Cottage Days of Summer

Thanks to renovations at my Penn State cottage,

my home office is my everything at the moment.

And that's just fine by me.

Traditions

For years now, when I have been in town on Memorial Day,

I have spent the morning at our local Boalsburg fair

with Heather & Ash and the girls.

And for years now, it is always pretty much the same:

 We make our way straight to the pie competition tent,
[Kate's hand still always tucked into mine]

and scope out what we think will be our favorite.

Ash gets in line then

to wait for when the judging ends and the selling begins,

 while the rest of us wander around, 

 seeing

and tasting

 all that there is to take in.

Then, we settle in on the lawn of our favorite house

 and wait for the pie to arrive in our laps.

 There are always camera shenanigans,

 and the drama of getting Kate to take a real picture

 of Heather and me...

This year Kate & I requested 

 what turned out to be the winning pie

[Key Lime DELICIOUS]

 and we gathered around

and ate it all up.

After a while of hanging out,

of adding some hot dogs to our circle along with

some lovely friends,

we made one small change to our MD routine

when we needed to find a bathroom in an old church nearby.

[My toilet paper has never seemed so beautiful...]

Then, we returned home, 

climbed in our bathing suits

and went to the pool.

Tradition stayed alive as Kate and I argued 

over whether or not I would go down the red slide

 [Had random purple-suited girl not wandered here at just this moment,

you would see Sarah shooting out of that slide into the pool...]

 and we wandered in and out of the water for swimming 

when we got hot and snacks when we got cold.

And when all was said and done 

and we went along our separate ways, we thought:

We love each other,

and we love this day!

Overwhelming; Peace

This morning I drove to teach early lessons,

brought to tears as I thought about thing after thing

in this broken world that just makes me feel

like it is all too overwhelming much.

Sometimes it just seems like the darkness wins,

no matter how much things start to look up, 

and I am aware of my great need for a God

who Overwhelms the darkness.

This cottage for me is a place of refuge,

a fact I am overwhelmed by at frequent and surprising moments.

[Seriously, this weekend I was sweeping the steps,

close to tears at the thought of leaving it someday.]

I have learned in these long seasons

that in the midst of overwhelming,

peace is what I'm craving.

And this cottage brings me peace.

~~

So, speaking of overwhelming,

 I told you we went to Ikea.

What I didn't tell you  was that I found the most exciting, most sweetest,

most exactly what I had in my mind but didn't think I could afford

thing.

Sunday found me back at home,

having a little church in the yard.

And then, I pulled that thing out of my car bit by bit,

 ready to put it all together.

 I got out my tools,

 and assembled until

 voila! a table appeared.

 And then, piece by piece,

 some chairs began to form

 until

 voila! there was a table with chairs in my lovely yard.

 The most perfect thing.

 That evening Katy came over for appetizers 

before we met some friends for drinks and late dinner

 and that sweet table was the perfect place...

 until the bugs drove Katy away.

[Who knew she hated bugs so much?!]

 But then there was a Memorial Day gathering

at which that table helped,

 and I lit all the lights

 and Katy claimed her personal citronella

and we dwelt in that yard.

Each of us carrying our own overwhelming thing,

but just a little bit more at peace

because of such a place.
~~

This morning I drove to teach early lessons,

brought to tears as I thought about thing after thing

in this broken world that just makes me feel

like it is all too overwhelming much.

And I thought about the friend after friend,

and felt their burdens load my back.

And though wisdom might be to only carry my own,

I felt in that moment how Jesus must feel,

taking each one to himself.

And I looked straight at him

and he looked straight at me,

and I handed them over

each one by each one.

There is peace in the yard

and the presence of friends;

sure enough, yes, it is true.

But the peace that I crave is far deeper than this;

It's the Peace of knowing

my burdens are His.

Let's have a week in Philly

After I left my family, I made my way to Philly,

 Temple University to be exact.

 Each day of the week found me in this building

 with these fine folk,

 for a workshop on piano technique.

 I wanted some refreshers to help me teach my kids,

and filled a notebook up with tons of ideas.

It was refreshing indeed, and helpful.

But, piano aside,

I was really just there for the food.

 Every morning I walked through campus 

and stopped at my coffee guy,

(on the left here) who elegantly prepared me 

a napkin-draped cup with a friendly smile.

And one day, 

the guy stationed in the Middle Eastern food cart on the right

 made me this fantastic gyro for lunch,

which I enjoyed from Temple's only grassy space.

My real love, however, was Rudy,

 with whom I somehow became fast friends.

 [Maybe it was because his food was so good,

I couldn't stop going back?]

But food aside, 

at the end of each day,

 I waited on this platform,

 for the 3:27 train

 to whisk me back to my home for the week,

 with these old good friends.

Each day was like an adventure,

what with some massive construction under way,

and we spent most of our time in this little zone,

chatting, eating, gaming,

catching each other up.

Inserting myself into their family for the week 

meant jumping in on whatever was going on,

such as dinner out with Brent's family

to celebrate his long-awaited and well-earned graduation,

cleaning layers and layers of dust that threatened to never leave,

and a trip to Ikea to get some necessary supplies.

There was also an outing on Friday evening,

 [far enough away for Simon to take a very comfortable nap

 and involving a picnic in the car when he awoke]

 to see Nathan play a bit of soccer.

And though our guy scored an awesome goal,

there was a questionable call 

that kept us from celebrating all the way home.

Nonetheless, we had ourselves a good time,

 utilizing my camera for all it was worth,

 getting caught up in the excitement of the game,

and just enjoying that we were together.

Piano, food, and the routines of the week aside,

together with these people is sweet and good.