Y’all remember Seasons 1 and 2 of Covid, right? Bleak times, stuck at home, don’t mask because there’s a shortage and medical professionals need them, please always mask. Add in to that all the regular hardships in my personal life, dealing with my parents’ estate, running a business, etc. It was a lot. (And shout out, again, to my pals with kids, because that was exponentially so much harder and intense. I see you, and y’all did an amazing job!). My Uncle Tim had bought a vacation lake cabin recently, and fall of 2019 when my folks passed, he’d offered it up to me, whenever I needed a getaway. So summer 2020 seemed like the time to take him up on that. He even said it was okay if I brought my senior Lab/Shepherd mix Gilbert along. Hooray! And so, during some truly warm Seattle summer weather (high 90’s, if memory serves), we drove down to Lake Sawyer. I hadn’t seen this cabin before (I just needed four walls, a roof, and access to water). It was a gorgeous house, with a giant wrap around porch, and was beautifully set up. They even had one of those portable AC units, so it was even more comfortable in temperature than my own home would’ve been. Gilbert had recently torn his CCL chasing a squirrel, so still needing a bit of a sling/hoist to help up and down stairs (and of course there were lots of stairs to get down to this waterfront house. Worth it!) Just look at this view.
Got to bring my housemate Nichole. We played board games, took a dip in the lake, made a lovely dinner, watched the water. Just perfect and relaxing and restorative.
Then I woke up early (not intentionally, just, ya know, not sleeping so great those days) but was greeted by a spectacular sunrise. Felt like I had the lake all to myself. After 20 minutes of sunrise, I made coffee, and then got to enjoy the view further.
Just got to spend the day relaxing on the water, reading books, more board games. Wonderful. And was even MORE appreciative, as it was the first time staying somewhere other than our own house in months and months because, ya know, pandemic. Restorative healing water vibes.