Entry #3: Ashokan, and How it Broke My Heart; Or, How Realms Never Change (Significant place)

The Ashokan Center in Olivebridge, New York is a beautiful and special place. It's a place where once upon a time The Wayfinder Experience held court, or, to be more precise, camp. It had a field full of shadows and trees, and enough dirt for a farm. But, it had beauty in a mundane way, at least in the outer region. In the woods however, reality was irrelevant. There was a small waterfall area that we referred to as the Mermaid Lagoon, where the cascading water, as small-scale as it was, to us, rivaled the beauty of Niagara Falls. And a Baseball Field, that with a simple gate, could become the doorway to death. Ashokan was our stomping ground, with every sight a memory. There's the old bunkhouse, where Skylar Osherow threw an apple through the door, or the wobbly bridge where I thought I was going to die. (Believe you me, at night, when you're running from monsters or enemy soldiers, that bridge is the most terrifying place to be. And sometimes, that real terror is what makes the adventure more powerful.) You may wonder what Adventure I'm referring to. Well, for three years of my life, at Wayfinder camps, Ashokan is where I played adventure games, or Live Action Roleplaying, where we get characters and play immersive games where we fight monsters, and be heroes, among other things. So for three years, Ashokan was my lifeline during the summer, a life raft from the hell of school. But alas, all good things come to an end.

After the winter of 2012, the Ashokan center finished the construction of their new facilities. And due to these new buildings, they were allowed to charge more money, more than Wayfinder was willing to pay, as the cost of camp would go up. And so, in the summer of 2013, we had a forced exodus to The Presbyterian Center in Holmes New York. And while it is absolutely beautiful in it's own right, it's no Ashokan. It's lake is definitely more beautiful and less lack-luster than Ashokan's(albeit still disgusting), and it's got some nice fields, overall, it's just a place, whereas Ashokan was an experience, fantasy brought to life! But finally, after two years of sorrow, and mourning the loss of Ashokan, the dream was resurrected. For Wayfinder's 2014 Winter Game, we returned to Ashokan. It was drastically different, and unrecognizable at first, but when we went down to the pavilion where we used to get our characters, I remembered the magic that was Ashokan. I was home. Because home is where the memories are, and where the people who mean the most to you are. And while we're not returning to Ashokan this summer, I have hope for the future, that maybe one day, we will come back permanently, and our return will be glorious, and Wayfinder will be home.

That being said, even though things have changed, and the winds blow just a little faster, and the lower part of Ashokan where our bunkhouses were has been claimed by New York State, I still dream of Ashokan. I still dream of old Ashokan, and strangely enough, I still dream of New Ashokan, the land I only visited briefly, the land I wish to meet again, and the land I hope to play many glorious Adventure Games on, and to make new memories on, because with the passage of time, the more things change, the more they truly stay the same. Such is the unspoken law of humanity. And so, just as Ashokan has changed, it is truly still the land where the awestruck 12-year old boy played a robotic lumberjack.

 A video of the Wiggly Bridge in the day time. It may not look scary now, BUT TRUST ME, IT IS TERRIFYING.