Last night I took the kayak out.  I didn’t go far.  It was sunset.  The water was calm.  There was a light breeze and a quiet lake to enjoy.

This photo pretty much describes my summer:  doing my own thing, enjoying the water, staring at the mountains.

Each summer is different.  There have been summers filled with family, when meals left the freezer with awesome speed to feed the masses of loved ones.  Summers of pies.  Summers of peaches, with case after case of the fruit waiting to be peeled.  I am an Olympics-qualifying peach peeler, you know.

There have been summers filled with music.  Many nights returning from band practice long after dark, unloading a dust-covered car of instruments, music stands, bags of sheet music.  Laughing with the band and having a good time no matter what.

Summers of music lessons.  Gigs.  New songs,  old songs.  Lunch at Trinity or the Pie Hut afterwards.

There have been summers of baby showers.  Parties.  Filling the house with friends.

Summers of company and showing visitors the joys of the area, from the Pantry to the Farmer’s Market to ice cream cones at the gas station.  Cinnamon rolls and sunsets with wine and morning coffee on the dock.

Summers with the grandson, with blueberry pancakes, going to the dump, ice cream, jumping off the dock, burgers, campfires and a “mail box” that held a morning surprise.

And now, the Summer of Covid, which we’ll remember as the quiet summer with Will.  Now that the Texans have returned home, the three of us have returned to spending the after-dinner hours on the beach to watch the sunset.  And then playing cards.  It is also the Summer of the Arrowheads, as we’ve found more arrowheads and flakes and chips than we ever have.  We’ve had many campfires, which we love.  Will knows I can’t resist a campfire, so when he wants company in the evening he knows what to do.

A social summer isn’t possible this year, but we are all grateful to be here, in the “Lake Bubble”, away from the virus and away from the news.  For now it is good to embrace the peace of the mountains.

And don’t we all need a little more peace!