If You Build It They Will Come

247....the number of times, since my last post, I have sat in front of my computer and tried to write something original  anything.  247...times I have come up empty.  Hoping 248 is the lucky number! Summer has a way of gathering momentum and I've been hanging on and enjoying the ride.  Writing requires creative energy.  Something I lack after exercise time, beach time, visiting time, grand kid time, sibling time, cousin time, parent time, doing nothing time, dinner time and last but not least.... watching the sunset time.   Write or enjoy summer?  Summer seems to have won 247 times!  I'm feeling a trend.

I'm all out of energy after this time every night!

One thing I have found interesting this summer is how we, as "summer locals", share this special place with visitors.  We have hosted six "first timers" so far this summer and still have seven more "first timers" before we close down for the season.  Most of our visitors have heard about this place for years from either our kids, our siblings or from us.  They come expecting the greatness that we have made this place up to be in our recollections over the years.  There is no place in the world that can compare to this place if you listen to any of us after an epic summer.  People arrive expecting heaven on earth.  I am not completely sure what they think when they first arrive but I'm pretty sure they don't think "Finally...I've found heaven on earth".  I do think the impression upon departure, for most, is closer to heaven on earth than when they arrived. Surprisingly, there are some people who just "don't get it"....we don't get them either!

Sharing a place you love as much as we love this shore is a nerve racking blessing.  We want our visitors to love it as much as we do and to see the same beauty we see.  Some people arrive on a gray, rainy day to what can feel like the end of the earth.  I'm sure they wonder to themselves why we come here every summer.  Our first weary travelers this summer arrived to.... squishy wet grass, gray skies, and air filled with rain and mosquitoes.  Not the ideal vacation destination unless reading a book wrapped in a blanket is your ideal vacation.  Of course, you could always just forget about the rain and celebrate Canada Day 150 like we did!

What rain?  Bring on the parade and the tall ships!

The sun eventually showed its face for our first visitors and they got to see the real shore!  This place has a way of making you slow down and smell the roses, lilies, lupines or the fields of hay.  I'm not saying there isn't anything to do.... there just isn't the madness that makes up life in the city.  Rural shore life is all about the rhythm of nature. It's about the tides, the winds, the long days and the occasional rain.  The pace of life is slower and later here.  Sometimes visitors have a little trouble adjusting to this pace.  When you come from a fast paced work schedule and live in a big city with lots of traffic you expect things to happen fast.  Things don't happen fast around here.  After a couple of days most of our visitors finally slow down, relax and embrace the peaceful, happy pace of life we lead.

When drying the clothes takes longer....relax,
lay down in the hammock and read.

We always hoped the farmhouse would be a gathering place.  It has too much space for the two of us.  Be careful what you wish for!  Every summer I say to myself I will take it easy and not over plan or invite a lot of people and every summer I don't listen to myself.   I think I was meant to live in a commune.  Having many people under one roof feels very natural to me whether they are my friends or friends of my kids.  Today is the first day in many weeks I have been here alone.  It is VERY quiet!  It is also kinda nice for a change and may just be the atmosphere I need to finish a blog post.

So in no particular order here are some things we want our first timers to appreciate about our little piece of heaven on earth.

-the stars.....because there is very little light pollution up here we can see millions and millions of stars on a clear night!  Just lay down on the ground, let your eyes adjust and wait.  Last night I laid down in our field with my daughter and two grandsons and watched meteor showers....awesome!

The farmhouse at night...photo compliments of  "first timer"
Parked Rangers!

-the tides....low tide is unlike anywhere else.  Walking on the sandbars is one of our favorite things about this place!  High tide is for jet skiing, swimming, kayaking, canoeing, or paddle boarding but low tide is what we all love the most!  Even if we are just sitting in our beach chairs reading, napping or talking.

The tide is coming in and the kids are loving it!

Low tide and walking on the sandbars!

-We love our family!  This place is all about family and we have a lot of family.  Extended family from great-grandparents to grandparents to cousins to second cousins...once removed.  We know and love them all!  Not many families have such a close connection.  This may be a bit overwhelming for some visitors...and we appreciate that and still welcome all visitors!
-the sky!  The sky is huge up here and the colors are vivid!  It is spectacular, even during a storm.

Soaking up the beautiful blue!

-the flowers!  It may just be me but I doubt it.  The flowers here are prolific and display unbelievably bright colors.  My flowers at home struggle to survive and are bleached out by the heat.  The ditches, as I have shared before, are an ever changing rainbow of color from the purple/blue lupines in June to the yellow and white daisies to the pink wild roses and the purple flowers growing now that I don't know the name of!  Flowers are one of life's gifts here and I, for one, can't ever get enough.

All fresh out of my yard!

-the food!  who does not love garden fresh vegetables?  I love being able to go right outside and pick my dinner.  We can drive up the road and buy our eggs and meat and then we can go to the dock and get lobster off the boat.  It does not get any more local or fresh than that!  The taste of something only hours out of the ground is unlike anything we can buy in a store.  I get seriously spoiled up here!

Teaching them the value of fresh veggies at a young age!

As you can see, I could go on and on.  It isn't for everyone, but for us... it is everything... and we love sharing it!
Happy summer!