I'm Back! In More Ways than One!...

Well, we have returned. Yes, on Sunday afternoon (yesterday) Ty, the chiddlers and I returned from a lovely vacation on a lake in Wisconsin. Why were we there, you ask? Well...because Ty's family has a nice little cottage there and they invited us to come and stay with them for a few days. Oh yes. Seven days of listening to the beautiful, haunting calls of the loons (the birds, not actual lunatics--I just wanted to be clear about that) and motoring all over the lake on a big boat, enjoying a culture that one can never experience anywhere else.

You see, this lake is surrounded by cabins and cottages and resorts. It is also surrounded by thick, beautiful trees, and is therefore very secluded and quiet. No cell phone reception. Nearly everyone that you might come across on the lake, in the bars/restaurants or stores, is on vacation. This creates a most wonderful, laid-back atmosphere. Everyone is in a good mood; relaxed, and very friendly.

Time itself passes differently there. It doesn't crawl along, nor does it seem to "fly by". It...meanders. The minutes, hours, and days are in no hurry at all. It's like being in a world outside of time. I'm not saying that in a sci-fi way, it's just the truth. No one really cares what time it is. Oh sure, they'll tell you if you ask, (and they happen to have access to a timepiece), but in the end it just doesn't matter all that much. It's so different, and I've gotta tell ya folks, it's pretty nice to spend time in a place like that, if only for a week at a time.

Ty and I have stayed at this cottage on several occasions, twice when we had no kids in tow, once with a (then) 4-year-old CT, and now with both CT and AJ. The chiddlers had a blast, mostly because Grandpa Mickey has absolutely no qualms about letting them get away with...well...anything, so long as it doesn't result in serious injury to themselves or those around them (minor injuries are fine). He let CT drive the boat many times and took him fishing just about every day. Mickey and Allie spoiled us all to death and now I'm just trying to wrap my mind around the fact that I will have to start cooking  and doing dishes again. Oh well, all good things must come to an end eventually, right? (Feel free to disagree with me at any time here. I'm still looking for a house elf, or perhaps just a kindly housekeeper who's looking for some fun times doing all of my housework for free.)

However, for all its merits, this vacation did have a very, VERY unpleasant down side. Allow me to illuminate with the actual story of our arrival at the cottage.

Mickey had picked us up at the airport and driven us the 2.5-3 hours (I fell asleep, so I'm not sure exactly how long it was) to the cottage. As we were pulling into the gravel drive, Mickey pointed to the compartment in the passenger side door: "There's some bug spray if you want to use it."

I looked down and saw the can, but the way Mickey made the comment had absolutely no urgency to it--indeed it sounded like the world's most casual suggestion, as though he were merely offering bug spray just in case we felt like we wanted to enjoy the glorious aroma of DEET upon our arrival. I took the can and sprayed a bit of the stuff on my legs, but figured that was all I'd really need. And then we opened the car doors and stepped outside.

Instantly, we were set upon by the most violent, aggressive gang of mosquitoes we've ever encountered. I grabbed CT's arm and AJ's hand and told them to hurry down the path the house. I grabbed my own suitcase and rushed off--leaving Ty and Mickey to deal with most of the bags. As we stumbled through the woods that surround the cottage, the cloud of mosquitoes thickened, they were in my hair, flying at my face, my neck, I  could not believe how bad things were! I called to CT to run for it, and looked around for AJ. Ty had already picked her up and was running toward the house with her. Those evil little jerk-faced assassins (yes, I'm still talking about the mosquitoes here) followed us all down the path and into the house, leaving us breathless and swatting at each other's clothes and faces in a desperate attempt to kill the ones who had made it inside before we slammed the door.

And that was the way it was for the entire week. Every time we needed to get to the car to go somewhere, we had to run through that awful gauntlet of mosquitoes. They loved me, I have no idea why. Even when I was well-covered in bug repellent, I still got bitten! Stupid, crazy, bloodthirsty ninja bugs. Now we're all quite properly covered in bites, and have now only to resist scratching those red, itchy spots long enough to let them heal. Blech.

Anyway, I'm running on about 2 hours of sleep right now. I usually sleep quite well at the cottage, but not this year. It was the strangest thing. It took me a long time to fall asleep every single night, but even so I usually got a pretty decent night's rest. Last night though, I COULD. NOT. FALL. ASLEEP. No matter what I tried. It was maddening! In the end, I looked out the windows, listened to the birds singing as they woke up, and saw the sun coming up over the lake. I just decided: "You know what? Screw this. I'll just stay awake and sleep when I go home." And that's when I finally dozed off for a couple of hours. Ironic, yes?

I've actually felt pretty good all day long, despite the lack of sleep. It's just within the last hour or so that I seem to have "hit the wall", as they say. Now I'm quite exhausted, and hope to be in bed within half an hour. I'd have gone to bed sooner, but I have to get some laundry done. Another difficulty that vacations can present to the vacationer is the fact that we come home and have absolutely NO clean clothes. Anyway, I've got a load of clothes in the washer right now, and once those are in the dryer I shall happily trip up the stairs off to bed. (And by that, of course, I mean I will pretty much be crawling up those stairs and I'll be lucky to remember to turn the lights off before conking out on my pillow.)

Good night!