The Good Life

This weekend we were invited to join our friends at their condo in Hope. As I was floating on Lake Pend Oreille, DD was tubing with the guys and Munchkin was playing in the water with his friends. I was enjoy the sun, the water and the mountain views. It made me realize life is good.

Of all the problems in the world and all the issues people deal with, we are fortunate to have relatively small problems. We complain because our new grass has weeds. Or Munchkin is grumpy because he didn't take a nap. Our neighbor's dog barks on occasion and I have to take the car to Les Schwab because it's handled strangely since I had the tires rotated. That's it. That's the worse I can come up with at the moment.

The few minutes of quite, relaxing bliss while floating on the water and taking in the view, reminded me to be grateful for what we have. We have a nice house and cars that are reliable. We are healthy (nothing short of a miracle in Munchkin's case). We don't worry about having what we need and are fortunate to also get a lot of what we want. We have good friends and loving families. The particular friends (and their extended family) who invited us to Hope, even consider us like family (the feeling is mutual). Some people don't even have family, but we basically have three.

I'm grateful and thankful for what we have. It's easy to get caught up in the rush of summer and forget to "stop and smell the roses." I'm glad I had the opportunity to stop for a minute. Even happier to have such a beautiful place to have it happen.

Swimming Season

We had the official kick-off to swimming season today. I decided it was time last night when I realized the water coming out of the hose felt refreshingly cool.

This morning I was skeptical when the thermometer only registered 70 degrees. The forecast called for mid-to-high 80's today, so despite the clouds and wind we packed up our beach gear. By the time we arrived at the Q'emlin beach, it was hot enough to swim. Well, hot enough for the kids anyway. I ventured out to above my knees, but didn't take the plunge. I didn't want to leave Munchkin on the shore alone and he wasn't interested in going deeper than his waist.

I seemed to be the only adult wearing swimwear. The rest of the parents stayed in the shade, content to watch their older kids frolic in the water. My nephew joined right in and barely left the water to eat his lunch. I had a hard time pulling Munchkin away from his make-shift yogurt container "bucket" when it was time to leave. I don't blame him. By the time we were leaving I was hot again and wished I had dived in.

Sitting at home observing the hot, humid and oddly still afternoon makes want to go back to the beach. With a good two months of swimming time left, I know there will be more days to spend at the beach. Some days might just be worth a second trip.