Windows on the world

For the seven years that we’ve been taking our vacations at the camp, we’ve kept a list of our vacation activities. Some years are quiet and our list records canoeing, walks, and rest. Others have interrupted by external events, such as my mother’s health in 2000, a trip to take a friend to detox, or replacing a water pump. This year’s list includes an offer of a permanent job, an offer that I received on Monday and accepted yesterday. It’s a job with the company where I’ve worked as a contractor, although with a different group. I’ll start on September 26th, giving me a couple of weeks to wrap up my current assignments.

It’s exciting. I’m very grateful to the people who helped me get this job and who have supported me during the transition. I’m a fortunate guy.

And what else is on the vacation list? Well, we do have a new boat. There’s always work to do, wood to split and stack, brush that needs clearing, objects of various sizes and shapes that need painting. It’s not all work, though. Hardly. We get to visit some favorite restaurants and farm stands. We get to swim whenever we want. With Marley back with us again, walks through the woods are more lively.

Storms are around, spin-offs from what’s left of Katrina. There are fresh breezes that have knocked down a few branches. We’ll keep the windows open until the rains get heavy. We open more windows more while we’re at the camp. It’s a reminder that we’re in the woods, even if there’s a laptop and phone line in one corner of the room and a TV in the other corner, showing pictures of the devastation down south.