Friends, I wrote this post on August 1st, and then promptly forgot to post it. Duh. So here it is, two weeks later. I'm back from vacation, and will write about it soon. It was glorious. Here's the lead-in....
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It’s hot, and has been for weeks. I had a respite of a mountain weekend to cool off a bit, but now I’m back under the heat lamps. It’s time for a vacation. Husband is already in Michigan with his family, enjoying a well-earned two week vacation. Since I just started a new job, two weeks was not possible for me, but my awesome new employers did kindly give me one week. So next Saturday, I fly to Michigan to join Husband’s already-in-progress vacation. I can’t wait!
I had never experienced the Great Lakes until Husband and I got together. He grew up four blocks from Lake Michigan, but I had never even seen it until he took me to his family’s Michigan cottage while we were both still in college. I really had no idea what to expect. I was blown away! When referring to the Great Lakes, the word lake is really a misnomer. These are vast inland seas, meditatively beautiful, delightful to walk along and splash in, and in stormy weather, quite treacherous for sailors. Seeing the sun set over Lake Michigan is one of the most beautiful things I will see in my lifetime, and no matter how many times I see it, it will never, ever grow old. Brots, corn, and s’mores cooked over a Lake Michigan beach fire taste so much better than those same things cooked anywhere else. The stretched out, forever evenings (because of being on the very edge of the eastern time zone) on the beach, watching the sun slide slowly toward the watery horizon, enjoying the fresh air and the sound of the waves, waiting for the first stars to appear in the twilight…it is magic. I fell in love with Michigan the first time husband brought me there (he was Boyfriend then), and it will be a life-long love for me.
I am looking forward to time away from the grind with Husband, seeing my fabulous sis-in-law Zauditu, and hanging out with my wonderful in-laws. I’m eagerly anticipating lots of quiet time for diving into summer reading on the screened porch on the lakeside of the cottage. I really love waking up and falling asleep to the sounds of Lake Michigan…so restful. I look forward to being back in the midwest, a part of the country I really love and still miss, even though life in Boulder is treating us well. I want to visit The Cherry Republic and stock up on cherry yumminess. So many things to which to look forward!
I am glad to report that the new job really is going well. I love the people I work with, and the work is right up my alley. Since I’ve been a church secretary before, there is plenty that is familiar, which is nice when you have so much new information to learn at the beginning of a job. My new colleagues are so patient, kind, and helpful; what a contrast to my last, very short-lived, job experience. I feel really, really lucky. I am so excited for the future, knowing that this job has fallen into place so beautifully. It’s going to be a busy fall, but a very good one. And knowing that will make it much easier to come home from vacation. When I was unemployed, I never wanted to return home from my travels; it always seemed that there was so little to come home TO. It’s amazing how one 20-hour-per-week job can change so much. But it really, really does.
Hope all of you will get to take some vacation time this summer, if you have not already done so. Recharge those batteries while you can…now that it’s August, fall is officially on the horizon.
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