BACK FROM THE BEACH

A bit banged up, battered and bruised I am back from the Beach!! I actually met the challenge of Lake Michigan and went in and swam despite the waves and cold. Too hard to swim as it was choppy. Since the Lake level is higher this year and with the waves churning up the sand, I forgot about the two boulders that are there and promptly stepped on one, slid on it and scraped my knee. The biting flies found me a wonderful buffet bar and I banged my other knee on the quick closing screen door.
Despite that, I had a great time with my sister, BIL, and niece. Enjoyed two croquet games where I came in last and second to last!!! Yipee! My best standing ever!!
I did manage to beat LH at our Woertentaefelnspiel (Word Dice Game- fashioned after Scrabble), two nights running!!!
We discovered a new Cheese store - Cedar Valley Cheese Store with all kinds of cheese and cheese related items. Yes, I came home with Swiss cheese atenna topper!!!
(People will think I'm a cheesehead from WI rather than Swiss!!!) And we picked up the most incredible smoked salmon from Ewig Bros. in Port Washington, WI.
Since LH caught a bug and was sneezing up a storm on Monday, we spent a quiet day at the Lake on Tues. It was the most beautiful day, not a cloud in the sky, there was a bit of wind making the Lake choppy and it was really cool - like 3/4 sleeve shirt and denim capri's cool, like you can sit in the sun all day and never got hot kinda cool. It was marvelous. I spent the day reading Three Cups of Tea, writing a poem, watching the Lake, going for a long walk on the beach and seeing the tail end of a snake slipping through the beach grass. I also saw the resident garter snake in the Lake House yard which I rather would not have liked to see at all. It slid between the rocks of the flower bed. (Ugh...shivers up the spine) Except for seeing the snakes, it was a perfect vacation day, a gift of Sabbath.
Now it's back to the hectic busyness of the fall season! (Sigh) I will treasure that vacation day through the year and pull it out when things get really crazy (like Advent/Christmas, Lent/Easter). Then I can savor it all over again.