Keeping in time with the protagonist of “The Circle Game,” who “moved ten times round the seasons over ten clear frozen streams,” I became outgoing and adventurous. Yet, looking back, the scene is also miraculously reflective of Joni Mitchell’s depiction of the young child: “Yesterday a child came out to wander… fearful when the sky was full of thunder, and tearful at the falling of a star.”Įventually, and I mean very eventually, I grew out of my homesickness. While humorous now, it was a tragic sight then. I’d wander aimlessly around camp, still crying to anyone who would listen or maybe even to myself. Occasionally I was pushed to spread my wings and, dare I say it, leave the office. From that moment through the rest of the day, I’d sit in Gabe’s office and cry. As soon as they reached my line of sight, I’d catapult out of bed with unstoppable energy propelling me out of the cabin. I kept them locked there until I spotted my director Gabe and his dog Brooklyn on their way to the office for the Leadership Team morning meeting. Every morning, as soon as my eyes cracked open in my designated bunk bed, I glued my attention to my bedside window. I didn’t want to be left in the dust, so though I wasn’t ready, up to camp I went. ![]() I was an anxiety-ridden, fearful child who only made it onto the camp bus because my twin sister was gung-ho about the idea. Of course, when I was eight, my entire camp career was touch and go. For that reason alone, “The Circle Game” and I were touch and go. During that time, I thought less about “being captive on the carousel of time” - as the lyrics detailed - and more about being captive in an annoying cycle of standing up and sitting down. The choreography, which everyone took part in, required standing up from my comfortable position in the grass. ![]() The melody was nice, but the chorus, which repeats after each phase of the child’s life, had corresponding dance moves. ![]() It’s a popular camp song, one with which I had a love-hate relationship throughout my early years. In her song “The Circle Game,” Joni Mitchell tells the story of a child becoming an adult, expressing the inevitability of time and growing up.
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