Thinking back on my summer I realize that, everything I expected this summer didn’t happen. Getting a dog is not so simple. It’s not just feeding him and taking him for a walk and petting him. There is so much more to it! You have to make sure he doesn’t rip the house to pieces and and destroy your shoes (something my dog Moxie has already done several times). Also, lots and lots of praise and love. You always have to be there for them. Plus, puppies are crazy! Super, Super crazy! So you have to tone down their excitement (Which is not easy). I didn’t expect all of that at all, it’s so much harder but it is much better that just feeding them and taking them for walks!

Going to an island without electricity or running water is not as easy as it sounds. You have to take at least 3 gallons of water with you in heavy jugs every time you take the boat out there and to shower you have you take some rainwater and put it in a special bag that helps the sun warm it up. Then there is your lukewarm shower! You have to cook all your food on a grill and use lanterns at night. You can’t have milk or anything that will spoil without refrigeration. Fire for warmth, tending to the forest the list goes on and on. I knew some of that already when we got to the island (Thanks to my grandma) but at some points it was scary to be far away from the mainland especially during big thunder storms that made tall trees fall down and huge waves crash against the shores. But feeling isolated is the coolest feeling in the world. You can stay in your pajamas for 3 days straight and nobody even cares. You can sleep until 11 and nobody gets mad!

Being at sleep away camp especially for me, a person who has anxiety can be a half traumatizing and half great experience. But if you get homesick easily camp is not all fun and games. People always talk about how when you go to camp you have so much fun doing activities with the counselors and making all these great friends that apparently you will stay friends your friends for the rest of your life. But again as I have said several times before, it is not as simple as that. Even though I did make some awesome friends at the end (One of my friend’s mom was one of the producers of Hamilton) it was still so very hard at the beginning. It felt like it would never end. But once I made some friends, it was just like everybody said camp would be, with the little bit of homesickness hanging out in the back of my mind. So even though I expected to be the worst 3 and a half of my life I was wrong. Really wrong. I never thought that I would say this (Type this) but I want to go back next year!

Over all my whole summer was nothing like I expected it to be.

Escape From Mr. Lemoncello’s Library by Chris Grabenstein

The Grimm Conclusion by Adam Gidwitz

Harry Potter And The Cursed Child story by J.K Rowling written by John Tiffany and Jack Thorne

The House Of Hades from the Heroes Of Olympus by Rick Riordan

The Mark Of Athena from the Heroes of Olympus Series by Rick Riordan

The Son of Neptune from the Heroes Of Olympus Series by Rick Riordan

The Lost Hero from the Heroes Of Olympus Series By Rick Riordan

Back story: My grandma has camped on an island called Big Moshiers Island for 20 years now. She loves this island so much that she camped out there during a full on hurricane once. She told me that her tent almost flipped over and she could see trees bending over so far their limbs touched the ground. Now most people would be terrified to go back after being in something like that, but not my grandma she still goes there to visit her friend (It’s a tree) and loves cleaning up and helping the forest every time she goes back.

The Present: She loves this island so much that we bought a house on it. The previous owners hadn’t used in six years when they sold it to us so the house and the trees around it were in terrible shape, so my family being the family that they are decided that we were going to fix it right up. We have deep cleaned the entire house and cut down dead trees that were in our view. But, enough with the boring cleaning talk. Every time I am there I feel connected to the ocean and the trees and the birds that make nests there because there is no TV to watch until your eyes bleed and no electricity so if your kindle runs out of battery, that’s it. Find something else to do. We cook all our meals on the propane grill that has a handy dandy burner. I get to spend so much time with my family prepping dinner, looking for seashells on the beach or playing endless hours of apples to apples. We crack each other up and help each other out. I learned that sitting on the deck of a house and watching the sky can be just as interesting as playing Pokemon Go or watching your favorite TV show. I get to spend lots of time with my grandma going around the beach looking for flat rock to make kairns (Rock towers created by the Irish to keep you safe). Talking, laughing and hanging out with my family is probably my favorite thing to do during the summer.

Driving my Grandpa’s boat

from the the bay to Moshiers.

My Grandpa checking out a tree that split in half

after a storm that was possibly cyclonic hit.

Docking right as the beautiful sun is setting in

the back round.

.

That is me standing on a rock looking for

seashells.

This summer my dream came true! I got a puppy! Finally after a year and a half of asking we visited a women named Julie who fostered puppy that were from shelters. We saw the dog she was fostering named Jace and immediately fell in love with him. His back story is that he was found under a house in Mississippi with his 4 siblings and his stray mother. Then he was taken from Mississippi to Maine by a shelter and then was fostered my Julie who trained him and kept him in very good shape. We went home that night and asked ourselves if he was really the right dog for us and if we could handle a puppy. The answers were,

“Of course!” and “We love him!”

So two and a half weeks later, we drove from New York City to Sanford, Maine and picked up Jace (We renamed him Moxie) and drove him down to Connecticut where he would have lots of room to run around in our backyard. He sleeps in our bed every night and always lays down with his head in your lap when you sit on the couch. Even though we have had him for three days which seems like about enough time to realize that he is yours to keep, I still haven’t figured that out yet. When I look at him all I see is a little ball of energy that will love you unconditionally no matter where, when or why. I learned that everyone says that dogs are a mans best friend, which is true don’t get me wrong because they see them a the male Alpha dog, but they love women and girls just as much. I the best moment I have had so far was when we were watching a movie on the couch and he was tired from running around outside all day so he stretched out his legs and put his head on my lap and with in seconds, he was out like a light. He started to dream about running so his legs kept twitching and I thought, this will be my forever friend.

Meeting Moxie for the first time at Julie’s

house.

The day we got Moxie (Starting from the left)

Me, Julie, my grandma and my sister Margot.

And of course, Moxie.

Getting to know Moxie.