Places, People and Things
During summers when I was growing up, my father’s side of the family would spend their summer vacation on Lake Kezar in Maine. I have no idea why, but this morning I have vivid memories of the first time my parents, my brother and I joined them. They had rented a cabin in a cove right on the lake shore. The cabin was a bit rustic, certainly not a five star destination. It had two bedrooms, a small kitchen, a large central room dominated by a stone fireplace and a screened in front porch that stretched across the the entire lake side of the cabin. There was no social distancing – my grandparents, the four members of my immediate family and my three cousins and their parents (11 of us in total) crowded into that confined space.
The kids had to sleep on cots in sleeping bags on the porch. This was not punishment – we loved it. After we settled into our sleeping bags at night, we could hear the adults talking inside over a crackling fire. In the mornings, we were awakened by the smell of coffee brewing in the kitchen and the early rising adults beginning to stir at the other end of the porch. We were not in a hurry to leave the comfort of those sleeping bags to face the cool summer Maine air. I do not think the lake was ready to wake up either – it was mirror calm in the early morning, and there was a mist hanging close to its surface like a blanket. In the distance we heard the motor of a boat passing that was like an alarm clock stirring the water and our consciousness . This place looked like, felt like and smelled like family.
I haven’t been back to Maine in decades, but that memory is still so clear. My grandparents, my parents, my aunt and uncle and one of my cousins are no longer with us, but they, like that lake cabin porch, are present with me this morning. This COVID pandemic has socially separated us from places, people and things we care about, but not from their memories. I would enjoy hearing about places and the people and things connected to them that you remember. My hope is that we can learn more about each other and begin to find deeper connection in our virtual community – I am starting to feel lonely. I offer a musical invitation as inspiration —
