Bow Camp, Chapter 2

Chapter Two- The stories.  Ohh, the stories!

When I arrived at Camp Waluhili last Friday morning and pitched my tent, I wasn't sure what BOW was all about. I'd never even heard of it until about a month ago. You can find out more about Becoming an Outdoor Woman in Oklahoma.

I wandered around the camp getting my bearings and ended up where everyone always ends up-in the kitchen. And just like in most homes, that's where all the action was.  Where all the interesting folks are hanging out. Where those in the know go.

This is SallyAnn Brown. Sally was at the very first BOW cap in 1991 in Wisconsin, with the founder. She has made it to a BOW (or several) every year since then. 

She teaches fly fishing, fly tying, and tube fishing. She can tell you the whole history of BOW, or you can read it here.

This is Virginia. Virginia had never heard of BOW either. She just thought it would be fun to sign up for a doorprize at a booth she saw at the Wildlife Expo. The booth was BOW.  The prize was a free weekend at camp.

Virginia found out 4 days before camp started that she would be going. She had been at camp for about two hours when I talked to her, and she had already decided she would be back next year.

That's the story that I heard over and over. "I'll be back.  I'm going to do this again. There's more classes I want to take. I'm bringing my sister/mother/daughter/friend next year."


This is Deborah.  Deborah celebrated her birthday by rapelling off a cliff.  I won't say which one.  Birthday, I mean, not which cliff.

This is Vicki.  Vicki is kinda related to Deborah, somehow, some way. Vicki never stopped smiling.  Ever.

They come for a lot of different reasons-space to breathe, or because someone else does the cooking and cleaning up, or maybe to learn a new skill or see old friends, maybe to have time and quiet to sit and think. Some come to have a place to call their own, where they are Women of the Outdoors, not someone's wife, or mother, or employee.  They come to face a fear or revive a memory.

But whatever the reason, almost to a person they say, "I'm coming back."  That's just one of the legacies of BOW...