Sunday, May 16, 2010

vacation, pt 2

our exploration of lake whatcom was awesome. the water was more rough than we're used to on reed lake, but with adventurous spirits, our 40 minute trip turned into more than an hour. matt fished unsuccessfully from a nearby dock. we headed for a peninsula that proved to have an interesting shoreline, robed in delicate fir trees right up to the water's edge. in a little inlet, i spied a piece of trash caught up in the shoreline and saw an opportunity for a good deed. it wasn't hard to talk mom into fishing it out, but being that it was behind a mess of fallen branches, it required a couple of attempts, the last of which included me nearly rolling us over as i contorted my torso to get under the heftiest branch. we were successful in removing the trash, and stayed dry too. victory.

we barbecued dinner and ate al fresco. matt had been unsuccessful in fishing all weekend, until he was focused on making his burger. bob saw the pole jump and matt took off like a shot to get to the water's edge, just in time to reel in a keeper of a trout. one wasn't enough for him, of course, so he baited his hook before returning to dinner. not 15 minutes into his burger, the pole jumped again and matt moved, even faster this time, to snag his fish. again this morning, as he worked on a puzzle upstairs, we noticed some activity in the water. i suggested matt go check his bait, and he found yet another trout waiting on his line. we decided that the watched pole never catches anything - but the largely abandoned pole is incredibly successful.

this morning, i was up early (as matt has been both days, uncharacteristically), and on a hunch, i poured my coffee into a thermos, grabbed my bible and the single kayak and headed for the center of the lake. out for almost an hour, i paddled slowly, wandered and gazed, listened to the ducks talk to one another, and listened as my Father talked to me. a perfect setting.

spent some quality time in my beads this weekend, feeling some renewed creativity. i quite like the hammered silver look, and i worked through a great gift for a friend, and even a nice pair of earrings for me.

this afternoon, mom and i walked down to a garage sale, finding new puzzles, some toys for little kole and a handmade anthro-esque bag with a carpet-like texture for me.

the afternoon has been casual. mom and bob will head out soon, and matt and i are planning another venture into fairhaven, and i've promised him some company while he fishes at the lake next to ours.

Saturday, May 15, 2010

vacation

on the fence as to whether or not i should even keep the blog, seeing as how i haven't posted in 4 months, but i'm on vacation, and if there's any time to post, it's now.

10 days, beginning yesterday.

lazed around the house a bit yesterday, watched a few movies and did a little tidying and packing in preparation for our weekend at the lakehouse. drove up in the evening, meeting mom and bob for a late dinner on the way.

up early this morning, we'd planned on a hike at squires lake. mom went, to run the trails and matt and i hiked the main trail, enjoying the mossy paths, the sparkling water and most of all, the spontaneous communion with nature.

after we showered up, we were ready for breakfast. one of the few things i'd wanted for my vacation was breakfast out on sunday morning, since that's not something i've done since i went into ministry 3 1/2 years ago. we couldn't quite make the logistics work for sunday, so we decided to go out today and just pretend it's sunday.

we drove into fairhaven, a cute little town a few miles north (that actually has a ferry that runs to alaska!!). we ended up at a beautiful little cafe with a lovely breakfast menu - incuding an eggs benedict that featured smoked salmon. mmm.

we had some wandering to do around that cute little town - our adventures brought us to a bead store (yay!), a cupcake place (double yay!) and a sweet garden & art shop (just plain gorgeous). i couldn't help but come home with a handful of beads to make a gift for a friend, not to mention a few new tools - i'm going to try my hand at the hammered silver (ok, aluminum) look.

i was in desperate need of a power nap when we got back, which was downright delightful, and after a few hours lounging about, mom & i are off to explore whatcom lake via kayak while matt & bob fish.