This was our view from our little lake cabin that Steve’s family owns on Lake Louise in Alexandria Minnesota. It is a darling little place and we cozied in together and had a jewel of a time. We spent lazy mornings in our PJ’s and sweatshirts reading C.S. Lewis and drinking way too much coffee, followed by swimming, floating, playing games, more reading, knitting; in essence a whole lot of R-and-R. Steve’s mom made lots of amazing food which I ate a hefty amount of and then polished that overindulgence off with a scarce amount of exercise. So, I was in fact a vacationing fool. Did I even shower? Maybe twice. But I was in water, technically. And we follow the lake tradition of shampooing our hair in the lake so as to truly justify our lack of shower taking. My kids love this. They rejoice as if they are getting away with crimes against each other. I will list other things of interest in no particular order.
Thoughts from the lake……
1. I love the new word I learned from Julie and Sophie. “Bojangles- definition…jewelry–cheap jewelry. I love the word and I can’t stop using it. I even bought some bojangles in the Mall of America just so I could say “bojangles”. Go ahead. Use it in context. They won’t mind.
2. I have fond memories of our “Little House on the Prairie” extravaganza. We watched the whole season one while we were gone. I’ve always secretly wanted to be Laura Ingalls. I guess every girl who grew up in the seventies did. Now my girls can share the magic. Even Caiti (my 15 yo daughter) watched it with us…..and loved it. What’s not to love, why there’s handsome, perfect “paw” and gnarly Nellie and that bump music which is permanently ingrained in all our brains……da da da da……da da da da…….
3. There is something strangely fantastic about being in a town with so many Lutherans and so many Lutheran churches. You have this feeling (probably misguided) that people just “get” you. Living in the south and being a Lutheran is lonely proposition. At least Stevie and I have each other and of course our precious “Issues”. We couldn’t survive the parched south without Todd and Jeff.
4. People are so blasted crafty in Minnesota. There’s quilt shops and yarn shops galore. The atmosphere makes one want to crochet…..or knit…..or sew something. You feel like such a schlep if you don’t have crafting skills. I’m learning but southern girls are raised on being good cooks and hostesses and always having your lipstick on. That’s what we’re good at. But I just down right admire a girl who can piece a quilt. It’s on my bucket list.
