2002-07-15 - 2:10

Cottage country

This weekend challenged for perfection, as I had an amazing time at Catherine's cottage. Swimming, hammering down on steak, chilling out with the usual crew, playing with fire . . . I could ask for little more.

I made my way to the cottage with Greg and Kelly after work on Friday. Chad and Laurie arrived minutes before us (which meant that Chad already had a fishing pole in the water) and Don arrived a little later that night.

I showed patience . . . there was about a five minute gap between when Greg parked the car and when I was in the water. It was awesome to get in for a swim again; and, of course, after the recent hot weather, the water was beautifully warm.

I ended up staying in the water for a while that night, since we had volunteered to help put in the dock for Catherine and her husband. That was cool, since it was fun to have something to do and I would have been in the water regardless.

After that, it was the usual cottage-type activities. Chad grilled me up a good T-bone; and when I finished that, I settled in by the campfire that Greg had started. Very nice.

Eventually, I came inside and claimed the couch. Between the flies buzzing around my head, and the squirrel (or squirrel-like creature) that was mostly stalking Chad and Laurie's room, I had some difficulty falling asleep; but what's a fun weekend without sleep dep? Also, it's hard to hold a grudge with the squirrel, after the entertainment value he provided by falling into the toilet during his earlier scurrying.

Saturday was a kick-ass day. The weather remained perfect and I was outside from the moment that I got up until I went to sleep late that night. I was in the water more that anyone else there, with the exception of Boomer, who was on the go as soon as Bill and Jen arrived. It's hard to compete for energy level with an excited dog getting a rare taste of the country.

Before nightfall, we had cleared out some additional room around the fire pit, so all eight of us crowded around. As was inevitable, I took over tending the fire; and I got a fairly decent blaze going. By the end of the night, it was built up enough that I could just throw on a couple of sizable logs and let it go for hours. (Which is not to say that I stopped poking at it; but that's just 'cause I like fire.)

People gradually drifted off to bed, although a few of us stayed up fairly late. I actually stayed out for about half an hour after the last of the stragglers called it a night. I suppose that being the only one there who was completely sober makes me less prone to being tired.

At any rate, I really enjoyed sitting out, watching the fire, with the quiet broken only by the loons (which reminded me of home) and the frogs. I also stretched out on the docks for a while, looking at the sky. I think that I had honestly forgotten that there are so many stars, which is fairly sad. Oh, and I even saw a shooting star, for the first time in ages. (I'll keep you posted on the wish status.)

Saturday night, I slept much better, partly from being more used to the place (the couch felt more comfortable and the infrequent sounds of scurrying feet didn't bother me) and partly from being quite tired.

Today, we took it fairly easy. I got in one last swim, took a few more pictures, and helped with the clean-up, before heading back with Greg and Kelly.

All in all, I had an excellent time. I'm content with any opportunity that I can find to get away from here, forget about everything, and just relax in the woods. The fact that I really enjoy every person who was there and they all make me laugh is a definite bonus, as well.

Oh yes, I'm on the ball for a change; and I already have pictures on my web site. I took the majority of those pictures, but Laurie and Greg did get a few shots of me by the fire, so you can see my latest effort in my quest to look perpetually silly, if you are so inclined.

Perhaps later this week, I'll catch up on my backlog and post some other recent pictures that I have kicking around. For now, though, I should probably sleep, since the cottage trip is over and it's back to work and other such trivialities.

J.