Last week we welcomed our first campers of the summer. This camp, titled Earth Stewards, focused on ways we can appreciate and honor the earth. A highlight for campers was a boat ride/driving opportunity, around Wells Harbor with stewardship coordinator Tin Smith and environmental educator Linda Littlefield Grenfell as our guides.

On the trip, we had the opportunity to look at the harbor and beach from far offshore, navigate the twists of the river, and stick our faces just above the water where hundreds of sand lances sparkled in the sun. This boat trip truly provided campers – and myself – a new perspective on this place. On the drive back from the harbor, one camper exclaimed she would “never see the harbor in the same way again.”

Gaining a new outlook is what summer camps at the Wells Reserve are all about. This week, campers examined the extendable lower lip of dragonfly larvae through a microscope. They dug for clams and were awed by the vastness of the life crawling around the sand.  They felt the softness of saw whet owl feathers and brook trout.  They heard the heart beat of a sparrow and the plunging splashes of fishing terns.  They paddled kayaks and savored the feeling of their fingertips dragging lightly in the water and the “peacefulness” of it all.

The Wells Reserve Summer Camps aim to foster a sense of wonder regarding the environment. It is this wonder that forges a connection with place and in turn inspires an environmental ethic. As David Sobel writes in his book Beyond Ecophobia: Reclaiming the Heart in Nature Education “If we want children to flourish, to become truly empowered, then let us allow them to love the Earth before we ask them to save it. Perhaps this is what Thoreau had in mind when he said, "the more slowly trees grow at first, the sounder they are at the core, and I think the same is true of human beings.”

Camps will be held every week through the second week of August. Space is still available in every camp. Check out wellsreserve.org/camps for more information or contact me (Ellen) at egawarki@gmail.com or 207-646-1555 ext 142