To beach or to boat?

When a rather large family that gets to see each other barely ever finds themselves at a lake for 4-ish days, each member is confronted with many pressing decisions.

The first is,

do I go to the beach?

Or, do I go on the boat?

Then the question becomes: do I tube?

And, if so,

with whom?

Of course, if I stayed back on shore I could swim with the frisbee players,

or, I could be of--

if not in--the crowd...

On the day we have two boats, 

do I join the pontoon crew taking a swim in the deep parts of the lake?

Or, perhaps,

I'd rather stay back on land, and

perform some Auntie Lauren 'duties'?

Or maybe I want to go on a boat, just to sit, just to drink in the air in my face, 

just to be?

Because, here's the thing about whatever it is you choose when you are surrounded by your rather large family in a rather beautiful place:

No matter what you are doing or who you are with, 

...it is always always good.

The many faces of Kooistra

To be a Kooistra is to have a heritage that includes a propensity to live in a variety of far away places, making full family gatherings rare and all the more meaningful.  Hence, a 4-ish day reunion on the banks of Lake James in the middle state of Indiana over the past week, to celebrate my Grandfather's 80th birthday and (next year's) 60th wedding anniversary of the two we claim as our founders, was way overdue.

To be a Kooistra is to also, it appears, have a propensity toward extreme facial expressions available on cue...or, just available:

We are the many faces of Kooistra...stay tuned for more!

A 4th made up of 1sts

Remember these chairs that I love?

Well, this morning I reclined in them on my new deck as I dwelt in early birdsong within sight of the weeping willow across the street.

Since the weeping willow is one of my two favorite trees, I took this as a welcome to my new home.


And I thought: This works.

Then, just in time for lunch, these two kids arrived with bagels straight from New Jersey.

They had to fortify themselves, after all, because I had an afternoon agenda of putting them to work.

First, we went to my office and loaded up the books and papers that have been waiting there for me to come and get them, since my funding (and my right to an office) is up.

Then, we went home and put up curtains, put on bed skirts, oiled squeaky doors.

Then, we ran some errands, picking up our 4th of July celebratory ice cream at the local DQ,

and some groceries to supply
my first bout of cooking in my new (very spacious!) kitchen.

The preparation resulted in some good eating, before I headed upstairs to pack my suitcase for our impending roadtrip to Indiana.

Now, we're waiting for the fireworks to start to see if we can see them off that deck I mentioned.

If not, this kid is climbing into her newly bed-skirted bed, because she is tired.  And, tomorrow begins family togetherness to the nth degree, as we head to a reunion with my father's family.

Happy 4th!

Sunday Idle

A few days of pack/move/clean/move/unpack/clean/move/pack/unpack leaves a girl needing some peace.

That's why it is helpful that I have lovely people in my life to provide it.

First, my Sunday morning of idle started with breakfast a 40 minute car ride through countryside more beautiful than any I've seen in awhile away.

My countryside idle took me to this beautiful inn, to spend the morning with Pam and Del and their friends who own it.  

My countryside idle also took me to this little bird, who felt the need to welcome me there by flying into my lap.  

[I'm not kidding.  The bird flew into and sat in my lap.]

[I'll give you a minute to process that....]

After the shock of that strange little moment wore off, we decided it was time to take a walk along the Juniata in order to make my countrysiding complete.

We wandered along,

breathing in watery air,

before returning to the breeze of the porch,

and the rocking of the chairs.

After awhile I tore myself away, in order to finish the cleaning/moving cycle,

before my evening peace commenced.

Right on schedule, I picked up Yi-Ting and we found our way over to Kenneth and Cathe's in order to celebrate Kenneth's new job and their impending move.

We ate fried chicken, we made a little music, we laughed and reminisced and caught ourselves up on life.

It was idle of the comfortable kind, and it was the perfect way to spend a Sunday.