TTT: My Perfect Day

Here is the family at the cabin on the mountain lake.

My Perfect Day

I am with my whole family at a cabin in the woods on a scenic, mountain lake. 

I wake at sunrise when the mist is still over the lake. I take a hot cup of coffee outside and sit quietly on the deck watching the sun rise over the mountain, meditating on the beauty of the setting. I am joined by my daughter who wants to sit quietly also, listening to birdsongs hoping to identify some.

Over a simple breakfast the family plans the activities of the day. Shall we go for a quick hike or go out in the canoe first? My grandsons are with us and we decide on a polliwog (tadpole) hunt and a visit to the neighbors' cabin. It is time we go over so the kids can meet and play together.

Later the family gathers in our swimsuits on the dock and play in the water or we sun ourselves. The temperature is in the high 70s or low 80s F. I visit with my sisters, while the men paddle the kids out to the neighbor's moored sailboat. They climb aboard and play pirates. Laughter is the music of the moment.

I move to the hammock in the shade with my book, though I find myself lulled to sleep for a moment or two. A hummingbird buzzes me en route to a feeder near the deck.

On this perfect day my father is still alive and healthy. He and I my brother head to a nearby stream in search of periwinkles (snail larvae) which they will use for fishing bait. Late afternoon is a perfect time for them to take the boat out to the favorite fishing hole. The old trolling engine starts on the first pull on this day.

While the two men fish, the rest of us will gather around for a rousing game of nerds at the big table inside. Things get very competitive but we all know it is just for fun. 

For dinner we make it simple. Barbequed burgers, chips, watermelon, salad. Everyone eats outside on the deck. For some reason the mosquitoes and other bugs have decided to leave us alone. (It's my perfect day, after all!)

A few folks make sure that the logs in the firepit are lit and will be burned down to hot coals in time for making S'mores later in the evening. We all gather around the fire, roasting marshmallows on sticks and preparing the chocolate bars and graham crackers to accept them when they are toasted to the correct golden color.

My husband breaks out his guitar and we sing a few songs before people start to drift away preparing for bed.

It was a perfect day.

(This is an idyllic variation on the vacations of my childhood. My family would rent a cabin on a lake in the mountains. Time stood still as my siblings and I, along with our parents, wandered from one low-key activity to the next. None of our activities were planned other than we had food available on a schedule and we usually came home from the vacation with a nice tan. We would play raucous game of nerts and spend hours paddling around in the inflatable kayak. Now that all my siblings and I have our own families there are too many of us to stay at the cabin but we have visited it for an afternoon (see photo) so the kids get an idea of what life was like when vacations were perfect 😎)

-Anne