It is late morning, not a particularly good time to start a post, but this will be brief at least that’s the plan. Sometimes plans change as they did earlier this week and I drove back to the cottage Thursday afternoon instead of early morning arriving just as the kids were coming in from skiing. Continue reading Canoe Race Weekend
It is getting down to the nitty gritty. I have had 48 days for fun (rest, relaxation, rejuvenation) and I know have 22 days to wrap up all of the things that I wanted to do, needed to do, and absolutely had to do before another school year begins, again. Somehow, I think I have failed, again but in hindsight, I have made progress.
I woke Sunday morning without the benefit of an alarm I just got up and started the day. Evidently, I had set my alarm for 6:00 PM, not AM, and the alarm did not go off for obvious reasons. This is really the best part of the day, I know I sound selfish and I am. I think we all are, to a certain extent. I started to write Sunday morning and did not finish. Continue reading Reality is overrated!
It is early Saturday morning. The sun has yet to peak over the horizon and all is quiet. Even Ivy has decided it is better to stay in bed and has returned to her place on the floor in our bedroom. It has been a great week – for all of us.
Beth finished planting the mailbox on Monday and it has been a reminder of how beautiful her gardens are at home. It certainly makes a statement at the front of the driveway. After Julie’s letter on Saturday, we received a few more items including a postcard from mom! I’ve been writing and sending postcards all summer and this is the first to arrive, here. It is great to get mail and hear how other folks are spending their summer. Continue reading Friday and the past week
Saturday always feels like a Saturday at the cottage. It doesn’t matter that we aren’t following a schedule it still feels like a Saturday. It is time for a few chores and mostly time for recreation. It is also a busy time on the lake. There are more boats and jet skis zipping on the lake, more water skiers, and more noise. You run into more people on the lane, up for the weekend arriving Friday night and leaving, or planning to, on Sunday afternoon. Continue reading Reading and more reading
Wednesday was a travel day back to the cottage and the traffic and weather couldn’t have been better, clear and sunny all the way, all 350 plus miles. It was great going back to the cottage especially knowing Beth and Ivy would be leaving Versailles and travelling north to meet us.
We started later than I wanted because there were a few items I had forgotten when I went to Trader Joe’s, our family’s main grocery supply. While the storm had not affected our home two of the three closest TJ’s were powerless, sadly they were two of the 500,000 who had lost power in Monday’s storm. We have had two big storms blow through our area this summer packing winds of 60-70 mph both times and parts of Wheaton have lost power, but not us. Somehow, I think we are due. Continue reading Driving games
Short of sounding like a crank, it has been busy! Even being at the lake can be tiring and regular household chores can quickly fall by the wayside piling up until such a point where I have to stop and catch up. Today is that day. It is a perfect day to catch up, or at least make a valiant attempt. It was windy and cloudy this morning as I watched clouds forming in South Bay come across the lake and sprinkle the lawn. Rain is in the forecast off and on all day and it is just the right weather for a day of catching up. Continue reading Queen of the Bluegill
I am really blessed. Growing up, summer vacation meant staying at home and maybe a trip, but mostly it was time spent at home swimming in the lake, boating with the neighborhood kids, or at the swimming at the country club my parents belonged. Thirty-six years later, I have a place to go for the summer – the cottage in Michigan. It’s not mine, but it belongs to Beth’s family and has been in her family since the fifties. Continue reading Summer foods
Monday to start the week, that is normal but not the normal I have grown accustomed to since summer began. Monday was just another day, like any other day, nothing special, nothing different. However, this Monday marked the beginning of a new week and the impending return to school, and work.
I woke early to find Ivy, as usual, waiting and I started the coffee. I had resumed the Chicago Tribune and now I had a newspaper to add to the routine. It was going to be great day and the weather would be, too. The heat and humidity disappeared Sunday for a few days. We slept with the house open and just before I woke, I needed to cover up with something more than just the sheet. This is the best sleeping weather, with more to come. There will be nights when I do not want to uncover, yet that kind of weather is far off, and unthinkable. Continue reading Day 80: Monday, the moon, and Olivia’s glasses….
Wednesday and Thursday went incredibly quickly, but I suppose that happens when you are driving on the interstate and trying to keep up with traffic. I have to reflect on the contrast of returning from Normal Wednesday and driving to the cottage on Thursday.
The SLA wrapped up with sessions Wednesday morning and early afternoon. I decided to skip the last session because I did not think it would help me in my role as the Communications Liaison and I wanted to get home. It was hot, humid, and still. The kind of weather that makes me recall my time growing up in Houston. I have grown accustomed to the Midwestern summers with cool mornings and warm afternoons – especially at the cottage. I do not do well when it is hot enough to melt crayons. Continue reading Days 61 and 62: from Normal to the Cottage…
I woke early Sunday morning, it was dark out, and Ivy barked. Not the bark I had learned that meant she needed to go, but a different bark. I opened the door and there was Beth coming in from the race – it was 4:36 AM and she and William had just gotten home from following the race. Continue reading Day 58: The Finish Line