Monday and Tuesday were a blur. Wednesday morning began with a light fog clouding the lake, the dog sleeping, the kids and Beth still asleep, and all quiet at the cottage. The lazy days of summer are upon me. It is the time of summer when I fight inertia, a struggle with time. The week welcomes the town’s river festival week, ending the with the Ausable River Canoe Marathon start on Saturday night. According to the weather forecast, Monday was expected to be the best day of the week, it turned out Tuesday was pretty good, too. Continue reading Days 52 and 53: Lazy days of summer…→
The three anglers work the lake Saturday morning near Big Bear Point
It is Sunday morning at the cottage and the past two days have gone quickly. It is overcast and rain is in the forecast. The past two days have been warm, sunny, and breezy. Today the lake is calm almost lake glass with gentle ripples. Our guests departed this morning and everyone except for Olivia woke to wave goodbye. Sunday is the laziest day of the week and everyone, including Ivy, is taking their time getting around. The television is on and I am watching CBS Sunday Morning, then the Tour de France. One of the best parts of the month of July is each year I get a bicycle tour of France courtesy of the race.
With our guests here, we have been busy with boating, fishing, swimming, and enjoying the cottage. It has been a great time well spent: certainly, the days have counted. However, I have fallen behind on writing and other chores. Sunday will be a catch up day with all sorts of tasks and looking ahead to the coming next two weeks. Continue reading Day 49 and 50: Two days on the lake→
The moon and the sun set on another wonderful day at the cottage.
Thursday began with overcast and light rain. It remained that way until midday. However, we found a way to have a great day, anyway. Sometimes your weather is internal.
Mark’s family, mom, dad, and older sister, had arrived the day before and had played on the water yesterday evening and everyone slept late, including me. We woke hoping to get out on the water in the morning, but we had to wait. It would rain, then, stop. After breakfast, mark’s dad suggested we visit the Michigan CCC museum in Roscommon. The CCC is the Civilian Conservation Corps and was in operation during the Great Depression from 1933-1942. The museum told the story of the CCC in Michigan. The corps’ responsibilities were to reforest Michigan and fight forest fires, which plagued the regions vast forests. The CCC was a program initiated by FDR to combat the rampant unemployment of the Great Depression. The museum buildings were restored from CCC camps in Michigan and had detailed explanations of the jobs performed in the buildings and explained the overall purpose of the CCC. The museum was well done and I walked away with an understanding of the period. It must have been bleak. I wish I could spend more time walking and reading, but it is difficult with children who want to be out on the lake. William, Olivia, and the rest of us returned to the cottage for lunch. Continue reading Day 48: Rain, rain, go away…→
Tuesday night and Wednesday morning blended in to one, and I did not get much sleep. I woke and slowly started moving, made coffee, and woke William. We loaded the car and checked our list, twice. What we did not check was whether we had everything we needed. We turned around twice to get Beth’s clothes and letters, which needed mailing. Fortunately, it only delayed us twenty, or so, minutes.
Six hours is a long time and it gives me plenty of time to think, listen, and talk with William. For William it was time to watch a DVD, sleep, or talk to me. Yet, this time he was reading. I had purchased Knucklehead by Jon Scieszka and he cannot put it down. It is all exciting to see. I just hope I can find another book that has the same appeal and same reaction – he reads! I recommend it! Continue reading Day 47: On the Road, again.→
Tuesday morning I was at home waking up in my own bed and making coffee in my kitchen – for the first time in two weeks. It felt awkward because Ivy was not with me, but it was early, still, and quiet. After we unloaded the car Monday night, I told William to sleep until he woke up and he came downstairs at eight complaining he was tired. I told him to go back to bed, so he did. He was up within the hour working on his chores – cleaning the tent and putting away our camping gear.
We came home for one day and two nights for one reason or rather two meetings. I had a meeting with the grade level language arts teachers at my school and William had a scout meeting to attend. My meeting was important because I am new to teaching a full load of language arts and William’s was important because there are only a few meetings each summer and he is working on developing his leadership skills. It looked to be a busy day with meetings, errands, and hopefully, a chiropractor visit. Continue reading Day 46: Meetings→
I remembered the big idea or thought for the day from our last full day at Camp Tesomas. It fits for Thursday: I have had forty-one days of summer vacation and I have forty-one days remaining. When I look at my accomplishments and reflect, I have done well. My blog is up and running, I have been to Paris and have closure to my father’s passing, summer camp with William was fun, and I am now at the cottage. I still have a few goals to attain before summer closes and that should be my focus for the remaining days.
One of the biggest struggles I have with summer is the lack of structure. The blog gives me a purpose, a focus, and a deadline. I need to write each day. I am not sure who is reading but it does not matter. It is making a difference for me and it is helping me to focus on making the days count. Continue reading Day 41: Halfway day – is the glass half full or half empty?→
Scott Stantis cartoon from the Chicago Tribune, March 13, 2010
When the mail comes at home, Olivia always wants to know if is she has received any mail. She sees Tom, the postman, pull up and hurriedly run to the box to pull out the day’s mail and search through it. Most of the time she is disappointed, but she never gives up. Growing up I remember the joy of receiving a letter or a postcard of someone I knew was travelling. Recently when I was in France, I sent postcards to many people: Olivia, William, Beth, my mom, my in-laws, and every one of my Language Arts students from 2009-10. I included everyone, except me. Continue reading Day 40: The lost art of letter writing→
Routines are what make camp so much fun and yesterday’s post started with the flag ceremony; even though I did not explain the evening flag ceremony. Routines are everywhere, such as the dining hall, I was on the phone with Beth telling her about the day and she could hear yelling and shouting in the background and asked what it was and I told her – we were being greeted to come and dine. Continue reading Day 35: The Mile→
Daily life at camp has its rituals and routines. At the troop level, each day starts by rising, cleaning, dressing, and in general getting around. Sometimes we rise alone, other times we are greeted by others and we talk about the day before and the day ahead of us. Some mornings it is time to look out over the lake and enjoy the peacefulness of nature. Thursday morning was cool, but warmer than Wednesday morning, it had been a late night for our scouts. The Order of the Arrow ceremony and the fellowship afterwards had our scouts walking back into camp close to ten and lights out soon after. The activities of the week had tired our scouts and they were content to sleep. In camp, the next group to wake is usually the SPL or other scouts who get up and shower, clean up, or just get ready for the day. At seven the SPL begins to wake the scouts, there is a little grousing but, most scouts simply wake and are excited about a new day. The hoppers are the first to leave for the dining hall because they need to set up tables before breakfast. By 7:35 to 7:45, the rest of the troop begins to walk or cycle down to the dining hall and form up at the flagpole for the flag ceremony. Troops can sign up to lead the flag ceremony in the morning or evening, but we did not sign up this year. The camp staff assembles on the steps above the flagpole and the officer of the day calls attention and orders the color guard to advance and post the colors. The color guard marches the flag toward the flagpole attaches the flags to the halyard and awaits further instructions from the officer of the day. The OD orders the scouts to attention and to salute the flag or hold their hands over the hearts as the color guard raises the flag while the bugler plays reveille. Then the OD leads us in the Pledge of Allegiance:
I pledge allegiance to the Flag of the United States of America, and to the Republic for which it stands, one Nation, under God, indivisible, with liberty, and justice for all. Source: Section 4 US Flag Code.
The scouts release their salute and can stand at ease while the color guard retreats. Once the color guard retreats, the OD dismisses the color guard, staff, and scouts all walk over to the dining hall. This is how we start; it is routine, and a great way to begin each day. We will form up at the flagpole for evening flags later, but we have much to do in between and we will start all over the next morning. Continue reading Day 34: Flags→
Tuesday night was cool, almost cold, with the stars shining brightly in the dark blue night sky. Recently, I have begun to notice the sky more since we added Ivy to the family, but the night sky is never this clear in Wheaton, too much light pollution. I was walking back to my tent, after working on Tuesday’s post, looked out over the lake, and saw clear calm water with the moon and stars above. I woke early, showered, and biked to the program center to get coffee and finish the post. The scouts followed and I joined them for flags and breakfast. Continue reading Day 33: Order of the Arrow→
