More in the Mitten

I feel like maybe we took the boys to the shore so that they can spend the rest of their young lives pining for it.  We were glad to give them opportunities to be outside in a new place, to connect with nature, with plants and with animals and with people.

Mostly with people.  Although Tucker can tell you about the baby ticker bugs, about the rocks he and Andy moved in the creek to create a trap for fish, about the way the sun and the moon traded shifts in the sky, what I'm going to remember best is the time we spent with family.  We traveled to Michigan for a wedding, and while the sun and the sand the week leading up to the main event felt like a gift, the time with loved ones - at the lake and in the city- was just as gratifying.

Folks traveled from Seattle and San Diego, from New York City and from northern Ohio.  We visited at the rehearsal dinner and at the hotel, at the reception and at brunch the next morning.  Together we toasted and laughed and conspired and confessed, and in all those places outside the sanctuary our time was full of litanies and lessons and blessings.  While the boys dream about moving to the water’s edge when they’re old enough, I'm going to hope for more happy occasions for our family to gather.