Putting the story in order
Forty days and nights; in Judeo-Christian context it often defines a period of waiting or wandering. In my world, it defines the length of a summer on the Island. My latest project involves researching (and perhaps writing about) fifteen different summers. No sense taking on something small, right?
Back, BC (Before Children) I was closely involved with a summer program where students from across the country gathered to learn and socialize. My role: facilitate the social section of each day. I managed to cover all the bases, from outside observer, through student status, into the employee list and finally on to a directional title. A lot of good memories, too many to recount in a single evening, even among friends.
To write a monograph might be possible, but the simple action of limiting fifteen years into a handful of pages would mean that detail would be left behind. Perhaps that’s “all for the best”, but I figure that if I approached any one of the thousand plus students each would have a memory or three to share. Finally a software tool has been developed; the humble Wiki.
I’m a nostalgic by nature, so the foundation starts here. So far, I’ve managed to find complete student lists, not-so-complete employee lists, a lot of photographic trivia, calendars of activities, roommate directories and a “where are they now?” section for some of the notables. The Internet is an ideal tool for such things. Server space is cheaper than ever, and with the Google spider there isn’t any need to advertise.
The obvious question remains; who really cares about something that happened half a lifetime ago? Anyone who records history (her story, if you wish) has to deal with the same existential query. For now, let’s classify this project as “an alternative to bad TV” and see where it ends up.
