A Day in the Life of Retreat 2.75, Part IV

This is the last of the behind-the-scenes at Camp photo essays. Today we will look at the last morning. In past years, we had the contest and the raffle on Monday morning but this made for a very hectic, even frantic morning. We would be rushing around trying to say adieus, do the contest and raffle, check-out and leave. So Schoolhouse Press decided to move the contest and raffle to Sunday and leave Monday for a nice leisurely breakfast and farewells. I thought it worked very well.

Nancy commented that it was a good thing I was dragging this out. Thank you Nancy! I am enjoying reliving the very short weekend that is Camp. It is really a long weekend but it feels shorter than usual because there is so much happening. Monday is for farewells. There are lots of hugs and chats. Some of us get to the room early and finish packing up or just sit and knit. Others come just in time for breakfast which is in an adjacent room.
It is also the last opportunity to take photos of really amazing things. Marilyn Van Keppel is modeling her winning contest entry - the Heere Be Dragone shawl.
Linda Lutz and Cheryl Oberle were busy during Camp tying knots in knitted fabric to make lovely shibori-dyed scarves. Linda had done a mini-workshop on this technique, and it is fascinating. But their tied scarves had a weird sort of textural aspect to them that I tried to capture. We decided the tied sections looked like multi-colored intestinal villi. The finished scarves are quite spectacular and not at all like villi - real or imagined.We wait in line to hug and say 'see you again!' to Meg.
We take lots of pictures. They have to last a whole year at least. Not everyone will be at next year's Camp. Camp seats are given out by lottery and so there is no guarantee we'll be back. Then there is the personal element. There are other things in life that may interfere with people coming back.
Everyone tries to say 'see you next year' to everyone else. Sometimes you meet up with someone on the last day without having chatted with them over the weekend. I try to move around the room and chat with different groups of people over the course of the weekend but sometimes schedules don't always enable me to talk to everyone. When I'm in the room after or before class, they aren't. Or they are deep in conversation with someone else. I make sure I at least wish everyone a good year on Monday.
Lastly, there is the Schoolhouse Press group. Meg and Michelle are wonderful and patient. They are always smiling and make Camp such a warm experience.
Monday is also settling-up day. The Schoolhouse Press staff is set up in the lobby and we get to finally pay for our purchases. From left, Michelle, Tami, Amy, Joyce and Eleanor. This is the time when reality hits home - "Did I really buy all that?"

Next week I'll show you what I bought - some impulse and some planned.

Edited to replace all the 'goodbyes' with other words per Nancy's comment.