Estrogen Fest

Hi there. Whew! I've been doing my best to get ready, mentally and physically and creatively, to go on a week's vacation this Sunday. It's the 4th or
5th annual trek that my daughters and I take to the Northeast Kingdom of Vermont. It's sort of our annual Estrogen Fest, if you will.

This is the lake that my husband spent his summers growing up on, and when he brought me there for the very first time back in 1979, I fell in love with the whole darn place...the people, the village, the general store, the library, the mountains, the woods and of course, the lake itself. It absolutely fills me with peace.




We've even spent time there in the deep freeze of February when it's virtually deserted and almost silent...it's just as beautiful to us.



We almost lost this peace, though. Ten years ago, we made an emotional break from my mother-in-law, a break that was necessary in order to save our souls. Unfortunately, she is the matriarch of this family and she holds the "keys", both literally and figuratively, to the camp where the family stays. It took five years of missing the lake before my girls and I ventured back. I began putting money aside weekly and suddenly, there we were, renting a huge "camp" right there on the water's edge. It was one of the best weeks of our lives...it was as if we were all baptized in the lake again.

Sadly, my husband has yet to return here. Although this place runs through his blood, having to deal with the family nonsense has kept him away. I hope that he (and my son, who feels the same) will be able to return someday to recapture their own peace; til then, we'll keep bringing back stories and photos.

So now, one week each summer, the three girls and I are back to our Heaven on Earth, rain or shine (we don't care), reading, drawing, writing, kayaking, swimming, walking, talking, laughing, eating, playing games, sleeping late, thinking, remembering, planning, creating, bonding and just loving each other. The memories we are making are priceless and as long as my girls want to come with their old mama, we shall carry on. Tally ho!