Maybe you and T. and S. will come to The Woods 2006! That would be great.

I think it's time that I say a little something about this year's Woods, since nobody else has gone into detail.

Some of you will know that we lost one of our Woods organizers to cancer only a few weeks ago. Sue Goldberg was known to many of us as "the heart and soul of The Woods". She was a believer in the power of building community through music. We had a wonderful community session this summer at which we sang some of the many, many songs that Sue had taught and led. A quilt was started as well, with some people working on their 'squares' during free time. Pat Armour is going to assemble the quilt.

I took 2 classes each morning - songwriting with Lucinda and Dave, and vocal harmony with Kim and Reggie. They were both very well done. There were other classes and sessions in the afternoon, some time for swimming, canoing, jamming or napping. A couple of those free times, I took my big harp outside. It was there that for the very first time I heard the magical sound of wind making music on my strings. JeffM described it as musical northern lights, and I can't agree more.

Meals were great, all of them shared with other campers and staff. After supper there were camper's performances (I performed first this year - and broke in my new lap harp), followed by staff concerts (each one was fabulous), followed by dances and then jamming circle, song circle, and sometimes a Celtic or Old Tyme jam as well. One night we all went down to the boat dock for a sing. I love that time every year when we sing under the stars and the moon(well, okay, this year it was a bit cloudy), by the water. The harmony singing was beautiful, and the hot chocolate wasn't bad either. This was one of the few times that Lydia and Jason didn't have to be running around doing an excellent job on the sound system!

When I think of The Woods, I think of things like singing, playing, hugging, eating, talking, dancing, swimming, dressing up for party night, and being part of a very precious community. There are no barriers there between 'performer' and 'camper' or 'new person' and 'old-timer'. We're all one big pudding up there. No wonder trifle is our annual treat on party night. We're all nothing more than a jumble, each with our various talents and personalities and gifts, but in the end, we're all the better for being mixed up together in the bowl. Trifle indeed.

~b.w.