Wildfire was AMAZING. I can't stress that enough. Although I'm not a camper (and I REALLY hate the way that dew makes everything in your tent, including your sleeping bag and pillows damp), it was still the most fun I've had in a long time. And I can't wait to go back next year. There's another WF in September, but Dave and I can't afford it and to be honest, as much fun as it is, you come off the weekend feeling like you just took a ride on the world's biggest roller coaster. Fun times, but you need a little while to recover afterward.
The whole thing takes place at a Boy Scout camp, so I was a little disconcerted when I walked in at first. It reminded me way too much of the music camp that Kim and I went to when I was 15 -- which was terrible (mean, stupid people; I got the campsite a metric MILE away from base camp; everyone got sick or dehydrated; one of our friends was a douchebag the whole week; etc). But this camp (thankfully) had plumbing, including flushing toilets and real showers, even if everything else was relatively primitive. Dave chose to pitch our tent in the wooded area, which again, not my favorite place to be (reminded me too much of music camp). Next time we go, we'll camp down on the main field with most of our friends.
The thing I hadn't anticipated at WF is the laid-back, comfort level of everyone. Everyone hugs you. Everyone says hi. Nobody acts like a douchebag. It's kind of amazing. But it was weird at first. I had a little bit of an uncomfortable moment when the fifth person I didn't know gave me a hug. I am not used to being touched that often, and I had a little bit of an anxiety attack once I was alone. But I got used to it.
There ARE no superiors at WF, there are only organizers. The teachers teach some classes and then go on to take some others, so everyone is on equal footing. Everyone is required to do four volunteer hours (I helped cook lunch on Saturday and breakfast on Monday) to offset the costs of the retreat. Cooking was a lot of fun, but tiring -- it's a LOT of work to feed 300 people!
I took a LOT of classes. The classes took place in the main field and in the tents on the field. This is also where we would spin fire in the evenings, once it got dark. The field was clearly marked out by burning lamps and huge braziers, which is where we got fire for our fire toys. You can't really see it from this picture. This is daytime, so everyone was either taking a class or practicing what they had learned.
Dave wanted to only take classes that had to do with fire staff. He wants to get proficient in one area of expertise. On the other hand, I took classes in spinning poi (more fun than I expected), hoop (AMAZING), choreography for fan spinning (I learned how to do a thumb roll on the handles of my fans -- maybe a video to come if Dave and I can figure out how to work the video on the camera) and belly dance (my abs are still tingly!). All of them were a lot of fun, but my body is SORE after this weekend!
This is my friend Lyndsey (the one who got us into spinning), spinning her unlit staff on Friday afternoon before dinner. The circle of benches over there was where we congregated for our "newbie meeting", which basically explained what was going to happen during the weekend and how we were not to spin fire until we took a safety class on Friday night.
We were blessed with extraordinary good weather -- it only rained on Sunday evening, which was unfortunate because it meant that the Performance Class took place in the dining hall instead of in the amphitheater, so nobody could perform with fire. It was super hot on Friday, Saturday, and most of Sunday (see Dave above, drinking water), but Monday was beautiful. Also, you're probably noticing that a lot of guys are shirtless? No guys wear shirts at WF. I don't know why. It's just the way they roll. Dave decided to become one of the shirtless guys and paid for it with a super bad sunburn. Oh well. Live and learn.
The whole thing takes place at a Boy Scout camp, so I was a little disconcerted when I walked in at first. It reminded me way too much of the music camp that Kim and I went to when I was 15 -- which was terrible (mean, stupid people; I got the campsite a metric MILE away from base camp; everyone got sick or dehydrated; one of our friends was a douchebag the whole week; etc). But this camp (thankfully) had plumbing, including flushing toilets and real showers, even if everything else was relatively primitive. Dave chose to pitch our tent in the wooded area, which again, not my favorite place to be (reminded me too much of music camp). Next time we go, we'll camp down on the main field with most of our friends.
The thing I hadn't anticipated at WF is the laid-back, comfort level of everyone. Everyone hugs you. Everyone says hi. Nobody acts like a douchebag. It's kind of amazing. But it was weird at first. I had a little bit of an uncomfortable moment when the fifth person I didn't know gave me a hug. I am not used to being touched that often, and I had a little bit of an anxiety attack once I was alone. But I got used to it.
There ARE no superiors at WF, there are only organizers. The teachers teach some classes and then go on to take some others, so everyone is on equal footing. Everyone is required to do four volunteer hours (I helped cook lunch on Saturday and breakfast on Monday) to offset the costs of the retreat. Cooking was a lot of fun, but tiring -- it's a LOT of work to feed 300 people!
I took a LOT of classes. The classes took place in the main field and in the tents on the field. This is also where we would spin fire in the evenings, once it got dark. The field was clearly marked out by burning lamps and huge braziers, which is where we got fire for our fire toys. You can't really see it from this picture. This is daytime, so everyone was either taking a class or practicing what they had learned.
Dave wanted to only take classes that had to do with fire staff. He wants to get proficient in one area of expertise. On the other hand, I took classes in spinning poi (more fun than I expected), hoop (AMAZING), choreography for fan spinning (I learned how to do a thumb roll on the handles of my fans -- maybe a video to come if Dave and I can figure out how to work the video on the camera) and belly dance (my abs are still tingly!). All of them were a lot of fun, but my body is SORE after this weekend!
This is my friend Lyndsey (the one who got us into spinning), spinning her unlit staff on Friday afternoon before dinner. The circle of benches over there was where we congregated for our "newbie meeting", which basically explained what was going to happen during the weekend and how we were not to spin fire until we took a safety class on Friday night.
We were blessed with extraordinary good weather -- it only rained on Sunday evening, which was unfortunate because it meant that the Performance Class took place in the dining hall instead of in the amphitheater, so nobody could perform with fire. It was super hot on Friday, Saturday, and most of Sunday (see Dave above, drinking water), but Monday was beautiful. Also, you're probably noticing that a lot of guys are shirtless? No guys wear shirts at WF. I don't know why. It's just the way they roll. Dave decided to become one of the shirtless guys and paid for it with a super bad sunburn. Oh well. Live and learn.
I came home sore, exhausted, slightly burnt (on my nose), but it was the most fun weekend away I've had in a LONG time. We're planning on going again -- maybe next May, around David's birthday. They have three Wildfire retreats a year -- in May, August, and September -- but we can't afford to go to all three, or even two a year. It was an amazing weekend, and I can't wait to do it again.
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