Wednesday August 20, 2008 
Wednesday August 20, 2008 The Uncertain Pleasures of Too Much Sugar
I've had a hankering for them for months, and this morning we indulged – blueberry pancakes with maple syrup. We ate on our deck, looking out at a peaceful Monday morning in Montana. Flathead Lake was quiet and calm, weekend revelers gone, and the Mission Mountains in a soft mist in front of us.
We're sneaking in a long weekend here, against all odds of being able to do so. With my mom's illness, I didn't think I'd be able to make another trip to the lake this summer. But she rallied, Scott persisted, and here we are. The dog is here, too, as Scott, while trying to persuade me that we should do this trip, accused me of making Boo Boo miss her vacation at the lake. Which made me laugh. But I didn't forget. So once I agreed, the die was cast – the dog was coming, too.
So we drove. Yep, all 1350 miles, doorstop to doorstop. Didn't manage to get out of Los Angeles until 3, meaning we joined that hideous line of traffic that swarms out of the city on Friday afternoons east. We stopped and go'd our way to Las Vegas in a record slow 5.5 hours, then shot straight north up to Cedar City for the night. That left us with 1,000 miles to go on Saturday, which we did in 12 hours, counting stops. (Don't tell the state police in Utah, Idaho and Montana, OK?)
Our reward was a spectacular evening at our summer cabin. The moon rose, big as a melon, over the Missions and cast its silver light in a pathway on the lake. We sat on our dock and watched the night unfold before us. Before we mooched dinner from Scott's sister and brother-in-law, who have the property next door.
With time here short and precious, we're determined to enjoy every minute. So we powered through those pancakes this morning, even though there's nothing very healthy about them, except the blueberries. We've been canoeing, swimming, reading, walking, relaxing.
Scott asked the question, “Are vacations so great because they are something to look forward to during the stress of work? And is the relaxation sweeter because you're NOT at work?” I guess this is akin to asking, if life was always this good, would we still appreciate it?
That's a difficult question to answer objectively, with a soft Montana breeze swirling around me, my dog curled next to me, and the hardest decision of the day being whether to make burgers or chicken for dinner. So I'm thinking, yeah, we'd still appreciate it. And when we stop, we can always go back to Los Angeles and sit in a massive traffic jam for a few hours.
Posted by terrymckenzie
( Aug 20 2008, 08:30:00 AM PDT )
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