Monday photo feature

It was a positively lovely memorial service for Nath Thompson on Saturday.  In this photo from the Camp Carolina Face Book page, I'm seated just beyond the kid sitting in the foreground next to the fire: that's me in the tan coat and white fleece cap (it was cold).  My good bud Allen Sparks, whom I hadn't seen in too many years, sits to my left.

For the readers who are tired of me going on about Nath, I promise this is the last post.  But this blog is about all aspects of my life as a paddler, after all, and Nath, in so many intangible ways, influenced the way I go about life in my boat, and everywhere else.  I spoke to one person after another on Saturday who revered Nath for all the same reasons that I did.  Our sentiments were articulated beautifully by Bill Smith, who attended Carolina from 1964 until 1976, in a eulogy.  "I can't say I remember too many details of my time at Carolina," Bill said (approximately), "but indelible in my memory is the example Nath set for living one's life.  Nath taught me that to have a rich, meaningful life, it really doesn't take much more than giving a firm handshake, and paddling a canoe, and singing some songs, and being part of a small community of great friends."

Another eulogist was Cliff Heaton, known as "Heaty" around camp from the late 60s through the early 80s.  "My contemporaries and I just kept coming back to camp summer after summer, and it wasn't because the camp had the best tennis courts, or the nicest waterfront, or whatever," said Heaty.  "It was because of Nath, and the wonderful world he provided for us here."

Years ago, it was common for a chant to go up in the dining hall: "Nath in the Lake!  Nath in the Lake!"  Toward the end of each summer, a group of counselors would grab Nath and carry him down to the lake for just that purpose, only to end up in the water themselves when their surprisingly strong, wily camp director suddenly fought back.

At the conclusion of the service on Saturday, we all walked down the hill to the water's edge, where Nath's son Charles pulled out the urn with Nath's ashes, and put the old man in the lake at last.