summer lake trip + memories

It's taken me a few days to compose this post. The words have been stuck deep down where I can feel them, but when I go to pull them out, they won't come.  As if the memories are too fresh to share  As if those words stuck deep are telling me to savor the time instead of share it.

It's ready to be told now - all about this place my family and I simply call "the lake".  If you've followed along for a while, you have probably seen it before. (See here.)  This place seems to never change, yet each time I go, I enjoy it more and more in new ways.

It was a hot few days, and the water became two layers.  The top was hot, where the sun could penetrate.  The bottom was cool, where we went when the heat became too much.  Arms hot, feet cold.  That's how the water was. 

The only disappointing part?  The ban on any kind of fireworks due to the lack of rain this summer.  Though there were no lights in the sky that night, the holiday was still celebrated.  I mean, really, how can three days at the cottage with twelve of my favorite people not be fun?!

We spent the Fourth of July at the lake, sharing the small cottage with family, good food, hot, sticky air, and good friends.  Time seems to have no presence at the lake, if you don't count the setting of the sun and meal times.  After that, it's endless hours of swimming, tubing, kneeboarding, and more swimming.  If you asked me what we did during those three days, that's all I would remember. 


And that's all I want to remember.  This place is my favorite.