Full of Grace

Labor Day weekend was spent at our lake house.   From Friday to Sunday we had a few of Beaner’s college friends as guests.  It’s a wonderful thing to see this place that I sometimes take for granted through someone else’s eyes:

1.  Stars. A young man from Boston could not get over the stars!   Funny, I am usually complaining that our neighbors have so much outdoor lighting that it obliterates the amount of stars I get to see compared to when I am out in the wilderness.  But when you live in a city you don’t get to see them at all, so yeah, the night sky there is still pretty amazing.

2.  Water.  I forget that most people cannot walk out their back door and enjoy swimming in the cool, calm water of a mountain lake.  

3.  The air.  Our camp is near an old sanatorium where people who had TB were sent to convalesce and breathe the crisp, pine scented air.  Breathing clean mountain air is something I definitely take for granted, but I have now been reminded that this is a luxury for many.

4.  The woman who exclaimed “this is such a fun place!”   I hope it will always be so.

5.  Then by Sunday evening the rains came in and the kids were all gone.  Martha and I enjoyed sitting on opposite ends of the couch, reading and listening to the rain on the roof and the thunder rumble and echo through the mountains.   And then some much needed intimate time.  Her crazy family problems are starting to settle down and my health issues are finally fading into the past, and we now have the time and energy to enjoy each other.  

After these last few years of chaos, our live's are getting back to normal and I am so, so grateful for that.