And grace, too
I've left this for too long, and the small details of one of the best experiences of my summer are starting to fade. It's about time...
Shayn and I went back to Lex's cottage at the beginning of the month. We'd made the plan a week or two before, and I felt like a kid waiting for Christmas. And we got a bright and early start, too, with the intention of maximizing daylight and the limited hours of our rural escape. And that's really what the cottage is... an escape. It's a different life. No cell phone, no computer, no obligations, and no stress. Just pure bliss, and good clear thoughts. And on top of it all, I slept like a baby. I could sleep from 5-10AM and be good 'til the next 5AM "I should go to sleep... the sun's coming up" (perhaps with a hammock-and-book catnap somewhere in there).
I can't stress enough how magnificent it felt to be alone with your most clear and insightful thoughts, but surrounded by what came to feel like the Cottage Family.
The weather was fickle, as this summer's clearly proven, and we took full advantage of every condition.
On the only continuously rainy day, we sat outside and watched the fantastic clouds roll in, and for the first time, I saw a blinding fork of lightning hit the lake. We then baked special rice-crispy squares, and spent the afternoon in the loft.
By a twist of fate (aka "mysterious car trouble"), our three night stay turned into five, and thank god (or "mysterious car trouble") for that. Our last night there, we all sat around the camp fire, with good ol' homemade tunes on the geetar and good ol' homemade shooting stars overhead. I can't remember the last time I've felt as at peace as when I was laying out on the dock watching the meteor shower and the weird lightning off in the distance. Just laying there for hours, fire crackling in the background...
It was so unsettling to come back to the city, and to an empty apartment at that. All 5 nights at the cottage there were at least 9 other people there, and a bunch of them were Lex's cousins, his aunt, and two uncles, so it wasn't just a "party party!" atmosphere. Every meal was a big "set the table" event...
And the Camp Room... ah, the camp room. With all the wood panelling and windows that looked out onto the lower deck and the lake, and with the smell of citronella and camp-fire floating in from outside, the scent of that room would hit me and immediately take me back to 10 years ago, to Algonquin Park and summer camp.
What a superb summer.
Shayn and I went back to Lex's cottage at the beginning of the month. We'd made the plan a week or two before, and I felt like a kid waiting for Christmas. And we got a bright and early start, too, with the intention of maximizing daylight and the limited hours of our rural escape. And that's really what the cottage is... an escape. It's a different life. No cell phone, no computer, no obligations, and no stress. Just pure bliss, and good clear thoughts. And on top of it all, I slept like a baby. I could sleep from 5-10AM and be good 'til the next 5AM "I should go to sleep... the sun's coming up" (perhaps with a hammock-and-book catnap somewhere in there).
I can't stress enough how magnificent it felt to be alone with your most clear and insightful thoughts, but surrounded by what came to feel like the Cottage Family.
The weather was fickle, as this summer's clearly proven, and we took full advantage of every condition.
On the only continuously rainy day, we sat outside and watched the fantastic clouds roll in, and for the first time, I saw a blinding fork of lightning hit the lake. We then baked special rice-crispy squares, and spent the afternoon in the loft.
By a twist of fate (aka "mysterious car trouble"), our three night stay turned into five, and thank god (or "mysterious car trouble") for that. Our last night there, we all sat around the camp fire, with good ol' homemade tunes on the geetar and good ol' homemade shooting stars overhead. I can't remember the last time I've felt as at peace as when I was laying out on the dock watching the meteor shower and the weird lightning off in the distance. Just laying there for hours, fire crackling in the background...
It was so unsettling to come back to the city, and to an empty apartment at that. All 5 nights at the cottage there were at least 9 other people there, and a bunch of them were Lex's cousins, his aunt, and two uncles, so it wasn't just a "party party!" atmosphere. Every meal was a big "set the table" event...
And the Camp Room... ah, the camp room. With all the wood panelling and windows that looked out onto the lower deck and the lake, and with the smell of citronella and camp-fire floating in from outside, the scent of that room would hit me and immediately take me back to 10 years ago, to Algonquin Park and summer camp.
What a superb summer.