What Do You Do Up There?

A friend at home asked me one day, "So what do you do everyday up there?" as we were chatting about spending the summer in Nova Scotia.  I tried to tell her but it all seemed to come up short without all the feels.  Our daily activities seem less than exciting and to someone who imagines a beach similar to those along the Florida coast or those along the eastern coast.  There are no amusement parks, mini putt courses, hang gliding opportunities or boardwalks here.  It is peaceful and rural.  Yesterday may have been the perfect example of the ideal day here at the shore so I thought I would share and maybe some of the feels will come through.

Our day began as many do up here, with exercise.  My sister, the yoga master, lead a yoga class across the street in my cousin's basement.  There were about 8 of us trying to embrace our inner dancing shiva.  It was a great class and the perfect way to begin the day.  I left the class feeling all stretched and strong.

What better way to compact my now stretched spin than to mow the grass?  Morning activities usually include a few chores and today was mowing day.  It is a very large yard!  It takes about an hour and a half to mow.  At least I get to do it on a riding lawn mower. I also get to enjoy a pretty sweet view with every turn I make!

Brings a smile to my face every time I ride by!

and on the other side of the drive...

I finished mowing and headed inside for lunch when my daughter, the newlywed, who was visiting asked if I wanted to go for a walk.  Hmmm, yoga, lawn mowing...lunch and a walk....sure.  So we took off for an hour long walk/run.  We talked, we enjoyed the breeze, we ran, we broke a sweat, we laughed, and enjoyed looking at all of the blooming flowers in people's gardens.

Nature's treadmill!

By now it was 3:00 and time to go to the beach!  We earned it!  The beach was hopping with kids playing and adults reading, chatting and enjoying their beverage of choice.  The tide was out, so we sat on the sandbars.  Some of the older kids and Dad's had gone to play golf so the younger crowd, ages 6 and under were fully engaged in their make believe "store".  This is when my heart swelled.  I watched this group of about six kids pretending, building, running, swimming, and just being kids.  I am convinced these are the times that make lasting friendships and build parts of their person that unfortunately go underdeveloped in our digital age.  They are the lucky ones!  I was lucky that my kids had those same experiences.

Planning, playing and imagining

Running on the sandbars!

No idea....but they are too cute!

Meanwhile, the adults sat in our conversation circle and talked about the books we were distractedly reading, the events of the week, the upcoming wedding, who is coming or leaving and when, and how we can cram in everything we want to do before we have to leave.  This happens every day the sun shines!

Sometimes we color coordinate.

Basic beach necessities, chair, cooler, towel, book.

Some days we sit until the water comes in around us.  This day dinner was served on the beach for some.  It was bonfire, weenie roast night.  A perfect night for it too!  So the kids went from playing to eating with no clothing change needed.  There may have been a bit of swimming involved as well.  With a day like this...how can you make yourself go up to the cottage?  So we just stayed on the beach.

Reflections of my cousin's cottage.

How can we leave this?

So peaceful and beautiful!

Dinner is served!

Finally, I had to go up to the cottage.  My daughter, the one with the three boys, was cooking dinner for us and my other daughter, the newlywed, treated us to a lovely bottle of wine.  So...we poured the lovely white burgundy....from Burgundy, and had a little happy hour with cheese, crackers and fruit.  Ahhh!  So glad for all of that early day exercise now.  Dinner was late...some of us were still in our bathing suits...and the sun set on one of those perfect shore days as we sat around the table together eating as a family.

Yummmmmm

Painted clouds and power lines

 Things may have gotten a bit silly after dinner.  We were all high on life...or white burgundy.  We goofed around with the grandsons, visited my sister next door, and finally had to call it a day.  That is what we do up here.  And we would do it every day if we could.