Some random thoughts from this past week, when I was on vacation with Kathy and her family in Mishicott, just south of Door County . . .
. . . The Fun of Family . . . I just looked over that first sentence and realized that making reference to Bob, Polly, Mark and Lorelai as her family makes absolutely no sense whatsoever. They are as much my family as “my” family is- and in some ways more since I see them so much more often than I get to see my own siblings. True, there are a number of ways in which I am wired a bit differently from them and vice versa, but in all the ways that count they are my family and I am a part of them. And there’s nothing like going on vacation together to learn that anew.
. . . When Imperfection is Perfect . . . Make no mistake about it. We were not camping this week. We were staying in a very nice time-share condo. And it would be absurd to say that we were roughing it in any way, unless you can rough it in a place with a microwave, dishwasher and a flat screen TV. Of course, there were a few matters that made us miss our own homes, like the anemic towels or the torture rack living room furniture or . . . *gasp* . . . the lack of wireless internet. But I think I’d rather stay someplace with just enough little imperfections to make you glad to return home rather than some obscenely luxurious pleasure palace that’s twice as ritzy as the place you call home. So this condo was perfect precisely because it wasn’t! 🙂
. . . The Delight of Disconnection . . . When we first were told about the condo, it appeared that there was no internet access whatsoever – and the thought of enduring five days of complete disconnection was disconcerting, to say the least. But the more I thought about it, the more it seemed like it might in fact be a welcome and beneficial change, and even after learning that there was free wireless internet next to the indoor swimming pool, I elected to remain internet free. Well not completely, as it turns out. I did visit the Green Bay Packers website Monday night to get some information on tours of Lambeau Field – and I popped on to email for about 45 seconds Wednesday afternoon to take care of a WGTD matter. But that was it. No facebook. No Wikipedia. No Metropolitan Opera website. And I took my newly-adopted Amish Attitude one step further and did not turn on the TV even once. True, it was sometimes already on (typically for Lorelai) and I didn’t shut it off – but I found myself with no need whatsoever to watch TV – which is a little like Michael Phelps saying he isn’t particularly interested in swimming. And when we were in the car, I made a point of not listening to the news and remained pretty much oblivious to world events except for one morning when I first started the car and suddenly found myself listening to an NPR newscast talking about how the Dow Jones Industrial Average was already down more then 400 points- and it wasn’t even 9 a.m. yet. I snapped that off and kept it off, bound and determined to let the world spin on its wobbly axis without me worrying about its every bobble and bump. But even in this regard I did not manage 100% disconnection. Each and every day I bought a newspaper but allowed myself only a brief glance at the front page – just to make sure the earth hadn’t seceded from the solar system – before jumping over to things like the sports or the comics. So I guess in the end I wasn’t as Amish as I fancied myself to be at the time, but it was still a promising (if temporary) step in the right direction, because it allowed certain quiet pleasures into the picture that tend to get crowded out.
. . . Grateful for the Getaway . . . What made these days so great was not that we did spectacular things or witnessed spectacular events, but rather that we could just be together with almost all of the pressing obligations of home left far behind us. So that meant being able to sit around the kitchen table and playing Sequence or Cribbage or a new game I bought called Word on the Street plus a round of the Family Dinner game in which we answer questions about ourselves. It meant cooking meals together and improvising It meant going on leisurely drives on country roads and visiting various shops in beautiful Door County. What we couldn’t do is clean the garage or organize our spice rack or attend to other duties and obligations – because those were 137 miles away. That’s the best part about Getaways!
Some closing thoughts. . .
. . . Thank you, GPS, for getting me from Dubuque to Mishicott. How that little device could help me navigate even the most remote rural roads is beyond me. . . Thank you, Mobil, for placing your gas station on highway 310 where it is. I didn’t notice my gas gauge was on “E” and the warning light on until I had turned off of highway 43 and was driving further and further away from civilization, at 9:30 on a Sunday night. The lights of that Mobil station in the middle of nowhere was the single most beautiful sight I saw all week . . . Thank you, Green Bay Packers, for putting together such a splendid Hall of Fame. That almost made up for Larry, the well-meaning old gentleman who led our tour of Lambeau Field and who managed to set a new record for least amount of meaningful information delivered with the most words . . .
Thank you, Clair O’Kelly’s, for the wonderful Irish meal we ate in Sturgeon Bay. I had never heard of Boxty before I ordered it, but I’m glad I did . . . Thank you, Al Johnson’s Restaurant, for having goats on your roof, as promised (it’s always so sad when they’re no- shows) and for serving such delicious swedish meatballs. . .
Thank you, Flying Pig Art Gallery, for displaying such dazzling and fascinating artwork, even if all I could afford was the postcards . . . Thank you, Lorelai, for being such a trooper. When your Aunt Kathy and I went to Shedd Aquarium the other day, we couldn’t get over how many children your age we saw (and heard) throwing tantrums. It reminded us never to take for granted what pleasant and fun young lady you are . . . and most of all, thank you Bob for coming up with the crazy idea that the six of us should spend the week together. It wasn’t such a crazy idea after all !
pictured above: Mark and Lorelai enjoy the beauty of Lake Michigan on a beach in Two Rivers, where we had just enjoyed a lovely lunch together. None of us are strangers to Lake Michigan, but it’s so fun to see different stretches of that magnificent body of water.
