A Week at the Beach

A week away in mid-summer does good things for your mind and soul. Our family is not known for just going somewhere for a whole week and staying put. Our vacations are typically more like that of Bedouins - on the move, pulling up the proverbial tent pegs every morning and moving on to the next encampment (or actually, hotel or lodge. We are not much for actual camping.)

So this was an oddity - a cottage surrounded pretty much by water. The water was not of a super- exotic sort, being Lake Erie, but it was warm and wet and just fine. Where we stayed, we could open a window and just listen to the gentle waves lapping at the shore. I love that sound. I need a tape loop that endlessly makes that sound. Actually, somewhere, I have some electric device that makes "nature sounds" at the push of a button - babbling brook, waves and seagulls, and so on. But it is not the same as the real deal, with the random seagull squawk tossed in intermittently.

The kids were able to join us for a couple days and I am not sure if there is anything finer for the "empty nester" than a period of time when the old family unit (plus son in law - in the new, expanded family unit) is back together, having fun.

I took a few hundred pictures last week, and will only bore anyone coming across this post with a choice few. But the highlight of the whole week, for me, was a simple little activity. Ever since our daughter saw the movie, Tangled, she was enthralled with the music and the scene where hundreds of sky lanterns are released to the sky. Linda got her one of those lanterns for her birthday, and on the last night where everyone was together, we released the lantern. I had approached the thing with trepidation, envisioning the lantern setting down in some super-dry corn field and setting the thing ablaze.

Despite my misgivings, our son, William, lit the fuel pack on the bottom after several matches were blown out in the beach breeze. We all huddled together against the breeze to help with the ignition, and finally it was lit. Then the "kids" held the inflatable bag vertically to fill with hot air. It slowly and partially filled, and our son coaxed it down onto the beach, then up and over the jetty, and finally it made its way up into the atmosphere. My fears were allayed as the lantern soared up over the water in an odd, northwesterly direction, toward Michigan. Meanwhile, our son in law played the Tangled theme song on his iPod to complete the experience. It was quite a scene as we stood there, awed as the sky lantern climbed toward the heavens. I cannot explain it, but those five or six minutes were powerful for me, and not necessarily due to any Disney tie-ins. Just one of those Dad moments, if there are such things?

The other hugely impressive feature for me was the nightly show the sun and clouds put on as the sun set over some far-away trees on a distant shore. I try to limit the use of the word "awesome", but I am busting it out big time in this case - The sunsets were AWESOME.

Anyhow, without any further ado...

Sun setting on the first night.

We got a laugh out of how the seagulls lined up on shore,
respecting the personal space of each bird up and down the shore.

Our buddy, Boomerang (as my wife called him, because he kept coming back). This jetty was his base of operations. He would launch his daily fishing operations from here.

Here he is, initiating a fishing expedition.

A look down the beach.

Ho, hum, another day, another sunset. (Actually, I could never tire of these!)

The side trip to our old fave, the African Wildlife Safari Park, is worth a post of its own, so this will be the only picture from that trip in this post. Anyhow, here is what they bill as the largest rodent there is. Know the name of this particular specimen? Want one for a pet?

Launching the sky lantern.

...and there she goes.
Another family enjoying their day at the Ottawa National Wildlife Refuge. Are they tourists, or are they one of the attractions, eh? I am not sure.

...and one last sunset.

Sidebar: I've been back at work two days now and, I've got to say, as I review these pictures and remember those gentle, lapping waves, I'm ready for a vacation.