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September 01, 2004
Two Vacations in One!
Wednesday, September 1, 2004 PLOG Entry Three.
Highlights of the day:
Bike Ride to McKinley and back to Gilbert in the early morning when everyone was asleep.
Managing to get everything to fit back into the trailer and Jeep after camping! We did have to unpack and reload the trailer once because we forgot a camping box.
The drive to Bayfield, Wisconsin with my wife and daughter. Talking in the car.
Molly on the Ferry ride to Madeline Island, looking through the drain holes at the waves.
Checking into a nice place.
Molly claiming her own bed.
Making dinner myself. Each of us are taking a turn at it throughout the week.
Having dinner with my daughter, wife and her father.
My daughter, wife and her father playing cards while I sat by the fire in the fireplace writing and drinking tea.
Two Vacations in One!
This morning I went for a bike ride to McKinley and back, ate breakfast and then started to pack up the camping gear. This is the first time we have tried mixing two types of vacation; Camping and spending time in a cottage with our family. We camped for two nights and now we are staying in a very nice cottage with showers and soft, poofy beds.
As I write these words, the fire in the fireplace slowly fades into the memories of another vacation before this one.
It made me think of how many transitions we go through in life: As children in school, college life, military duty, having children and family life, career changes, becoming empty nesters, retirement, old age and passing on. Each phase in life requires a different set of tools and attitudes.
I discovered it’s a pain to carry all of the things necessary along for each other phase. Even camping for two days requires all the necessary camping gear; tent, sleeping bags, camp stove, cooler, etc. When we grow up and make the transition to adulthood we need to put away some of our childish ways and learn responsibility and other skills necessary for the smooth operation of life.
As we look back it’s nice to remember previous phases in our life. And we have many phases in our lives. Each has it’s unique memories and joys. But like vacations they fade into the fire as a new phase begins. What is our next phase? Rebirth? Change? Continuation? No matter what it is we have to let go of the previous phase and move on to be fully present in the current one. Sometimes we have to let go of our previous notions and beliefs as we mature and our understanding of life becomes more complete.
Posted by carl1236 at September 1, 2004 09:24 PM | Balance