Vacation Summary
One would think with my penchant for writing I would have thought to take a journal with me on vacation, but alas, I forgot. However, I do have a memory and more importantly my phone has a journal app. Yes, my technology free vacation seems to have been invaded by technology, bugger. We camped for 4 days and 3 nights, this is an additional day over last year. However, I was greatly saddened when it was time to come home, the girls were as well, Mike, well, lets just say, he doesn't enjoy camping, but he acquiesced. So here is a chronology of sorts of how I viewed my vacation...perhaps in another post I will share all the events and activities that we all went on/did. We kept the kids VERY busy!
Day 1: A Morning Run
I woke up at 5:30 am...yes, I know that it is vacation and that I am allowed to sleep in, but for some reason I have issues doing that. After all, the morning is the best time of a day. I went on a 3.2 mile run through the park. The world at large (or at least the small one that I was surrounded by) was mostly asleep and it was me and mother nature. I felt completely at peace. The sound of my feet hitting pavement (the road/and or bike trail) and trail along with birds, animals scurrying to and fro and nothingness. Have you ever been blessed by that sound? It is soul cleansing. I don't really know how to put all of it to words other than, I felt awe struck, humble, at peace and more specifically - free. Free from the confines of time, technology, people, and society.
Day 2: Coming and Going
Have you ever wondered what people think or do or where they come from and where they are going? There was a couple that showed up to camp late (after 9pm) on 2 bicycles. These were serious bikes and bikers. Everything they needed, a tent, bedding, food, clothes, etc were packed on the bikes. They were a young couple, couldn't be out of their 20's and very fit. They quietly set up camp 2 plots down from us. The next morning as I was coming back from the bath house with Lillian the lady was journaling and the man was plotting their next course. I often wonder what it would be like to take such an avant garde approach to life or in the least a vacation. The freedom to essentially chose your own adventure. These two quietly packed up and left early in the day and where to I have no clue, but I can only imagine the sights they will see while getting there.
Day 3: Those Little Things Around Me
I'm not referring to my children here people! This is the day that I actually remembered that I do have an app for that! By which, I mean, my journaling app; and trust me when I say that it received a very thorough work out in the span of 30 minutes. Here are the notes that I took - oh, as a disclaimer, these are all just snip it ramblings and not complete thoughts...hence my frustration in not having an actual journal.
I had mixed feelings this day. I didn't want to go and at the same time I just wanted to get on with the day, tackle the list of work that needed to get done (loads and loads of laundry, cleaning everything up, packing and storing things for later, etc) and then continue where it all left off. I finally finished the book I started prior to vacation starting and found that it was book that was meant to be read during such an occasion as this. It was called Happily Ever After by Susan may Warren. Now, before you scoff at it sounding like a sappy romance, remember that not all books can be judged by their covers or in the least their titles. This book, was more than the bringing together of two people, it was a story that intricately wove you around their individual lives, their struggles, their finding of who they are and the why, they love that God has for US, not just these make believe characters and then, and only then, do you get the added bonus of them finding each other. This is a Christian author and therefore there is no explicit language, dirty little scenes and it is chock full of scripture and motivational thoughts - like I said, this was the most perfect book to read while on a vacation.
Day 1: A Morning Run
I woke up at 5:30 am...yes, I know that it is vacation and that I am allowed to sleep in, but for some reason I have issues doing that. After all, the morning is the best time of a day. I went on a 3.2 mile run through the park. The world at large (or at least the small one that I was surrounded by) was mostly asleep and it was me and mother nature. I felt completely at peace. The sound of my feet hitting pavement (the road/and or bike trail) and trail along with birds, animals scurrying to and fro and nothingness. Have you ever been blessed by that sound? It is soul cleansing. I don't really know how to put all of it to words other than, I felt awe struck, humble, at peace and more specifically - free. Free from the confines of time, technology, people, and society.
Day 2: Coming and Going
Have you ever wondered what people think or do or where they come from and where they are going? There was a couple that showed up to camp late (after 9pm) on 2 bicycles. These were serious bikes and bikers. Everything they needed, a tent, bedding, food, clothes, etc were packed on the bikes. They were a young couple, couldn't be out of their 20's and very fit. They quietly set up camp 2 plots down from us. The next morning as I was coming back from the bath house with Lillian the lady was journaling and the man was plotting their next course. I often wonder what it would be like to take such an avant garde approach to life or in the least a vacation. The freedom to essentially chose your own adventure. These two quietly packed up and left early in the day and where to I have no clue, but I can only imagine the sights they will see while getting there.
Day 3: Those Little Things Around Me
I'm not referring to my children here people! This is the day that I actually remembered that I do have an app for that! By which, I mean, my journaling app; and trust me when I say that it received a very thorough work out in the span of 30 minutes. Here are the notes that I took - oh, as a disclaimer, these are all just snip it ramblings and not complete thoughts...hence my frustration in not having an actual journal.
- Rata-ta-tat...is the sound of a woodpecker. I wonder what he is thinking as his rhythmic pounding is creating a cadence of peacefulness.
- Have you ever just watched an ant? Out here, in the wide spaces, they run in frantic little circles searching for who only knows what. It rather makes me wonder if they are perhaps running from something.
- Alvin, Simon, Theodore...nope, not these little guys. Chipmunks really are cute little critters darting to and fro. Their skittish movements make me wonder if they are frightened by their own shadows or if they are consumed by the vastness that is the essence of their survival. What is the purpose of a chipmunk? Do they have a reason in the ecosystem? Or are they more for the pleasure of one sitting idly by contemplating the beauty and the peacefulness that only the great outdoors can provide? I think the latter is by far they best answer!
- As a kid I never understood the beauty and peace that come from just sitting in a chair with nothing but the thoughts in my head. Now, however, I realize it is more than an action, or lack there of, it is therapy.
I had mixed feelings this day. I didn't want to go and at the same time I just wanted to get on with the day, tackle the list of work that needed to get done (loads and loads of laundry, cleaning everything up, packing and storing things for later, etc) and then continue where it all left off. I finally finished the book I started prior to vacation starting and found that it was book that was meant to be read during such an occasion as this. It was called Happily Ever After by Susan may Warren. Now, before you scoff at it sounding like a sappy romance, remember that not all books can be judged by their covers or in the least their titles. This book, was more than the bringing together of two people, it was a story that intricately wove you around their individual lives, their struggles, their finding of who they are and the why, they love that God has for US, not just these make believe characters and then, and only then, do you get the added bonus of them finding each other. This is a Christian author and therefore there is no explicit language, dirty little scenes and it is chock full of scripture and motivational thoughts - like I said, this was the most perfect book to read while on a vacation.
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