Camp ’23 (Days 3 – 5)

September 2

The forest is the root of all life; it is the womb that revives out biological instincts , that deepens our intelligence and increases our sensitivity as human beings. ~ Akira Miyawaki

I love Wisconsin. It’s a great place. ~ Donald Trump

Green Bay Packers fans practiced their own religion in Wisconsin. ~ Holly Quinn

My mother was born in Wisconsin; it wasn’t her fault. ~ Me

July 30

We’re not going into Moscow. It’s Czechoslovakia. It’s like going into Wisconsin. ~ From “Stripes”

[Sunday morning sightseeing in Sheboygan . . . ]

We spent three years at the Sheboygan Conservatory of Music. ~ From “Some Like It Hot”

[The Biddies outside the John Michael Kohler Arts Center, our annual visit on Sunday mornings before leaving for camp in Elkhart Lake . . . ]

Were they sent to hell? Worse. Wisconsin. ~ From “Dogma”

[Sanity reigns at the Arts Center . . . ]

A thousand units in Oshkosh? Tommy, that’s fabulous. Your father never sold a thousand in Oshkosh. ~ From “Tommy Boy”

[The restrooms are always a highlight here – think about what Kohler means to you . . . ]

How do you like Wisconsin in February? I like it if you’re there. And I know a killer burger in Milwaukee. ~ From “Up in the Air”

This is sweet, man, because if this crook’s a Brewers fan, his ass has got to be from Wisconsin. ~ From “Reservoir Dogs”

[The Super leads off the tour of the current art displays. I apparently failed to pick up a brochure to describe what we were looking at . . . ]

Who is this? Baxter? Baxter, is that you? Bark twice if you’re in Milwaukee. ~ From “Anchorman”

Why are you always one step behind me? Because if I wasn’t, you’d be the most popular history professor at the University of Wisconsin. ~ From “The American President”

Do you seriously expect me to tell the President that an alien has landed, and assumed the identity of a dead house painter from Madison, Wisconsin? ~ From “Starman”

I bought a ticket to the States, to a fantastic place called Wisconsin. Wisconsin babes! ~ From “Love Actually”

I’m a regular visitor here, but Milwaukee has certainly had its share of visitors. The French missionaries and explorers were coming here as early as the late 1600s to trade with the Native Americans. ~ From “Wayne’s World”

Ever been to Wisconsin? They have some of the coldest winters around. I grew up there, near Chippewa Falls. ~ From “Titanic”

It is a well-documented fact that guys will not ask for directions. This is a biological thing. This is why it takes several million sperm cells… to locate a female egg, despite the fact that the egg is, relative to them, the size of Wisconsin. ~ Dave Barry

Wealthy individuals have always had the capacity to influence politics, of course, but only after two key campaign finance cases – Wisconsin Right to Life and and Citizens United, have they been able to do it in such a large and blatant way. ~ Zephyr Teachout

I’m a Wisconsin kid, so I like brats and burgers and stuff like that. Cheese curds. ~ J. J. Watt

Washington, DC is to lying what Wisconsin is to cheese. ~ Dennis Miller

It’s a great culture to be a part of: there are hockey players all over the world. It has taken me to an education, getting an education at Wisconsin. I’ve been able to travel the world. ~ Hilary Knight

[These are contributions to the Art Center’s restroom walls from local school children . . . ]

In the state of Wisconsin it’s mandated that teachers in the social sciences and hard sciences have to start giving environmental education by the first grade, through high school. ~ Gaylord Nelson

There’s no reason that anybody from Wisconsin or Turkey can’t relate to ‘Atlanta.’ ~ Brian Tyree Henry

In Wisconsin, style-wise, it was all about bundling up, maybe wearing a hat and forgetting about your hair. ~ J. J. Watt

Weirdness is not my game. I’m just a square boy from Wisconsin. ~ Willem Dafoe

Prayer and dependence on God has been our history. How unfortunate it is now that an unaccountable and unelected and misguided judge from Wisconsin, Judge Barbara Crabb, has declared National Days of Prayer – established by the Congress – to be unconstitutional. ~ James Dobson

I don’t think Wisconsin should become known as a state where we shoot cats. ~ Jim Doyle

Sarah Palin is brilliant. She is a media magnet and a media magnate. She creates headlines and draws crowds wherever she goes, whether it’s 98 degrees in the desert of Arizona or below freezing in the snow of Wisconsin. ~ Mark McKinnon

[The Biddies peruse the art room-by-room . . . ]

As an individual, and I have to say as a person of color, the thing about being an ‘other’ in America is I really feel like you’re bilingual. I’m from a small town in Wisconsin, but even when I’m in New York and I’m working for MSNBC or CNN, you’re used to being the only black person in the room. ~ John Ridley

Wisconsin is a very liberal state and a very conservative state. We’re the home of the progressive movement. We’re the home of the Republican Party. ~ Sean Duffy

[A hand up . . . ]

My favorite flowers are orchids and peonies. In Wisconsin, where I grew up, peonies were everywhere, and I have loved them all my life! I also love using succulents in my decor because they last forever and add great texture to any arrangement. ~ Kendra Scott

I definitely felt out of place at first, not unlike being lactose intolerant in Wisconsin. ~ Jared Brock

[A show of hands, please . . . ]

My father had season tickets to the Packer games, and I have several of those. I have a lot of family that still lives in the Bay Area and in Wisconsin, too. And so, I like to get back as often as I can. ~ Tony Shalhoub

[Another annual event, upon arrival in Elkhart Lake, before camp opens at noon for the 8th week attendees, we stop here for an adult beverage and snack overlooking the lake – this is on the southeast side of the lake while camp is on the northwest side . . . ]

There’s a concept in Wisconsin called deer widows, which is basically when all the menfolk leave town to go on their [hunting] trips and the women are left behind, bewildered and confused, to do whatever it is women do without men. (Celebrate.) ~ Don Zolidis

[The view from the Barefoot Tiki Bar . . . ]

Wisconsin doesn’t look kindly on the weeks that slip in between the death of cold and the birth of warmth . . . ~ Seanan McGuire

There was a point in time in Wisconsin football when people used to just go to watch the band. ~ Bret Bielema

[It appeared to be synchronous sailing . . . ]

You think all teenagers care about are musicians and movie stars? Spend some time in Wisconsin. We’ll blow your socks off. ~ Joan Bauer

…Minnesota, Wisconsin, all around there… has the kind of women I liked when I was younger. ~ Neil Gaiman

She was always threatening to move to be nearer to Rosie and the boys, but Wisconsin was obviously, non negotiably, self-evidently-too cold. But she came up for the summers. Phoenix’s weather need not be clutched to the breast for June through September. ~ Laurie Frankel

[The new staircase from the camp’s living quarters and recreation area down to lakeside . . . ]

My first joke that ever aired on ‘Late Night’ was for a list of ‘Top 10 Least Popular Summer Camps.’ My contribution – ‘Camp Tick in beautiful Lyme, Connecticut’ – squeaked in at No. 10. ~ Nell Scovell

[Lakeside, where we introduced ourselves to each other and were greeted by staff announcing plans for the week . . . ]

A lot of parents pack up their troubles and send them off to summer camp. ~ Raymond Duncan

[The first night campfire . . . ]

I played 15 years of hockey, and I got more injured doing two weeks of cheer camp. ~ Eric Christian Olsen

As a kid, I was terrified. I was a bed wetter, and I had to go to sleepaway camp every summer, which was humiliating and terrifying. I had lots of insecurities and scaredness. ~ Sarah Silverman

July 31

Doo, doo, doo, lookin’ out my back door. ~ John Fogerty

[The view from our living room out through the screen porch to the lake below . . . ]

I bought an island in 1987. It’s in one of the lakes in Canada. I went around it in my boat and went to the real estate office and bought it. It’s the best $65,000 I’ve ever spent. My family camp on it and we have great times there. ~ Dan Aykroyd

[The view from outside our front door . . . ]

I spent two summers working at Camp Curry and at Yosemite Lodge as a waiter. It gave me a chance to really be there every day – to hike up to Vernal Falls or Nevada Falls. It just took me really deep into it. Yosemite claimed me. ~ Robert Redford

[Ye Olde Swimming Hole at camp . . . ]

I play a female Indiana Jones, a professor who hunts down precious objects, like a bowl that belonged to the Buddha. They tailored the role to me: I wanted to be smart, funny, and to kick some ass. ~ Tia Carrere

[Phyllis is a longtime camper who provides perspective here . . . ]

Camp is so universal. It buys that sense of togetherness. You have camp friends that you only see at camp and couldn’t see an entire year. ~ Kevin Jones

[Last year the flagstone patio was redone with smooth pavers. Now old(er) campers can use the patio without fear of falling down . . . ]

I think the fascination with zombies is that they don’t obey the rules of monsters. The first rule of monsters is that you have to go find them. You have to make a conscious choice to go to the swamp or the desert or the abandoned summer camp. ~ Max Brooks

[Said old(er) people . . . ]

If I have to be remembered for something, I want it remembered that I really liked children and was a good camp counselor. ~ Francis Ford Coppola

[Looking across Elkhart Lake to the town of Elkhart Lake on the other side . . . ]

The ‘Billionaire’ song is what my kids tease me with. They sing it to me. It’s funny. ~ Bill Gates

[Lest you’re not sure, that is indeed the Elkhart Lake water tower seemingly with a fresh coat of paint . . . ]

As a woman, you can be funny and 50, but you can’t do much else – unless you’re Helen Mirren! ~ Caroline Quentin

[Rita stops for a visit with Jenny and Kent. Kent is what you would call if this was Harvard, a legacy camper. His folks and Rita have been campers here for over 40 years . . . ]

Camp Southern Ground is a lot more than a camp. It’s more of a campus. ~ Zac Brown

[The Biddies meet the lifeguard . . . ]

I actually like snakes! When I was young, I was a boy scout nature camp counselor, and one of our projects was collecting snakes and creating an environment for them, so I’m quite familiar with snakes and think they’re fantastic creatures. ~ Harrison Ford

Queen is my all-time favorite band in history. I was an obsessive growing up after I discovered them at 10 at summer camp. ~ Adam F. Goldberg

It’s really time for the State of Wisconsin to form a better relationship with the greater Milwaukee area. ~ Tony Evers

I think our Batman had to be fun, light-hearted, funny, tongue-in-cheek… and I think that made kind of an homage to those earlier comic books, where Batman always had a quip or something. ~ Adam West

Midwest kids got to summer camp. There is something very special about being away from your parents for the first time, sleeping under the stars, hiking and canoeing. ~ Jami Gertz

It’s been a dream of mine to run my own summer camp. I went to one as a kid, and I put on productions, and got lots of confidence. ~ Idina Menzel

The snow continues with high winds we remain at this camp to day in consequence of the weather. ~ William Henry Ashley

In earlier times, so many people sang much more. You know as a kid you’d go to some kind of religious training and or summer camp or whatever it was and you’d learn to sing a lot of songs. ~ Michael Tilson Thomas

All the guys called the Olympic Village a high-class Boy Scout camp. ~ Johnny Weissmuller

[The city beach in the right background; to its left (in the photo), the aforementioned Barefoot Tiki Bar is hidden by the trees on the point in the near left foreground . . . ]

Frontiersmen good and bad, gunmen as well as inspired prophets of the future, have been my camp companions. Thus, I know the country of which I am about to write as few men now living have known it. ~ Buffalo Bill

If a man falls down and gets up, it’s funny. If he falls down and doesn’t get up it’s not funny. ~ Soupy Sales

[The staircase up from the swimming deck to the camp lodging area . . . ]

I had 500 kids at camp this past summer for example. We do nine weeks for kids and nine days for grown ups every summer. The adult camp is a lot of fun. ~ Wavy Gravy

[And looking down on the waterfront and mess hall area . . . ]

I don’t hunt, I don’t camp, and I get lost on my subway to work here in Times Square! ~ David Grann

[I usually took the back seat of the golf cart to make sure no one was following us . . . ]

August 1

Our Congress should stay in session all summer – camp out in D.C., and turn off the AC. Put on their stuffiest powdered wigs and sweat it out, until they give in and put their John Hancocks (and their Nancy Pelosis and their John Boehners) on at least one meaningful law that no one wants to repeal. ~ Kevin Bleyer

[A smoky sunrise through the porch screen . . . ]

Show me a rock imported from France, and I’ll show you de Gaulle stone. ~ Soupy Sales

I’m really not that funny in real life! But I am the best audience one could find. I love to laugh. ~ Carol Burnett

[The camp game of choice leading to euchre tournament brackets . . . ]

Once you get past funny, my other qualities are so below average. It’s not like I’m handy. ~ Seth Meyers

[Our cabin, Rappaport, hidden amongst the trees in photo center . . . ]

Some of the best conversations I’ve had are sitting around a campfire. ~ Robyn Davidson

[And that’s certainly true for Biddie 1 and The DOM, who between them have over 80 years of experience coming to Camp Brosius . . . ]

Location is everything, I’d rather camp in the Lake District or Scotland than sit in a five-star hotel in Frankfurt. ~ Rory Bremmer

[They got to keep the hats (and may have to declare them on their W2’s) . . .]

From fifth grade on, I worked at our public library. The pay, a pittance, was almost superfluous. All through high school, I looked forward to summer as the time when I could work at the library four or five days a week. I was never a camp counselor, a lifeguard, a scooper of ice cream. ~ Julia Glass

[It’s all in the wrist . . . ]

I hate camping, but I love summer camp. ~ Zooey Deschanel

[With thanks to Rita and the DOM . . . ]

For me, take Tiger Woods. I always thought he was great, but I never truly understood how good he was until I had the chance to go to Tiger Woods Golf Camp. He taught me how to swing and was hitting the ball, and this dude was unreal. ~ Larry Fitzgerald

[The ultimate camp scene – young kids learning how to sail . . . ]

I’d love to open a camp focusing on the arts accessible to kids from all income brackets. ~ Idina Menzel

I love to travel but hate traffic and planes. I wish I could just beam myself anywhere instantly. ~ Jordan Ladd

[And how to right a Sunfish that has toppled over . . . ]

My ideal travel companions are my surfboard, wetsuit, and guitar. ~ Alexander Ludwig

We live in a society where sleep is really such an afterthought. Not getting enough sleep is an epidemic in our country and it’s something that is not talked about or taken seriously. ~ Gabby Thomas

Politics have no relation to morals. ~ Niccolo Machiavelli

[August 1, 2023, a date that will live in infamy . . . ]

In politics stupidity is not a handicap. ~ Napoleon Bonaparte

[And yet a date that produced these many faces of celebration . . . ]

Vote for the man who promises least; he’ll be the least disappointing. ~ Bernard Baruch

[Much of camp activity takes place on our porch . . . ]

We hang the petty thieves and appoint the great ones to public office. ~ Aesop

Democracy is when the indigent, and not the men of property, are the rulers. ~ Aristotle

A fool and his money are soon elected. ~ Will Rogers

It has been said that politics is the second oldest profession. I have learned that it bears a striking resemblance to the first. ~ Ronald Reagan

Politics is the art of controlling your environment. ~ Hunter S. Thompson

If we don’t believe in freedom of expression for people we despise, we don’t believe in it at all. ~ Noam Chomsky

There ain’t no answer. There ain’t gonna be any answer. There never has been an answer. That’s the answer. ~ Gertrude Stein

Hell, I never vote for anybody, I always vote against. ~ W. C. Fields

Being president is like being a jackass in a hailstorm. There’s nothing to do but to stand there and take it. ~ Lyndon B. Johnson

A diplomat is a person who can tell you to go to hell in such a way that you actually look forward to the trip. ~ Caskie Stinnett

I love to travel, anywhere in the world. Wherever it is… India… Tibet… wherever. I’ll go anywhere. ~ Guillermo del Toro

I was 12 when it really hit me. I did children’s theatre camp during the summers and played a fairy in ‘A Midsummer Night’s Dream.’ The next summer, I played Clytemnestra in ‘Agamemnon’ and I was like, ‘OK, this is amazing.’ ~ Rachel McAdams

The junior senator from Wisconsin, by his reckless charges, has so preyed upon the fears and hatreds and prejudices of the American people that he has started a prairie fire which neither he nor anyone else may be able to control. ~ J. William Fulbright

I travel Europe every couple of weeks. I just came back from London, Holland and Denmark. Every nation on this planet has its issues with race, and I am not sure if everyone has figured out how to deal with it. ~ Montel Williams

Up Next: Even more from camp . . .