Lake time!

Speaking of memories... We were up at our lake cabin for the past two days. On one of our walks we noticed how big our aspen grove has become! When we bought the cabin, the trees were only about as tall as my husband. Now they tower over the top of the cabin, fully mature forest giants. "So how long have we had the cabin?" I asked. The answer shocked me: 26 years! Oh my word! (To quote my grand-daughter, quoting me.)

We have SO MANY wonderful and precious memories from that small, rustic bit of heaven on earth. Memories of our sons as children, and now we are making memories with our grandchildren there as well. And we love making memories of quiet times alone together there, away from the stresses of daily life, like we had this weekend.

We sat under the trees and watched the birds and chipmunks skitter about us, as unconcerned about our presence as we were about theirs. We listened to the wren sing, the chickadees chatter, an overhead hawk crying out his warning, and the nearby tapping of a woodpecker. I heard a slither in the grass, and spotted a small snake. (My youngest son, who taught me to listen for snakes, rather than to look for them will be so proud that I learned that lesson so well). As I was sketching, a young doe walked out of the forest onto the driveway, less than ten steps away from me and my big yellow lab. The three of us froze, staring curiously at each other, then the doe turned and went back into the trees. Wooster watched that spot for the rest of the morning, hoping to see our new friend return. We drove around the lake and took our traditional sunset photo, a nice one, as fires in the area make the sky pink. Then, as all the campers, SUV's, and off-road vehicles arrived for the holiday weekend, we packed up and came home.

To us, the lake cabin is a place of quiet; a place for making new memories and quietly remembering old ones.