the pace of our life

Last wee

k Steve and I had a wonderful opportunity to spend 5 days away! Actually it was an art festival, but it was at a vacation community along the Marblehead Penninsula near Sandusky Ohio.  The community known as Lakeside Chautauqua brings with it a deep sense of a quieter and simpler life… where kids are safe to roam about unsupervised, and the opportunity to enjoy life at a slower pace abounds.  Once through the gate it feels like you stepped back in time.  People take meticulous care of their vintage ginger bricked Victorian cottages, and their superb gardens.  Large window boxes drip with color, fragrance and love.  And the faces of the people are relaxed, worry lines are erased, replaced with good walking shoes, rented golf carts, and lots of ice cream.

One of the quirky things about our life is our addiction to the electronics – smart phones, tablets, computers always constantly accessing the world…. but at Lakeside the wifi signal is weak, irratic, and sometimes the cell signals is not better.  I think it is by design.  And initially i fought it, but rtealizing how much time is spent checking emails, reading tweets, looking at instagram photos…. while the most important part of life is that face to face communication with those around you.  It is an immersion in “Living in the present”, and i came to love the lack of connectivity.  It freed me to celebrate life as it happened.

Lakeside is a great big gift… and it revitalized both of us.  Yes, the art show rocked, but the time at lakeside was the balm my weary soul was longing for.  Long walks, colorful sunsets, the fragrance of petunia in the evening breeze all allowed us to wind down, slow down, and breathe! Just breathe!  Lakeside, we love our time with you and we love the memories you bring us each year.  Now if only our lives could always slow to that pace….. hmmm.