Caretaker Joe’s To-Do List

By Joe Crain

May is a very special time around the grounds of Camp Nebagamon. The grass starts to green up, the trees start to leaf out, and the migratory birds start to return to their summer homes. The newly born critters start to emerge from there birthing blinds and dens. And we caretakers start to move about the grounds with a faster gate and a determined, but slightly anxious, look on our faces as the opening deadline gets closer. The “Jobs” list starts losing the “Wan-a-do’s” and starts filling up with the “Got-a-do’s”. All of the finished winter projects that have been waiting in the Wanegan are taken out and installed in their rightful places about camp.

This is my 25th May as a full time caretaker here at Camp Nebagamon and for the first 24 springs what I described above has been, for the most part, the way this spring has progressed. Early in the month I was again delighted as I watched the flocks of geese flying north toward their summer homes. As the local birds settled down around the area, many of the flocks headed farther north to their summer breeding grounds, passing very far over head in the familiar V pattern, accompanied with the distant “honk, honk” song they sing to each other. This year we were treated to what seemed to be an unusually large number of swan flocks heading to their summer homes. And I had the same thought as every year, “Will this be the year that a pair of them finally decides to make Lake Nebagamon their breeding lake?”

By now, the grass has started to green up and the trees are finally fully leafed out. They were both a bit late to start due to our very dry spring, but after a good couple of rains in the last week things have started to jump out of the ground — it seemed like the trees were fully leafed out in just a matter of days after the rain fell. As far as the baby critters are concerned it has been a bumper crop this year. We have active fox dens with several pups cruising about in the back-stop hills of both target shooting and archery! Caretaker Andy has reported seeing fawns about, and reported that he could have stepped right on a little guy hiding in the open at the side of the woods the other day. Andy’s wife Amy discovered a litter of rabbit kits in here garden by the garage of the caretaker’s house and a neighbor at the end of the ally also came upon a litter in their yard! I have also come upon several Robins nests with eggs already laid in them. 

And as you can imagine, my 25th May at camp has been anything but usual as our determined but anxious expressions have been replaced with expressions of uncertainty and concern. Concerned about how our own families and the camp family as a whole are faring through what is a very serious health crises in many of the cities and towns around the nation and world. And the uncertainty of whether we would be able to see campers playing on the hill this season. Well as the decision was made, that for the safety of all concerned, that indeed there would not be campers playing on the hill this season, my quickened “May” gate slowed down a bit and my heart broke just a little. And now, the work list has suddenly shifted from only got-a-do’s back to some wan-a-do’s for the summer ahead.

Keeping a fire burning for you this summer at camp, and hoping all of you stay healthy and happy until we can all once again gather at the Council Fire Ring, it’s Caretaker Joe at Camp.