Ok, call me old. I don’t mind. “There’s a Summer Place” has been one of my favorite pieces of music since I was a little girl. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oRu4aLAG2AI
For me, it embodies the best of Summer memories. Memories that encompass not only my childhood summers but much more recent ones as well.
My childhood summers were spent visiting. I’d visit my grandparents in Zion who had a large house and yard and my bedroom window faced the “Zippy’s” neon sign. It was somehow comforting to see that sign at night. My two brothers and I learned to ride bicycles there, and we could stay out until we couldn’t take the mosquitos anymore. I also visited my friend Betty, who had a cottage on Fox Lake. I can still smell the Lake, and feel the water up my nose as I practiced diving off of her pier.
Just a simple cottage, but what a great place to be!
More recent memories involve the many years that my husband and I along with our friends and kids, would travel 6 hours up to Big Sand Lake Club in the Northwoods of Wisconsin. I’ve always thought of it as a summer camp for grown-ups. The lodge is a great big old log cabin with more than 20 rooms. No one locks their room doors- because you can’t, there’s no air conditioning, but they do give you box fans if it’s really hot, oh, and you have to go down the hall to shower or use the facilities. Yes, it’s a little rustic. I find that charming. There’s also a great big fireplace where people gather to chat and catch up on each other’s lives. There are no phones and no TV’s in the rooms. The dinner bell rings at 6:00 and everyone spiffs up for cocktails and dinner. Evenings are spent outside looking at the stars and hoping to see the Northern Lights, or inside playing some ping pong.
Inside the Lodge at "Big Sand"
While my “Summer Place” includes actual places, it’s really the feeling of comfort that I get in remembering times spent enjoying what really matters in life- great friends, great family, and getting to just be with them.
Do you have a “Summer Place”?
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