Today, we leave the cottage. Quiet mornings sipping coffee on the porch watching a light breeze hug the lake will be no more. Tonight, I’ll be in my own bed in my own home, a home I love so much. A house that is made home by the people in it. So it doesn’t matter where I am, if my family is there, all is well.
Yesterday, as the day was unwinding, the sun was beginning to think about setting, hubby and I climbed into the sailboat and spent an hour relaxing and sailing around the lake. It’s something we meant to do before then. I guess it just goes to show that even on vacation time slips away and things you meant to do to live life a little more get replaced by the things that need to be done. It was wonderful to be out in that boat, staring at the coastline of the lake, watching the clouds roll by, listen to the water lapping the sides of the boat as we cut through the waves.
I thought about how tomorrow will be our first full day at home. We’ll be grocery shopping and mowing the jungle that is our lawn, getting reacquainted with home. I can’t wait to sit on my couch, play with my dogs, watch the kids discover their rooms all over again. The traffic lights and errands and laundry aren’t high on my list.
I don’t want to lose the mindset of cottage living. I want to pack up one duffel bag full of relaxation, inspiration and quietude to bring home with me. I won’t be going home and slapping up soothing white paint all over my walls and having bead board installed everywhere. At least not tomorrow. But I want to take with me the feeling that each and every day that we wake up, the possibilities are endless. I want to feel like every moment is full, whether we are sitting still and reading books or doing puzzles, or splashing in the sprinkler and doing fingerpaints. Moments are special here because we know the time won’t last forever. The trip will come to and end. Better swim one more time. Better go for one more kayak ride. Better stay up late one last time playing cards and laughing with people I love.
The truth is, it’s no different at home. Moments together with family are not infinite. I want to make the most of them, just like we have here. I am going home refreshed, renewed, and inspired. To live simpler, saner, and more fulfilled no matter where I am. I am full of gratitude for this place, for this chance to slow down and quiet down long enough to discover these things.
I leave today with excitement for what is to come at home – projects, friends, first days of school, evening walks on the beach.
Goodbye cottage. Until next year…
Six weeks can sure fly, huh?
Your cottage posts have been a joy – thanks for sharing. :0) I hope your travels home are safe and smooth.
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Phew! When I read the title in my google reader I thought you were leaving blogging. I am sitting at my parents lakehouse relaxing now and have really enjoyed your posts about your trip!
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Like Lynn, I feared you were about to announce the end of the blog! Phew…
This was beautifully written, Emily. It left me with the hauntingly positive but sad feeling I always get at the end of ‘Gift from the Sea’, which I read every year towards the end of our beach holiday in Greece; we go to visit god-family and for me to keep up my Greek.
Remember that duffel bag you mentioned? I bring a special pebble and one piece of handpainted crockery back every year, imbued with all of those things you mentioned. In the dark, winter months, all I have to do is fill the jug or bowl or feel the pebble’s smooth coolness and the joy of finding – and choosing – these symbols and what they represent comes flooding back.
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Beautifully written Emily… I think we all need to keep that mindset with us.
xo,
rue
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Yesterday my husband was waiting for another test at the hospital as we await his liver transplant. He looked at me and said, “I was thinking about our stay at the lake two years ago”. We had only two days and arrived in a rain storm, but I took my umbrella and he, his wider brimmed hat. Off to the lake we went with the boat he’d taken 20 some years to build, and had two days to try it out before the diagnosis came. As we sat there in the hospital, I smiled and said, “everyone had hurried to shore, the lake was ours and we were the ones with the memories”. I would not trade anyone for our life at the lake two years ago.
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[...] been home from vacation for 3 days now. We left the cottage and at the end I said I wanted to bring home with me relaxation, inspiration, and quietude. I may be an idealist, [...]