Simply June

Lazy Days of Summer

We've just returned from two very lazy weeks at the beach (with a little visit back for the Craft Magazine release party...but more on that later). I've probably blogged about this before, but our family owns a beach cottage right on the beach along the south shore. It was built in 1940...designed by my Great Aunt Mary and built by her father. She had grown up in Kingston, MA and they owned a large amount of land including a cranberry bog (now sadly the site of a shopping mall). Her father had lumber milled from trees on their land to build the cottage. The design features an exposed roof allowing you to lay in bed at night searching for creatures and designs marked out in the grains of the wood. My all-time favorite is a pig wearing a striped bandanna and an eye patch who watches over me as I sleep.

So, a couple of weeks ago we packed up and headed for the cottage. The town conveniently now has a commuter rail that allows Jason to commute easily from the beach. It is a longer commute, but the change of scenery and pace makes it worthwhile. Each morning Kolya and I crawled out of bed half asleep and rode with Jason to the train station...giving me that extra bit of time to awaken. It was sort of comforting to have a routine even in a new setting. We would wind our way through the beautiful back roads. Each morning we would pass the same man out for his morning walk. He was an old Indian man dressed in a turban and traditional Indian Kurta Pyjama. His face was earnest and worn with age. There was something careful about his presence and each morning I wondered where his destination lay. I was so disappointed to find on one morning that he had gotten an early start and learned that when he reached the end of his 2 mile long road... he turns around. He turns around! I was convinced he was on a daily trek to an Ashram or to commune with nature at the local wildlife sanctuary. I even had visions of that beautiful scene from The Little Princess where the kind Indian neighbor transforms over night the attic room of an orphaned girl into the suite of an Indian princess. Surely, this man could not have just been taking a walk...

Well, we enjoyed many relaxing days in the sun, on the beach, in the water, taking walks, enjoying thunder storms and then beautiful rainbows, digging in the sand, sleeping to the constant lull of the waves, blowing bubbles into the wind and just enjoying life. But, we are also so happy to be home. There really is no place like home...