Sunday Snippet: The July Memories Edition

It’s been a weird week for me–full of joy and nostalgia and even a little bit of sad. We got to spend some extra time with Son and Grandboy up at the lake since they stayed past the weekend (sadly DIL had to split to get back to work). Both Son and I worked, of course, because that’s how we roll even at the lake, but after work, we swam and shared suppers and just enjoyed each other’s company. On Wednesday, Son and I swam for over an hour, just the two of us (Grandboy was developing a damn summer cold, so he stayed in their cottage), and that was pure heaven for me. We talked, shared a couple of adult beverages, and swam out to the center of our bay, tread (treaded?) water there for a while just talking about everything. Life stuff, career stuff, family stuff. It was a gift.

It made me think about how much of a role lakes have been in my life.

Our bay is the second largest on the lake and it’s always beautiful. It looks like a misshapen balloon–most of it is a large circle, but there’s an outcropping of harbor just as you come into it from the main lake. Because it’s perfect for swimming and has a sandbar where the bay narrows at the back, we’ve sorta become the “party bay,” and on hot summer Saturdays and Sundays, it’s not unusual to see anywhere from 30 to 50 boats anchored around the bay. The music is loud, but the shouts of the children and the laughter is louder as folks jump off their boats into the water. It’s fun to sit on the dock and watch the party–even more fun to take our boat out and join the revelers.

Sister Kate has been on my mind so much this summer. Not sure what that means, unless she’s up in heaven sending me good energy. I hope she is. Bestie, Liz just told me that it’s a gift when that happens. It’s time spent with them. I like that… I’ve had lots of gifts this week.

Kate adored riding on our pontoon–she’d scope out the most comfortable seat, pour a glass of wine, and stretch out to soak up the sun. Like me, she loved to swim and never worried about simply jumping in with a shout. In June, the water has just started warming up, but if it’s a hot summer, by mid-July, we’ve got a giant bathtub. That’s one of the reasons, I love our lake, but we weren’t raised on warm Midwest lakes.

Our mom used to take us to Michigan every summer–I mean, literally nearly every weekend all summer long. She’d get home from the hospital on Thursday night, expecting us kids to have the camper packed and ready to go. We’d pile in the car and head north. By 8 p.m., we’d be setting up camp at Muskegon State Park or one of the other state parks along the Lake Michigan shore. We spent the whole weekend on the beach and in the water. Mom taught us all to swim in Lake Michigan, and babies, that is some damn cold water! It didn’t stop us as kids–we dove in and body surfed if there were waves of any size.

Back in 2005, Kate and PJ and I and our husbands rented a cottage up at Crystal Lake in Michigan–a place we’d spent a lot of time as kids at the Disciples Camp and other church family camps. We sisters were so excited to show our spouses all the places we’d gone to as kids. We nearly drove the men crazy with all the memories. One day, we rented a pontoon boat and spent the whole day cruising the lake. Now Crystal Lake is a huge spring-fed crystal-clear lake and is so freaking cold, it make Lake Michigan seem like a heated pool.

We three girls all wanted to swim, but yeesh, it was so hard to even think about jumping into that water. I was hemming and hawing about it, going to the edge of the boat’s swim deck and then backing away–it looked inviting, but I knew I’d freeze my ass off if I dove in. We did the “You go,” “no, you go” thing for a few minutes, then Kate blew a breath into her bangs and said, “I’m done,” and walked away. I teetered on the deck, seriously contemplating jumping in when suddenly, I was in! When I came up, freezing and spluttering, Kate was kneeling on the seat laughing hysterically. She’d pushed me! “What the hell?” I cried, shivering and paddling like mad to try to get warm. “Somebody had to get your butt in there,” She called over the hoots of laughter coming from PJ and the husbands. “I had to do it–obviously you weren’t going to go in without a little shove.”

Now I’m wondering if Kate is trying to give me another little shove–this time from heaven, telling me to stop holding onto my revised manuscript, get it sent back to my editor, and get started on the new book. Okay, Kate, I’m listening… I’m listening… I’ll send it today. And, hey, I miss you so much.

Gratitude for This Week: Time with Son and Grandboy and DIL at the lake; Lake memories; Revisions are done on the Juniper Falls Ranch book 4; It finally rained–a good strong drenching rain; I reached a new milestone in my meditation app–639 consecutive days of meditating each morning first thing. It’s a good thing.

Stay well, stay vigilant and speak out when you can, always choose kindness, and most of all, mes amis, stay grateful.