Cottage summers

Describe your most memorable vacation.

Well it’s funny, I have had some memorable vacations in my life. Like safari in Africa, searching for pizza in Naples, camping in Yosemite…

Visited the Louve, the coliseum, the Mall, two Disneys, Banff, Lake Louise, the sequoias, Hawaii…

But I still love my early memories of going to our cottage. It was our ONLY vacation in those days. We went every year and for a little kid, it was the best!

Playing in the waves, eating outside, following our grandpa around, (he fixed things constantly). There were rides in the boat, rides on the lawn mower, or on the backs of mini bikes, eating corn and tomatoes and cantaloupe right out of the garden, beach bonfires with grandpa singing and playing guitar.

Mini boxes of cereal we never had at home, ‘pop’ in glass bottles, cherries and watermelon, things we never saw unless we were at the cottage.

Summer was summer at our cottage. Warm, even when it rained. It’s a similar climate here actually. I love how I am reminded of those younger times almost everyday lately.

Summertime is abundant and colorful and hot. Flowers, birds, gardens, bugs! Everything is at full throttle. Every day feels like more than the last. I must have relished this and internalized it, as a kid. I love this crazy in-your-face undeniable abundance. The outside world is ALIVE and flourishing. The hydrangeas are weighed down by their many blooms, the neighbor can’t find the path in her garden because the leaves of her Zucchini plants are prehistoric-huge. Green is as green as it gets and everywhere. The water is warm, but refreshing. Fruit is sweet. The air is moist, the sun is hot

These were my childhood memories of summer. Such a dramatic contrast to the rest of the year. I guess that’s why they are memorable!