- No cell phone, texting, or TV. I haven’t had a phone for about 4 months now because mine broke a few weeks after we got here. And I haven’t missed it except to take the occasional picture. Although there is no TV (as in normal broadcasting shows), we can watch movies. The kids watch the occasional VHS and even more rare, a DVD. They really don’t even ask much!
- Internet from 1989. When I was in high school, we got dial-up internet. It was faster than this. (Actually we just got an upgrade on data in the past few days, so we can now say it is closer to 2005)
- Inability to run to the store or even go anywhere outside of camp when you want. The tides determine when and how anyone leaves camp. We make our plans accordingly. And then we check what vehicle is available to use.
- Rain and the gear that comes with it.
- Drying the kids’ shoes with my hair dryer. Those puddles are just too tempting…
- Temperatures in the 70’s feeling really hot.
- Eating every meal with lots of people.
- Not cooking or doing dishes for just my family. Waking up and just heading down to the dining hall for 3 or more main breakfast dishes has been amazing….
- Doing dishes for 50-150 people!
- Eating crab almost every weekend.
- Not driving a vehicle on a regular basis. Getting around is either by foot, bike, or on a golf cart.
- Although this hasn't happened since April (but will again at the end of retreat season)….having our electricity and water turned off at night to conserve the generator.
- Horses everywhere. Stopping for them on the road, seeing them in the yard, having them sneak up on me….
- Having a handy-man around to fix literally anything. I’m used to that with Ryan anyway, but we have a few mechanics around and all the equipment, so if something breaks, help is only a radio call away. And speaking of radios….
- Using a walkie-talkie to get a hold of anybody at any time. I think I’m going to get back to Kansas and instinctively reach for my non-existent radio at Kids Connection to call “Pam, do you have a copy? Pam.”
- Interdependence – this comes with community living. Few things are “personal property” here and so we share nearly everything. Which means we literally have everything we need, materially-speaking. We depend on others to get us in and out of camp and someone is always ready and willing to help anyone out at a moment’s notice. You can’t make it in this atmosphere without interdependence – it’s how Echo Ranch works and it works incredibly well. You really know you’re cared for here.
- Sleeping in on Sundays (well, as much as 3 kids will let you) and eating only two meals that day. They are very intentional about Sundays being restful days, so we do brunch at 10:30 and supper at 4:00. Then we do church with a pastor from Juneau and then ice cream.
- Not throwing away your food. No, that doesn't mean we have to eat everything. In fact, we want you to have leftover food! But we can’t put food in the trash because we have these large beasts called bears that like to go through trash when they smell food. It all goes in the slop bucket and feeds our pigs (which in turn feeds us in the fall…..)
- The smell of fire. Fires are made pretty much daily. Kids (including ours) learn the art of fire making early in life.
- Itching. Some from mosquitoes, but mostly from the blasted no-see-ums. Somehow a bug that is about a millimeter long can have teeth that feel an inch long.
- Taking our shoes off before entering any house or apartment. And along with that, sweeping sand constantly in the hallway.
Sometimes we put on Mom and Dad's boots and a hat (or in Asher's case, the detachable hood from his winter coat) to go looking for mushrooms in the forest.
And sometimes we watch personal planes land at camp.
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