The Lake (Part 1?)

I said a couple of posts ago that life has been kind of crazy lately.  One of the reasons is that a few weekends ago (May 18th to be exact) was the last weekend we had with the family cabin.  It happened more quickly than any of us anticipated, but it had to be sold to continue health care for Grandma and Grandpa.

Grandpa and Grandma bought a lot on a small private lake in 1981 and built a little A-frame cabin on it...

{looking back from the dock}

I had a grandeur idea to write this wonderful eloquent post full of the memories from my 28 years of summers at the lake... But words are failing me.  If only I could plug my brain in and just transfer the memories like videos on a flash drive.  Now that I think about it, maybe I'll do a "Lake Chronicles."  That seems a little less intimidating.  :)

{This welcomes everyone who visits the cabin}

My siblings and I would often get to go with Grandma and Grandpa for a whole week to the lake.  Sometimes it was a couple of us, sometimes all four, and sometimes it was just the girl cousins and we would have a fashion show down by the lake with Grandma's old bikini from the 70's.  One of my favorite parts of being at the lake was that there was no inhibitions.  You didn't have to dress a certain way (heck, you didn't have to dress at all, you could wear your swimsuit all day if you wanted, which we did most of the time) or act a certain way, and you could just do what you wanted all day.  Those were the days. :)

On the drive there, Grandma would always pack towels for us to use as blankets.  Grandpa always froze us out. ;)  To this day I'm not sure why she used towels... Maybe because they were smaller than a blanket?  Maybe since we were going to need towels when we got there, she was killing two birds with one stone?  This last trip up my daughter and I rode with my parents (Chris wasn't able to make it)...  I got a bit chilly and the very first thought I had was to cover up with a towel.

{Momma making her traditional "Flag Brownie" for the 4th}

The drive to the cabin was one of my favorite parts...  I can't count the times I've driven it alone with my music cranked, leaving the world and its worries behind.  At 2 1/2 hours, it was the perfect amount of time to figure out your life and sort out your thoughts.  Then when you got to the cabin, all you had to do was relax. :)  My husband and I had a tradition of listening to Josh's Turner's "Would You Go With Me" song (really loud) when we turned off the main highway and onto the 30 minute stretch of back country roads.  Once you're on those country roads, you can almost guarantee that any car that passes you will give you the friendly farmer wave.  Oh, how I love the farmer wave.  Pointer finger lifted off the steering wheel.  Such a simple gesture, but it just does something to my heart....