I am back from my camping adventure. My cats are thrilled to have me home and are trying to help me type as I sit here on my couch. (So I a-paw-logize if there are any typos...blame it on the cats!)


My camping trip was good. I got to see my parents and some of the people who have also camped up there for years. "Don't like the weather? Wait a minute..." This expression was the theme of the time I was there. Each day had sun, rain, wind, more sun, and more rain. It was crazy. We also saw some rainbows...one was encircling the sun - I had never seen that before. I wondered where the pot of gold would be.

This picture of the moose was taken from my kayak in between rain drops. So, this means that I was able to kayak. I got in two trips. The first one was a short one, partly because it was raining pretty hard for part of it, but mostly because my leg went numb. The strange part was that the leg that was numb was not the leg on which I will be having surgery. So I am not sure what that was all about. My left knee seemed to do okay during the kayaking, but was troublesome when I was getting in and out of the kayak. I had to have my mom help me.

I did some of my physical therapy stuff while I was there, but was not as committed as maybe I should have been to it. I did okay with my knee...I did have to take some pain pills, but overall, I felt great being there. The people who know me well know how much peace I find there. This trip was no exception to that. My mind did return often to the upcoming surgery and the details surrounding it. But...it feels different there. The air...is clean...the sounds...birds sinigng, water draining from the antlers of a moose...are hypnotizing...and the view of the mountain is amazing.


This is one of the sunsets from this trip. I have gone to this place for years...since I was a child. I have seen the mountain, its reflection, the sunsets, and moose every time I am there. Yet every year I need to take pictures...because every visit is inspiring. This was no exception. It was nice to be there. It was great to sit with people and talk about what is going on. The people who I saw there are people with whom I have no contact during the rest of the year, but I still feel connected to them when I go there. There are several people, including my parents, who spend the entire summer camping there. In many ways it becomes a community. People help each other and share the love for the area.

Many of the people there are my parents age or older. They all have various experiences and they all are drawn to this place. I like to sit around the campfire with them and listen. They tell
stories about different things and also discuss politics. (Though some of those discussions get more heated than the fire!)

Going there is familiar...in many ways, feels like going home. And we all know there is no place like home. I also got to see some other family members. I spent a night in my hometown with my maternam grandmother. She had a major surgery last fall and is still recovering. She insisted on buying me lunch yesterday and making me breakfast this morning. She talked a lot about remembering me as a little girl, running down the road to her house with my sister. Then today I got to see my other grandmother and one of my aunts from my dad's side of the family. We met up for lunch at a diner and had a good visit. My grandmother's eyes looked so blue today...just beautiful. My aunt looked beautiful as well. She is a beautiful woman, elegant, creative, and thoughtful. I feel a special connection to her. It was wonderful to end my camping adventure with some quality time with some people who I value so greatly.

So now that I have had some adventures with my nephew and some adventures in the north woods, I feel like I at least had some fun this summer. I can now go into surgery knowing that I got to do some of my favorite things and got to see some of my favorite people. I know that the surgery does not mean that I will become a hermit...at least I hope it doesn't...but I know that I will not be able to kayak again until next summer...so getting up close and personal with a moose again this summer is not going to happen. I also know that I will not feel like driving too far and my family lives far enough away that it would not be a comfortable drive for me after surgery...at least for a while.

I am going to call it a night... I hope that people didn't lose interest in my blog while I was gone. What do you think of the pics? Hope you are all well...I told people about my blog community and how much this has helped me... until next time....