There's a lot of us here at Ekone who have it; that pesky bug diagnosed as Horse Craziness, or the all-consuming love of horses and anything to do with them. Yup, we're all infected, so it's a good thing we're quarantined out here! But in every group of Horse Crazy Ekone kids, there's always a few that have an even more serious affliction...that's right, the Need For Speed, known officially as Rideicusfastimusgiddyupophilia.

 It’s that’s time of year again here at Ekone Ranch: when we wake with the first morning birds and troop up to the barn to start the day with a big ol’ stack of hay bales. Putting in the hay that feeds the horses all year has always been a favorite activity around here. Like a barn-raising or a quilting bee, there’s something about getting all your friends together that makes the work really a lot more like fun.

 Friday night this week brought a new adventure: Ekone Challenge Course 2010! Like the rodeos in the olden days, where cowboys showed off in events that mimicked their life on the range, the Ekone Challenge Course gave campers the chance to show off their Ekone skills as they competed in such difficult events as the Sleeping Bag Relay…

 Well, the cool weather has been holding out this week, and with such a great crew of riders, we’ve been enjoying spending a lot of time on horseback.

From adventure trail rides through the creek drainage and up onto the Running Field to some off-trail exploring of the pine and oak forest north of the ranch, we’ve been able to check out some new territory and take some favorite trails that we haven’t done yet this year.

 For all the excitement and adventure to be had during each week of camp, there is just something really special about the first day. We spend all morning getting excited about seeing old friends again and meeting new ones, enjoy a scrumptious lunch (with Sunday Rolls!!)  and then take our afternoon walk.

 To wrap up week three, everyone showed up in their finery for dress-up dinner...

We wanted to make sure all our favorite summer camp friends and families know about the new Ekone Farmstand, which will be open on Saturdays and Sundays during camper pick-up and drop-off. This is an opportunity to take home a little piece of Ekone, as well as help more kids be able to come to camp, as all proceeds go to the Camp Scholarship Fund and are tax-deductable.

Well, we’re starting off Week 3 with some of what we love best—can you guess what it is? That’s right, HORSES! After only two days, this crew of riders is already well into the swing of things, challenging themselves on the obstacle course and developing their balance, control, and focus. We’ve already gotten out on the trail with some riders, and are looking forward to getting everyone out to explore more of the wild and beautiful Ekone land.

 We wrapped up another amazing week at camp with our traditional Creativity Night; and what a gosh-durn creative bunch this was! We got to see some of the cool creations from recycled materials made this week, and enjoyed the serenading of some very talented songstresses.

Ekone kids are learning about garbage and peace this week, making stuff with trash and learning how to live more peacefully on the earth and with each other.  This week’s projects included building stools with plastic bottles; weaving with bailing twine and scrap fabric ends; making jewelry with bottle caps, bike tubes, can tabs and plastic containers; and starting a couch from plastic bags and containers.  The kids also learned about our off-grid system-- including solar panels, wind turbines and biodiesel production—and other sustainable pro