summer turns a corner

 this flag was given to dad following grandpa's burial, now it hangs above the roll-top desk at the cabin

 jim and colee ride off into the sunset

 gorilla dog helped me with some gardening

 another beautiful afternoon for  boat ride

heading out on a morning fishing expedition with jim and dad (and donuts)

at the lake summer moves at a welcome pace.  despite hours spent in airports, on airplanes, and in cars to get there, as soon as the truck turns onto the gravel road and into the driveway shaded by maple, oak, aspen, and birch, at the moment  my feet hit the ground i know i am home.  the smells are the same that fill my memory from the earliest reaches of my mind - the breeze off the lake, the not-quite-musty cabin, and the oil and gas and sawdust and lumber of the garage.  the sounds are the same, too - the screen doors sliding open and closed, bare feet on the decks, fishing boats going from one end of the lake to the other, voices echoing across the lake, and dinner being made in the kitchen.  if a soul has a place, then this is where mine is most happy.

this was a much needed week at the lake.  i say it every year but for the first time in more than five years this time my entire being was aching for the healing powers the cabin holds.  there were no plans.  none.  each day would bring as much or as little as it could offer.  there were no times to be anywhere, no appointments, no hustle and bustle and running around.  i could feel myself letting go, letting go, as soon as i arrived.  with the dog at my side i was content to relax and so i did, for most of the week, in fact.  i needed to restart myself - physically and mentally.  this is the place to do it.

each morning i woke and went outside.  some mornings were later or earlier than others.  i walked the length of the dirt road until it hit the pavement and continued on to the county highway.  a couple of days i brought the dog, a very happy dog because she was getting two walks that day.  others i went by myself.  on the days i was alone i challenged myself to jog back to the cabin from the turn-around.  i could do it.  slow and steady, i was really jogging - almost running, by my standards.  this bit of exercise was the first i'd had that really felt like exercise in two months.  the air was humid and i returned out of breath, sweating, to stretch on the dock or a deck.  i couldn't have been happier.  or prouder of myself.  it doesn't look like much but it feels like the world.

some afternoons we headed to town to buy groceries, others we just stayed and hung out.  there's always ample opportunity for time on the boat, and we enjoyed a couple of swims to cool off, jumping off the pontoon in big splashes sure to scare away the muskies.  it was jim's birthday while we were there and we had a feast in his honor, piles of shishkebobs and a funfetti cake, both at his request.  each night we ate outside, all together, no tv to watch, just mother nature.  bald eagles flew overhead, loons laughed, swallows fluttered around, and the sun would set, just as it would surely rise again in the morning.

as far away as it is and as much as i wish it was so much closer, i love being at the lake.  it is the one place that has remained a constant in our lives for as long as we have been a family.  things have changed, of course, and this year i felt the absence of grandpa more than ever, but i also felt him everywhere i looked while we were there.  the roll-top desk held treasures to search through and we found so many - mechanical pencils, film negatives, newspapers from world war ii, engineering rulers and cards we had written to grandpa in the past couple of years.  there was a solitary loon swimming in front of our dock nearly the entire week.  i think someone asked him to come keep an eye on us.  

so.  summer has turned a corner.  it is getting darker so much earlier and staying dark longer each morning.  just as the season has started coming around toward fall, i've turned another corner and am feeling myself again.  i waited for it patiently and i had a feeling all it would take was a trip to the lake.