starry, starry night
August 20th, 2012 By Molly
Our vacation w
as spectacular. We had 100% beautiful weather, wonderful times with family and friends and all kinds of fun swimming, skiing, tubing, boating, feeding (and trying to catch) fish and just plain enjoying each other. Of course, I now need a vacation from my vacation and in the midst of trying to catch up on the work front, back-to-school is right around the corner. Wednesday is the day!
With so much on my mind, I keep thinking back to one especially appreciated vacation moment. With no forethought or planning, we remembered to make it out to the dock late one night to do some star gazing. If you live near a big city, you can’t even begin to understand what the sky actually looks like away from the brightly lit sky. On the dock in the middle of nowhere, we laid supine, staring straight up in amazement. The kids were in awe at the shocking largeness of our world and the unimaginably tiny space we take up in it. I couldn’t help but feel completely overwhelmed by the vast beauty of this crazy universe. It’s almost too much to take in, isn’t it?
Within the 30 minutes we watched the infinite above, I think we all saw at least one shooting star. By some stroke of luck, I caught 5! “One wish for each of us!” I thought. And the perfect good luck sighting to end our speedster summer.
I still remember talking about taking an annual trip together, one Thanksgiving long ago. Logan was pushing a toy around so that she could walk, still not 1 year old when we made our initial plan. I’m so glad that we stuck to it. And so thankful to Alby and Mary for making it possible and so memorable for our family every single year.
We chugged up the path to the house together; Grandmom, the kids and I, and I think we all felt grateful. Nine years of moments like these spent together each summer; undeniable memories for our children who are growing up on this lake, even if they only live there one week each year.
As the Grandmom in the blog, it was a special moment of being together and taking time to look at the stars. As Finn said when we met him coming off the plane from Chicago, “I saw SPACE.” Thank you.
I love that, Mary! Thanks for sharing a Finnism! Already looking forward to next year’s star gazing!