Saturday, July 18, 2009, Denver, Colorado, 6:19 a.m., M.T.~

Dear Journal~

Sage McDermott here.  Hope this finds y'all well; I am currently at church camp.  I'm having a blast, as you can imagine.

I was invited a few weeks back by some friends; at first I relented because I was angry.  Turns out it was just the tonic I needed:  was fighting with my uncle and aunt; needed to get away, even if for just a little while.

We've been having fun, doing all sorts of things:  Bible trivia challenge (I lost), swimming, hiking, talent contest (Reneequa Simmons won; that girl has a VOICE!!), crafts, all sorts of events to keep us busy. 

I have made some wonderful friends:  Reneequa Simmons, Derbi Wilson, Tyleisha Evans, Queenie Coleton, Debbie Scherflautner, Kaitlyn Ashley Younce, others.  There are guys here at the camp, but the only time we see them is when we do activities or at lunch; we aren't allowed to fool around with them or sleep in each other's cabins.  The camp people are really strict about that; they want to keep our camp a clean, "hanky-panky free zone".

Guess that stands to reason.  Church camp wouldn't be church camp if there was hanky-panky going on.  LOL

I am still going to counseling; my last session was especially draining for me.  I had to go into detail about my cult experiences; as I recounted what I remembered to my counselor, I cried like a baby; it was awful!  I am so glad that is out of my system; I felt so much better afterwards!  I go every week, still enjoy talking to my counselor.  She makes me feel like a human being instead of an idiot!

The other day we had some wild weather roll through Denver, including the threat of tornadoes.  It was not fun, especially since I hate thunder and lightning!  I was shaking, quaking like a little girl; I was suddenly wishing for my mommy to come hold me tight.

We didn't get any tornadoes, thank goodness; the thunder/lightning was more than enough, thank you!  Good thing I'm not a storm chaser, hunh??  LOL

I'd be the one screaming: "We're all gonna' die!!!!"  LOL

Now the weather is beautiful here:  pristine skies, wall to wall sunshine, stiff, cool breezes from the north/northwest, and what not.  Even saw some nacreous clouds last night; they were cool!  (They're rare; they usually don't migrate this far southward.)

Saw millions of stars, too, perhaps a meteor or two.  It was marvelous; so nice to commune with nature (as long as we don't unexpectedly run into a bear or a skunk, that is LOL)!

Well, we're going to get ready to hit the breakfast trail, so I am going to go.  I will write again when I get back home.  Hopefully by then, Uncle Fenton and Aunt Reba will have cooled their jets; I hate it when we fight like cats and dogs!  It's the worst!  In any event, this is Sage saying so long and God bless!  Love ya!

~Sage.  :)