Inheritance is the final book in Christopher Paolini’s four-book Inheritance Cycle which features Eragon, the dragon-rider, with Saphira his dragon, who lead the Varden alliance of humans with the Elves, Dwarves, Urgals and Werecats to victory against Galbatorix, the man who tried to destroy the dragon-riders and who usurped power in Alagaesia. This final novel is comforting to readers who have followed the adventures of Eragon. It is not an entirely happy ending, but most of the loose ends have been tied together by the end. The book itself is overlong and I’m not sure that I would have read it all if I hadn’t already been hooked by the series and wanted to find out how it all was going to end.

To emerge victorious against Galbatorix, Eragon and Saphira need to learn their true names in the ancient language, the meaning of which describes their true nature, including both their strengths and their weaknesses. This true name is the password required to enter the Vault of Souls where they find the eldunari or “heart of hearts” of many of the slain dragons. It is the knowledge and the power of these eldunari that provide Eragon with the keys to victory. This quest for self-knowledge is the essential challenge for Eragon in Inheritance and, in learning about himself, he discovers what he needs to defeat Galbatorix.

Challenges that force campers to learn about themselves and grow, is what Camp Nominingue is all about! One of the first challenges that all campers face is learning to live in a group. At Nominingue, all campers live in a tent, in groups of 5-6 campers from age seven to thirteen and in smaller groups of 2-3 at fourteen and fifteen. They learn about conflict resolution, problem solving and cooperation, and how to make friends.

Each new day brings new challenges. All campers participate in an instructional program where they work to achieve certain levels of competence in outdoor, skill-based activities like climbing, mountain biking, archery, campcraft, orienteering, sailing and kayaking. Each day, campers are asked to make decisions as to how they will use the free-swim time, whether to swim, to paddle, to play tennis or to play a quiet game with a friend. There are other opportunities for challenge throughout the session: putting on a performance during entertainment night; carving a whale out of a piece of wood; playing a song on the guitar; running a triathlon; participating in a canoe race…the opportunities are too numerous to mention.

Perhaps the greatest challenge, and certainly one that has existed since Camp Nominingue was founded, is the canoe trip. The length and the location of each trip are planned according to the age, strength and skill of each group of campers. On the canoe trip, campers learn about endurance – paddling across a lake against the wind at the end of the day, when the only thing they want to do is fall asleep. Campers learn how to navigate and how to locate themselves on a map. Campers learn how to get along, when differences arise between members of the team. The result of all these opportunities for challenge is the potential for incredible personal growth – in confidence, in independence and in a sense of responsibility.

Bernard Cornwell is back at it again in this enjoyable series of books about Alfred, the Saxon king, who reigned in Wessex between 1871 and 1891, and who is honoured in English history as Alfred the Great. This series begins with the novel The Last Kingdom and continues with The Pale Horseman, The Lords of the North and Sword Song. Unfortunately, Bruce Gray never read the last novel in the series, so I still have a final novel to read!

Although Alfred is the major historical figure in this series, Uhtred is the fictional character whose story is central to the novels. The setting for the novels is the British Isles in the ninth century, with the Saxon kingdoms of Northumbria, East Anglia, Mercia and Wessex under attack from the sea by Danish Vikings. Uhtred’s story takes place as the kingdoms fall one-by-one to the Danes. The Last Kingdom begins with a Viking raid on York and the death of Uhtred’s father and his own capture by the Danish Vikings. Raised by a Danish family, Uhtred dreams of re-capturing his home, Bebbanburg; he learns the skills required to be a warrior, both on land and sea; he is dragged into the political scheming of Alfred and Wessex; and he develops his spiritual beliefs amidst the violence and ignorance that surrounds him.

A central them in the novels is belief: the Christian beliefs of Wessex and of its Christian king Alfred in danger of being overwhelmed by the pagan beliefs of the Danes. Alfred is portrayed as extremely religious, favouring the church, prayer, education and peace over ignorance and warfare. Uhtred, although forced by fate into alliance with Alfred, rejects the strictures of Christianity. His gods are Odin and Thor. “The gods like bravery, and they love defiance, and they hate cowardice and loathe uncertainty. We are here to amuse them,… that is all, and if we do it well then we feast with them till time ends.” (The Lords of the North, p.328) And his life is determined by fate. Uhtred says that “Fate is inexorable. Fate cannot be changed. Fate rules us. Our lives are made before we live them.” (Sword Song, p. 53)

As I read these novels, it made me reflect on Camp Nominingue and what we believe at camp. Almost everyone who has been a camper and a counsellor at camp believes that a canoe trip is not only an amazing experience but also, the essential Nominingue experience. At Nominingue, however, it is not just any canoe trip. These are some of the cherished beliefs of Nominingue trippers: true canoe tripping should be done in cedar and canvas canoes; there is nothing like cooking on an open fire; a canoe should be carried by one person and a portage must be completed in one shot, with all packs, canoes and equipment carried across the portage, without anyone in the trip group having to do the route twice. Although I was raised in these beliefs and recognize their merit, I also know that there are good reasons to use a stove, or to travel in Kevlar or ABS canoes.

Camp Nominingue values the outdoor experience. All campers live in tents, canvas prospector tents set on raised wooden platforms, during their stay at Nominingue. There is a canoe trip offered for every camper, whether he is at Nominingue for a week or seven weeks. Freedom of choice is an important value. Campers choose instructional activities each week; campers choose how they will spend their free swim time; and there are lots of opportunities to learn new outdoor skills. Nominingue believes in the importance of respect: for oneself, for others and for the environment. To us these are essential components of the Nominingue experience.

At most camps, campers live in cabins. Although cabins might provide more comfort, we believe that part of the outdoor experience is lost. Choice and decision-making provide campers with opportunities for personal growth. Sometimes choice can be inefficient. Campers provided with time to choose might not always use their time wisely, but at Nominingue, we consider the opportunity for growth more important than the potential for loss. Every camper who spends time at Nominingue learns about these values and beliefs from the campers who return year after year, from the staff who themselves were often campers and from the place, which reflects these beliefs in its organization and in its spirit. There is no doubt that the values and beliefs learned at camp are as important if not more important than any other skills campers learn at Nominingue.

Catch-22 is a novel that I remember a number of classmates reading, back in high school in the 1970s. I did not read it at the time and did not watch the movie version either. This summer, I saw it in a book store and decided that it was a novel that I should read.

The expression catch-22 entered the English language through this novel. I have always paraphrased the expression as “a situation where one is damned if one acts and damned if one does not”, but I was interested to finally discover the origins of the expression.

This excerpt from the novel captures the essence of the expression “catch-22”:

Yossarian looked at him soberly and tried another approach. “Is Orr crazy?”
“He sure is,” Doc Daneeka said.
“Can you ground him?”
“I sure can. But first he has to ask me. That’s part of the rule.”
“Then why doesn’t he ask you to?”
“Because he’s crazy,” Doc Daneeka said. “He has to be crazy to keep flying combat missions after all the close calls he’s had. Sure, I can ground Orr. But first he has to ask me to.”
“That’s all he has to do to be grounded?”
“That’s all. Let him ask me.”
“And then you can ground him? Yossarian asked.
“No. Then I can’t ground him.”
“You mean there’s a catch?”
“Sure there’s a catch,” Doc Daneeka replied. “Catch-22. Anyone who wants to get out of combat duty isn’t really crazy.”

There was only one catch and that was Catch-22, which specified that a concern for one’s own safety in the face of dangers that were real and immediate was the process of a rational mind. Orr was crazy and could be grounded. All he had to do was ask; and as soon as he did, he would no longer be crazy and would have to fly more missions. Orr would be crazy to fly more missions and sane if he didn’t, but if he was sane he had to fly them. If he flew them he was crazy and didn’t have to; but if he didn’t want to he was sane and had to. Yossarian was moved very deeply by the absolute simplicity of this clause of Catch-22 and let out a respectful whistle.
“That’s some catch, that Catch-22,” he observed.
“It’s the best there is,” Doc Daneeka agreed.
(Heller, Joseph.  Catch-22 . Simon & Schuster Paperbacks: 2004, p. 45-46.)

The protagonist of the novel is Yossarian, a bombardier during WWII, operating from an island in the Mediterranean. Yossarian is not a dashing or romantic hero, but he is a hero nonetheless.

As I read the novel, I began to wonder if at Camp Nominingue, we ever put a camper or counsellor in a catch-22 situation. For example, at Nominingue we canoe trip using cedar and canvas canoes. These canoes can get rather heavy on a 7-10 canoe trip, as water seeps into the wood. Our counsellors are expected to portage these 16 ft. canoes on portages from 200 m. to 2000 m., and sometimes over longer distances. Counsellors who have been at Nominingue for a number of years take pride in being able to complete these portages without putting the canoe down as well as ensuring that all packs and canoes are transported over the portage in a single hike. Does this expectation put undue pressure on our staff to live up to these standards? If a counsellor was injured, would he say anything, or would he risk further injury by completing the portage without complaining?

Campers who return to Nominingue every year are impressed by the exploits of the counsellors who carry such canoes over long portages. As they become bigger and stronger, campers will often ask to portage a canoe or will test themselves to see if they are able to carry a canoe. Should they be allowed to even try? Is the culture of the camp teaching them to push themselves beyond their limits?

Challenging campers to go beyond where they have been before is an essential contributor to the personal growth that campers experience at Nominingue. However, this must be balanced out with a concern for the health and safety of both campers and staff. The example we set for the staff and campers goes a long way towards the culture that stands for Camp Nominingue.

Richard Sharpe…if you have never met him, you are missing something! I first met Richard Sharpe, the British Rifleman, on the History Channel with Sean Bean playing the role of Private then Sergeant then Lieutenant then Major Sharpe. I was hooked by the humour and the drama. I started reading the series of novels by Bernard Cornwell this fall, after stumbling on the books on the shelves of the Camp Nominingue equipment room library. I have now read 18 novels, beginning with Sharpe’s Regiment and finishing with Sharpe’s Siege, with Sharpe’s Rifles, Sharpe’s Tiger, Sharpe’s Escape, among a number of other titles.

I owe my fall reading schedule to Bruce Gray, Nominingue’s middle camp director, who donated the series to the camp library. My only complaint is why there are at least two novels in the series missing! How could he leave me hanging like this…

Richard Sharpe begins his career in the army as a private, after joining up to avoid hanging for murder. Over the course of the series, Sharpe travels from India to Portugal to Spain and finally France. His service coincides with British imperialism in India and with the Napoleonic wars in Europe. His service follows the campaigns of Lord Wellington, the man who finally vanquishes Napoleon at Waterloo in 1815. Sharpe meets many scoundrels, both within the ranks of the British army and among the enemy. He proves himself in battle, time after time, and he is rewarded for his bravery as he slowly rises through the ranks, in an army in which officer commissions are typically purchased by the well-to-do and the upper classes. He meets a number of women whom he woos through his courage, his honesty and his sense of honour. He wins fortunes only to lose them, to women, to folly and to scoundrels.

What stands out in each novel are the friendships that Sharpe makes throughout the challenges he faces. There is Sergeant Harper, the Irishman who hates all the English, becomes his constant companion and best friend. Or Major Hogan, an engineer and spymaster, who values Sharpe before all others. These friendships are built out of mutual respect and trust, forged in battle and harsh trial. Richard Sharpe recognizes the importance of these friendships and values them far more than his wealth or his military duty. He is willing to give up everything and anything for his friends.

 At Camp Nominingue, the friendships that are forged on a long portage or around a campfire or sailing in a high wind or leading the Radisson brigade to victory in the Voyageur Games or by sharing a tent over a number of summers are like no other. Friendships that are made at camp are special. Frequently, these friendships last a lifetime.

Campers who return to Nominingue for a number of summers will frequently ask to share a tent with other friends from the previous summer. Campers will also request to go on a five, seven or ten day canoe trip with campers with whom they have shared a previous trip. With campers coming to Nominingue from across Canada and around the world, tent-mates and canoe tripping companions have different backgrounds and often speak a different language, but through the games, the challenges and the fun at camp, strong friendships are forged. A camp friendship is definitely one aspect that makes summer camp and Nominingue special!

Brisingr is the third novel in Christopher Paolini’s Inheritance cycle. In Brisingr, Eragon, the last free dragon rider, undertakes two voyages through Alagaesia alone without Saphira, his dragon. On one voyage, Eragon travels from Dras-Leona, after defeating the Ra’zac, back to Surda, traveling on foot through enemy territory. The second voyage takes place when Eragon along with Garshvog, a Kull, travel from Surda to the Beor Mountains, the home of the dwarves. As he travels, Eragon feels extreme loneliness, cut off from the mental and emotional link between himself and Saphira. He knows that although it is difficult for both of them to be separated from each other, that the separation will make them stronger, a necessity if they are going to be able to defeat Galbatorix and his dragon.

In a summer camp, campers live an experience away from their parents and home.  For many campers, this separation is a challenge. Studies show that most campers will miss their parents at least some of the time when they are at camp. Having worked at Camp Nominingue for more than twenty years, I know how hard this separation can be for both parents and their son. I have also seen so many boys overcome this feeling and thrive at camp. Learning to live without the comfort of home and parents is an extremely empowering experience. When a camper overcomes his homesickness and begins to participate and enjoy the opportunities offered at camp, he gains tremendous confidence in knowing that he can live and thrive independent of home and family. Like Eragon, campers learn that personal growth does take place when new challenges are met and overcome!