Summer Vacation

During my summer, I teach a much lighter load and enjoy long weekends nearly every weekend. Some years, I also get to travel to conventions, reunions, or to see family. But I rarely do anything that I would really call a vacation. This weekend, that changed. I did something totally fun that didn't have any work or family connections. After 15 years in MN, I finally spent a weekend at a cabin up north. And I loved it.

We arrived about 3pm on a warm, sunny afternoon and then went swimming in the lake.

Later, I sat at the kitchen table and tried to read, but I was totally unable to focus on the book. The gentle movement of the trees in the breeze, the delicate features of the hummingbird at the feeder just outside the window, and The Muldau playing softly on the radio created an intense moment of peace and beauty that I didn't want to abandon for a formulaic novel.

After dinner we went for a boat ride around the island. The island and lake are beautiful and I loved being on the water.

We walked back down to the dock to watch the amazing sunset. Once again, my iPhone camera doesn't show things exactly as I saw them, but I still really like these pictures.













The lake inspired me to write and as I was writing, and later as I was trying to fall asleep, I finally figured out the big missing pieces to a story I wrote ages ago. There is still a lot of work to be done on it, but at least now I know what I am doing.

The second day there was rainy and cold, so I didn't get to spend more time in the water, but I really enjoyed the day anyway. We did Tai Chi. We read. We went for a walk. We put together a puzzle. We talked.

Good company, wonderful food, and a beautiful location plus reading, writing, swimming, and Tai Chi created the perfect vacation for me. Now I'd better post this and get ready to go back to the real world of work.