done all weekend and start off the week right. Some Sundays I get up early and work out and come to the Gorman House extra hungry. Other mornings I sleep until 9 and then come. On these days I still come extra hungry. Three plates of food is usually about right.
After eating there is more rest - usually including some reading and a nap — before we start meetings and get ready for another crazy week of campers. This weekend I have been reading a book that has come into my possession — Skate Faster, Easier by Lee Borowski. Having been published in 1986, there are many entertaining things about this book. One of them being the picture on the front. The skiers are wearing what my roommate called a “unitard”. It’s pretty hilarious. Also funny are how all the illustrations are drawings, one of them of a 10 year old Brian Fish. Also interesting is the whole chapter devoted to marathon skating.
After eating three plates of food and reading such things, I usually fall asleep. Then I have dreams of skiing down massive hills onto only half frozen rivers in a blizzard. Or I have a dream that is a whole meeting that I have with my teammates from CXC. Sometimes I dream about technique which I execute better the next time I am on skis. And when I wake up I am hungry again and already thinking of how to refuel.
August 3rd, 2008 at 1:48 pm
For those of you who have had the pleasure to come and work at a camp, the kitchen crew does a phenomanal job, but…and here’s the kicker…I would say that it is the volunteers (cough, cough, myself) who really go the extra mile. Yes cooking in a hot kitchen can prove tiring, but what about counseling nine kids, having to think of and actually play games with them, lead table cheers, stay one step ahead of everyone else during capture the flag, and “spat” the plates of the aforementioned campers. Rewarding - yes…Difficult - certainly…Should I even be making a comparision between those of the kitchen and myself - not at all!
To work at a camp, no truer a life has been lived!
August 3rd, 2008 at 6:01 pm
Love that Gorman breakfast. Thanks for eating!
August 5th, 2008 at 1:58 pm
Certainly, one of the benefits of ski training is the ability (NEED) to eat a lot. Enjoy every mouthful . . .
August 5th, 2008 at 5:05 pm
you made me hungry!