Love, Froggie

Sunday

Dear Mom and Dad,

The bus ride to camp was hell. A girl threw up. I think her name is Heather. Then she cried for five hours and I bet she’s still crying now even though it’s almost lights out. She’s not in my bunk. Thank God.

I’m in Bunk 6. My counselor’s name is Cloudy. She has a long braid all the way down her back as far as her you-know-what. She’s really nice. When you write me, be sure to put “Bunk 6” on the envelope. If I want to come home I can, right? Please send candy. 

Write soon. Love, Froggie 

P. S. That’s my new camp name, I gave it to myself, but don’t be confused it’s still the same me.

Monday

Dear Mom and Dad,

My counselor Cloudy is teaching me how to play the guitar. She has a beautiful voice. When she sings Kumbaya the whole bunk cries. She’s going to teach me Deep Blue Sea Willie, Deep Blue Sea. It is so sad because Willie drowns. I can play G. That’s a chord. It’s very hard. Cloudy says you have to push down and the strings have to dig into your fingers. Please send band aids. And candy. And a new flashlight. I lost mine.  

Write soon. Love, Froggie.

P. S. These are the girls in my Bunk: Windy, Smudge, Fizz, KK, Flower, Canoe, Nini, Flash and BoBo. Oh, and there’s me of course. And Cloudy. And a lot of ants. We’re not supposed to talk about them because girls in Bunk 6 do not complain. 

P. P. S. If I want to go home how long would it take for you to get up here? It took us five hours on the bus. Could you get here faster? 

Tuesday

Dear Mom and Dad,

Don’t worry about the flashlight, I found it.  I thought it was broken but I just wasn’t pushing the right button. Nobody in Bunk 6 wants to go home early, not me either. I don’t want to miss out on the cook-out or the sleep-out or the panty raid. KK says every year the boys do a panty raid on the girls and it’s the coolest thing. KK was here last year so she knows. So was Windy. Windy was bit on her eyelid by a mosquito and her eye got swollen shut for a day and she was half blind. But that happened last year. This year she’s fine. Sometimes she can be a little bossy and she doesn’t like to share stuff, but she is still really nice. Send candy PLEASE. 

Write soon. Love, Froggie

Wednesday

Dear Mom and Dad,

I had a bloody nose. Don’t be upset. We were playing Duck Duck Goose and I was It and I hit Smudge on the head so she would be the Goose and then she had to chase me and I tripped and got a bloody nose. It was an accident and I don’t think it was anybody’s fault. It might have been BoBo’s fault, but she didn’t mean it, she just has really long legs and they got in the way. I stuck tissues up my nose and then it stopped bleeding. I don't want to get anyone in trouble and anyway I’m okay now. So whatever you do, don’t be upset.

Uncle Arnie made a new rule. He said that everybody has to write at least one letter home each day, even if it’s only a post card, and they have to give it to their counselor before they go into the dining hall. If you don’t then you can’t have any supper. This is because some kids, mostly boys, haven’t written even one letter home yet and their mothers called Uncle Arnie and wanted to know if their children were dead. Guess what? I’m alive!

They don’t sell PEZ in the canteen, so send as much as you can, especially cherry, or anything else in the red family. 

Write soon. Love, Froggie

Thursday

Dear Mom and Dad,

Tomorrow there’s going to be a celebration for the 4th of July. One of the boy counselors is going to dress up like Uncle Sam. His name is Woody. But don’t call him Woody Woodpecker because he doesn’t like that. BoBo said he’s Cloudy’s boyfriend but Cloudy said no, they are just good friends. What do you think? I’m not sure. 

All the girls in my bunk are going to dress up like flowers for the whole day. This was Flower’s idea. She is very shy so if she says something you have to do it or otherwise she might not talk again for two days. I’m going to dress like a buttercup even though I don’t have anything yellow to wear. Did you know if you hold a real buttercup under your chin it will make your chin turn yellow if you like butter? But if you don’t like butter then it won’t. I held a buttercup under Nini’s chin and it didn’t turn yellow because she HATES butter. 

Write soon. Love, Froggie

P. S. I got the package you sent. I really don’t need any more socks, but thanks anyway. You didn’t send any candy. Why not? 

P. P. S. Thanks for the band aids, I really needed them.

P. P. P. S. Please send batteries. I left my flashlight on all night by mistake and I thought it was broke but Cloudy says it just needs new batteries.

Saturday

Dear Mom and Dad,

I couldn’t write to you yesterday because it was July 4th. Nobody wrote letters but we all got to eat anyway. It was a cook-out. We lit candles down by the lake and they looked so pretty on the water. But then it started to rain and we thought we would drown. It rains all the time but please don’t send me an umbrella, I beg you. DO send me some you-know-what. It’s spelled P-E-Z. 

Write soon. Love, Froggie

P. S. I really need the batteries, quick. I got lost on my way back from the outhouse because it was so dark. And wet. But then I got found. I found myself.

Sunday

Dear Mom and Dad,

Cloudy said our bunk can start a camp newspaper if we want to, and use the mimeograph machine in the main office. I want to be a reporter so I can ask people questions and they’ll have to answer me. 

I can play three chords: G, C and D. I’m getting really good but my fingers still hurt. Thanks again for the band aids.  

Write soon. Love, Froggie

Monday

Dear Mom and Dad,

We played baseball against Bunk 8 and we lost. Windy was so sad because every time she tried to catch the ball she dropped it and the girls in Bunk 8 laughed. They were not good sports. Cloudy said even though we lost, we still showed team spirit, so we can have two helpings of dessert tonight. I hope it’s chocolate cake and not tapioca pudding.

Some girls want to do more Nature and Swimming instead of the newspaper. Only Flower and I want the newspaper 100%. I want to ask all the counselors what is their most embarrassing thing. Flower wants to put in a poem she wrote about her bird who died.

Have you ever heard of a CARE Package? It’s when you put all sorts of candy and stuff in a box and send it to your daughter to show that you care. Is mine on the way? 

Write soon. Love, Froggie

Tuesday
Dear Mom and Dad,

I got my CARE Package this morning! Thanx for the PEZ. Thanx for the batteries. Thanx for the picture of Goldie. I hung it next to my bed so everyone can see I have a pet, too, even though she’s just a fish and not a dog or a cat. Did you see how I wrote Thanx with an X? That’s how Canoe does it. Isn’t that cool?

One of the boys got sent home. He did something very bad but nobody will tell us what. His parents had to come take him home in their car. Nini says he must have been a J.D. Don’t worry, no one in my bunk is a J.D. (Can a girl even be a J.D.?) But anyway, no one is, so don’t worry.

Write soon. Love, Froggie

Wednesday

Dear Mom and Dad,

Did I tell you I‘m learning how to make a lanyard? It’s very hard. You have to tie these knots and it keeps getting longer and longer. I don’t know how it works, it just does. I’m going to make one for Cloudy. I could make one for you but you’d have to share it. 

The whole camp had swimming all afternoon because it wasn’t raining. I am still a tadpole which is sort of funny since my name is Froggie. 

Write soon. Love, you-know-who

Thursday

Dear Mom and Dad,

Today is the worst day of my entire life. We had a vote about the newspaper. Only Flower and I voted YES and everyone else voted NO. They said it didn’t sound like fun, but I think they’re wrong. I’m really sad. I sat on my bed and played Kumbaya all through rest hour. 

There are only a few more days of camp but if you send me another CARE Package I’m sure it will arrive in time. Just send gum and cookies. They don’t have any gum or cookies in the canteen. Maybe you could call up Uncle Arnie and ask him why not.

Write soon. Love, Froggie

Friday

Dear Mom and Dad,

Flash and Windy are being extra nice to me because of the newspaper. Flash lent me her pen that writes in three colors, even though I already have one. But it was the thought that counts, right? Windy helped me get the tangles out of my hair. But I’m still sad.

Last night was the panty raid. It wasn’t scary because boys are big blabber mouths and we heard them outside our bunk. One boy found Canoe’s two-piece bathing suit and he took it. Canoe says her mother will kill her. KK says the raid was better last year.

Uncle Arnie said we can’t have a sleep-out because it's raining too hard. If it was possible to die from disappointment, Bunk 6 would all be dead. Fizz said she might not come back next summer. Everyone else is definitely coming back. Me too. No one likes Fizz but I can’t tell you why, it’s a secret.

Write soon. Love, Froggie

Saturday

Dear Mom and Dad,

Except for one or two things that were really bad, this has been the best two weeks of my entire life. Please call Uncle Arnie right away and sign me up for next year. I’ll be in Bunk 8 and Smudge and I already put in first dibs for beds next to each other.
        Last night all the counselors put on a talent show for the campers. There was a girl counselor and a boy counselor who dressed up like a cow. I can’t describe it but it was really funny. 

Woody was a juggler but he’s not very good at it. He kept dropping things and getting hit on the head. Canoe fell out of her chair, that’s how hard she was laughing, and I got a pain in my head. Did you know if you laugh really hard for a long time the back of your head hurts so bad? Try it sometime, it’s cool.

Tomorrow morning at 9 o’clock we are getting on the busses to come home. I might have to cry then. I know I’ll be home before this letter arrives but I still wanted to write to you, even though I didn’t have to. This is my last  letter from camp. Isn’t that sad?

Don’t write me back, there will be nobody here except the ants and the mice and the mosquitoes. I’m going to miss them all so much.

Love, Froggie

P. S. When I come home please call me Froggie so I’ll still feel like I’m in camp. Okay?