Suddenly – Crosstalk Ministries Day Camps

“Suddenly, Suddenly, Suddenly”……..In one of her amusing
novels about the mythical County of Barsetshire the British author, Angela Thirkell, included a character who fancied himself as a “modern” poet.

His poetry consisted of lines such as……

“Suddenly, suddenly, suddenly, he….Suddenly suddenly suddenly she…….”Etc.

This past week I have begun to empathise with the people in that poem as….”suddenly, suddenly,
suddenly”- Autumn has come rushing in like a steam train and Summer is rapidly receding into the past, although we have barely hit September!

Last Tuesday my newest Boarder, Klara arrived, ready to begin Term at a nearby Private School, so “suddenly, suddenly, suddenly” (you get the idea) I was launched into a new phase. Throughout the week there has been a steady stream of guests and visitors-Klara’s family members and friends, my friends, Day Camp Team Leaders and their friends!, total strangers coming for meetings, the list goes on. Actually the“total stranger” meeting was very interesting-

A few weeks ago CTM was approached by a Master’s Student (Daniel), from McGill, who is working towards becoming a High School Guidance Counsellor. He is currently putting together a research project which will involve Students from the mid-High School grades in a creatively- focused exploration around
the theme of dis/engagement with education. The participants will be working with this theme using a variety of interesting media, including recording techniques, photography etc. Daniel needs 4-6 students for the project so I’ve been compiling a short list of possibilities gleaned from both this Summer’s Team Members and rom some SYC Campers.

Needless to say, I have spoken with our CTM President and with the SYC Directors about the proposal and everyone seems to be on board. It looks as if the first line of attack will be for me to email parents asking if they would be interested in having their young people take part. Daniel will be sending us a full package including parental permission forms along with his own credentials, so that everyone can
see that this is a bonafide study Stay tuned for more news as the project unfolds!!

This morning I was struck by the thought that the first Team Gathering is only 4 weeks away!….Horrors!!

So, while I have been spending a goodly portion of the afternoon in a Baking marathon (brought about by the need to produce a chocolate cheesecake as a “Thank you” gift for Wentworth who has spent hours here in the past 10 days attempting to resolve my Wireless woes) I have also been multi-tasking by putting together a short list of likely prospects for Speakers and mulling over a poster design.

I shall need to fire off an email to the Day Camp Committee to get some feedback on the list and see whom the majority think it best for me to approach. 4 weeks notice is NOT oodles of time to ask a Speaker so I really will need to hustle on this. The craziest part of prepping for the Team Gathering is also
realizing that that weekend is THANKSGIVING! Agh!!! Here we are enjoying Labour Day Weekend and Thanksgiving is only just over a month away.

So it has certainly been a “suddenly” filled week and looking, gloomily at my “i-Cal” I guess I had better get used to this whirlwind rush into Autumn. But on the flip side—-would I want it any other way? No, I don’t think so. Having spent a number of years caring for elderly parents and having to look death squarely in the face, I am a person that really wants to seize every moment of Life and squeeze all the juice out of it. Not long ago I had a conversation on this theme with one of my Team Leaders who had made a
comment something to the effect “you seem to like taking too much on and doing a bunch of extra things.” I responded that “ yes” maybe it does appear that away, and “yes” I am hopeless at saying “no” to people, but on the other hand I seem to have been given boundless energy (all that organic food!) by our Lord and thus I do want to squeeze every moment out of life, while I have that gift. And, in case you are wondering, I do (sometimes) have a treat of sitting down for a while and reading a good book (thank you, Jessica!)

After squeezing in vast amounts of cooking this week, it is really hard to choose a closingrecipe, but I think the Curried Shrimp Chowder I had last evening is worthy of a quick mention. You can find that recipe here, although I substituted fresh cilantro for basil, and added the coconut milk at the same time as the corn andshrimp, because the recipe does not mention where to add it!

Because I was given a glorious basket of organic vegetables (plus eggs AND meat!!!!) by
Klara’s Mum, I used some of those scrumptious ingredients and made…

Italian Pasta Sauce

1-2 cups diced onion
2 Tbsps. olive oil
3 garlic cloves, minced
2 carrots, shredded
2 Tbsp, each, fresh Basil, Oregano & Thyme
1 can tomato paste
8 cups diced,fresh tomatoes
3 Mild Italian Sausages, casings removed
1 lb. ground beef
2 cups water
In a large, heavy bottomed, Dutch oven, fry sausages, breaking up meat with a wooden spoon. Remove from pan. Add onion and garlic, sauté until browned. Add beef and olive oil (if necessary) and brown for 10mins, breaking meat up. Return sausage to pot and add all other ingredients. Simmer for approx 1 ½ hours. Serve over pasta or polenta.Makes 10-12 servings. Freezes well.