Every August we look at the long lists and the big piles…and we wonder, how will we get it done? Our lone contracted staffer Zach was also looking a little bleak back then—but we found him friends…or they found us…or something.

Sometime this summer, Rachel brought a group of young adults on a canoe trip. She was so refreshingly organized and competent…I asked her “Rachel, are you a former staff member?” When she said no, I asked her if she wanted to be a former staff member. It was my lucky day to be sort of kidding about that, because about a month later, she called. And now—well you should see her and her obsessive skills for organization. She very respectfully asks me….”Do you mind if we rearrange some things while we’re cleaning the Dining Hall? “or “I’m not claiming to be an expert with QuickBooks, but, do you mind if I show you something?” I am smart enough not to mind. Rachel was given a leave of absence because it isn’t high season in accounting, and her career in horticulture hasn’t yet begun. I was right about her.

Abbie came here to work with her buddy Zach. We happened to know her family but I hadn’t seen her since she was 18 months old….. there are so many connections with her….. just yesterday I found out that the dear friend of ours–the woman my children called “Margie” she called “the Gum Lady.” She’s travels in many circles— ELCA, St. O, WCB, OSLC, Holden, NOLS and she is completely groovy. Beyond all that, she’s got some kind of big giant charisma that draws everybody in. That and she can do the shipoopi. We lover her. Abbie belongs in the woods, she and Rachel and Zach are tackling the lists, and……..they have spiced up our September, that’s for sure.