One of my favorite warm weather activities is kayaking. It provides such an incredible sense of relaxation. I love the days when the lake is like glass and the water is very flat, the sun shimmering over the top of the water as it sets. I enjoy the little natural surprises you happen upon. The turtles sunning themselves on logs, herons along the water’s edge, the occasional fish jumping. One of my favorite experiences was paddling along a rock slide and seeing two small animals I initially thought were abandoned kittens. My cousin and I went closer to shore and discovered they were in fact minks. They were so cute and as curious about us as we were about them. They came down to the shore line and were following us along the rocks as we moved by. I had never seen them before and unfortunately, I have never seen them again, although I look for them every time I go by that particular area. There is so much serenity on the water, to just sit and feel the rocking motion of the kayak, like a baby in a cradle, trailing your fingers in the cool water as the sun warms your face. It brings such a sense of peace and calm.
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On rare occasions I succumb to fits of uncontrollable laughter. The from the belly, can’t catch your breath kind of laughter. The once you start you can’t stop kind. It doesn’t happen often but oh when it does, I love the way it makes me feel. It generally occurs when something completely and utterly ridiculous happens; always when I am with someone who knows me really well. I think when you’re with “your people”; the ones who know your brand of weird and love you despite of it; is when you feel most comfortable losing complete control. It creates a magical moment that lives on and on in stories usually beginning with “Do you remember when…”
On rare occasions I succumb to fits of uncontrollable laughter. The from the belly, can’t catch your breath kind of laughter. The once you start you can’t stop kind. It doesn’t happen often but oh when it does, I love the way it makes me feel. It generally occurs when something completely and utterly ridiculous happens; always when I am with someone who knows me really well. I think when you’re with “your people”; the ones who know your brand of weird and love you despite of it; is when you feel most comfortable losing complete control. It creates a magical moment that lives on and on in stories usually beginning with “Do you remember when…” There is no space more magical than your own imagination. It can take you anywhere you want to go. It allows you to be anything you want to be. There are absolutely no boundaries; the possibilities are limitless. You can create a whole new world and retreat there whenever you feel you need a respite. Without imagination there would be no tales to tell, no songs to sing, no music to sing or dance to. My walls would be bare of art; my home, my world much less colorful and magical. So let there be dragons that fly me away to a castle on the seaside. Let me swim with mermaids and wish upon a star. Let me dare to dream of faraway lands and share the stories I craft on my adventures.
What better place to create a magical space than in your own home. Hygge is the state of being of coziness and comfort. It originates from Danish culture. It’s the feeling I get as I sit bathed in the warmth of the sun streaming through the sunroom windows. That feeling of safety when the weather is raging outside, wind rattling tree limbs and wind chimes tinkling, rain pelting and ratta-tat-tatting on the metal roof as I sit curled under a blanket listening, watching the sun go down. The contentment of sitting by a window as snow falls heavily from the sky coating the trees in a blanket of white, candle burning and book in hand. It’s a tranquility of mind, body, and spirit; this is my sanctuary, my fortress; I am safe, I am at peace, I am home.
Spending time with my grandparents was always a magical space for me and I dare say my cousins as well. When my brother and I were young, we would spend a week with our paternal grandparents up at the lake and a week with our maternal grandparents at their home each summer. We loved those visits. There were so many special moments our grandparents made for us.
On my Dad’s side, our grandfather would take us fishing despite his intense fear of the water – something I never knew until I was an adult. He helped out at a local dairy farm and would often take us to visit so we could interact with the cows and horses on the farm. Our grandmother would make fried dough for breakfast, homemade pizza, and homemade cavatelli. I would sit with her and roll the pasta with my fingers and chat up a storm – she was an incredible gossip! She always made me my favorite chocolate pie. It was rare that my grandmother was anywhere other than creating something in the kitchen. We all had our favorites and she made sure she made that for each one of us. Fridays were declared her day off which was dubbed “Clean out the refrigerator day” instead of cooking we had whatever was left over from the week. On my Mom’s side, we would spend hours in the pool at our grandparent’s house with our cousins – our favorite past time walking around the perimeter of the pool until we had a massive whirlpool going – there were a lot of us (I was the oldest of 7 which eventually became 12 which then eventually became 14 as my aunts and uncles got married and more kids were added to the mix) and we could really get it moving. The ice cream man was about the only thing that could get us out of that pool. My grandmother would pass out change when we heard the music from the truck coming down the street and we would run and wait in the front of the house to pick out something cold and sweet. She would make us pancakes in the morning and make blanket forts for us with card tables. My grandfather drove a truck for Roadway and often got home later in the evening and we would all vie to be the one to get him his shot of Schenley’s. They would let us stay up as late as we wanted watching all sorts of shows we couldn’t watch at home. Wonderful memories of moments I will always treasure! The evening sunset, a between time or as some call a thin space. There is a belief that during the time between day and night the veil between our world and the spirit world thins. It is at this time when you may have more awareness of psychic connections. For me it happens to be a favorite time of the day. It’s the time of the day when I allow myself to relax and just be. Work is over, the hustle and bustle of the day is over and I can relax and focus on things that are just for my entertainment or pleasure. The magic for me in the evening is the beauty of the setting sun. Whether it be subtle shades of pink to vibrant rich shades of reds and orange, no matter where I am it makes me want to stop and watch with gratitude.
As a child I spent several weeks each summer at my Grandparents camp on Lake Champlain. It was a truly wonderful place to be and I have such fond and special memories of it. When it gets dark at the lake, it gets very dark. The dark brought out the magic. I loved the lightening bugs sparkling through the trees. I loved the sound of the Whip-Poor-Will calling. And I loved that on a clear night it seemed as though you could see every star in the sky. One of my favorite things to do was to head down to the beach at night and lay out on the very end of the dock. As I lay there the darkness of the sky met the darkness of the lake water and I felt as though I was floating in a tunnel of black. You could hear the gentle lapping of the water against the dock causing it to rock ever so slightly. I would stare up at the stars, sometimes trying to identify different constellations, sometimes just getting lost in a dream. In that blackness the stars seemed so close – like you could reach up and touch them – they seemed to wrap around you like a blanket. It was so soothing and serene, just lying there, breathing in the lake air, feeling the warmth of a breeze across your face, for just a short time it felt as though you were in another time, another place. If I got really, really lucky I would see a shooting star – of course I made a wish!
My first experience of Camden, Maine was a chance discovery. We had been dealing with some stressful family issues and I decided to take my Mom on a long weekend away in Maine. No plan, we just got in the car and began driving. My Mom loves Nubble Lighthouse so that was our first stop. Throughout the weekend we worked our way up the coast stopping at many of our former family haunts Ogunquit, Kennebunkport, Portland, Freeport, Boothbay, and Rockland. When we were young my parents used to bring us to Maine for summer vacations – usually to Old Orchard Beach as our base and we would wander and take day trips from there. It was something we had always loved and looked forward to each year. I fell in love with the Maine coast on those trips. We typically didn’t venture much further north than these locations. On this particular trip however, I wanted to keep driving and we happened upon Camden. We stopped because the downtown area looked so charming and we got out and walked around. I spied what looked to me like a castle up on a hill overlooking the downtown area. That piqued my curiosity as my ideal fantasy dream home has always been a castle on a cliff side overlooking the ocean. I just had to get a closer look – turns out it was an inn, the Norumbega Inn, a beautiful historic stone home built in the 1800s overlooking Penobscot Bay. I vowed right then and there that I would someday splurge on a vacation and stay in this amazing place. Unfortunately, I still haven’t delivered on that promise to myself – but it is on my bucket list to be sure. While driving up to see this, we passed a sign for Mt Battie and I noticed you could drive to the top, so we did. And this, this is where the magic truly began for me. I stepped out of the car and over to edge of the mountainside overlooking the bay and I got chills. The view was stunning and I had an overwhelming sense that this was exactly what I needed to find on this trip. After wandering around the top for a little bit I went back and sat on the rocks looking out on the water – and I was embraced with such an encompassing sense of peace. I sat quietly, watched and began to re-energize. I’ve gone back to the top of Mt. Battie a few times after that first visit, but it has been years since I saw this wonderful place. I think I need to make this happen again soon!
The visit to Ballysaggartmore Towers is the closet I have ever come to walking into a fairy tale. You enter a wooded walk through an old growth forest to the main structures on the property. As you wander the path you are surrounded by lush greens, moss-covered downed trees, various ferns along the forest floor beneath a lush tree-covered canopy. I was fortunate to be there in early summer and wild rhododendron were in full bloom. The shocking bright reds and fuchsias peeking through the trees were beautiful and added a magical touch. One of the first structures you come upon are the towers and the stone bridge. As I approached, I half expected trolls to come up from the river bed and over the bridge asking for a toll to pass through. As you continue on you come across an open grassy space upon which sits a beautiful façade which would have been the entrance to the estate. It’s an arched entranceway bookended by gorgeous stoned turrets. The architecture of the buildings is quintessentially what you would expect a classic fairy tale castle to look like. Your imagination could run wild crafting a story here. I’d love to go back and spend a day wandering and writing allowing the ghosts of the another time to send me a tale to tell. While traversing the path to head out, there was a section where many, many tiny flying things were fluttering throughout the air – they looked as if they were tiny bits of feather flitting about. I imagined them as fairies dancing through the air and I couldn’t help but laugh and smile at my good fortune and at experiencing such a lovely enchanted place. |
AuthorThese are my thoughts, personal stories, and personal opinions. Often triggered by something that transpires throughout the course of a day. Archives
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