Sa
The
weather, perhaps not of its own volition, decided to be agreeable on Saturday
morning, with low humidity and clear skies. With too many things (or so we
seemed to have joked) in the trunk, we went on our sunny way to main thoroughfares
that were more or less crowded depending on whatever they were like on like
Saturday mornings. (We had no reference point.) Would it be a good week or a
bad week? I was sure we had forgotten something, and M. was also sure we had
forgotten something (or so I believed). (As it turned out, we had forgotten
nothing.) The car was moving at a good pace; perhaps we'd get there too early,
before the cottage was ready for us. "Should I slow down?" I asked.
"No; if it's not ready, we can go walking." As it turned out,
wonderfully enough, we were there an hour ahead of schedule, but regardless the
cottage was ready for us. We unpacked and sat on the porch. It looked like a
very nice afternoon. Tomorrow was another matter entirely; whatever the
tomorrow held, we would deal with it in its proper time; for now, for Saturday,
all's well.
Su
The
thunder rolled in first, or at least that was the first sign there, three in
the morning or so. Getting up to see the coming light show, in the pitch black
I stubbed my toe on one of the rollers that supported the bed; I cried out loud
and knocked over a lamp. A little bit of lighting I could see in the distance.
To make it short, it took three hours for the storm to be upon us; the rain was
pouring down, and it was too loud to do anything but lay in bed, waiting for it
to pass. It didn't pass. It stayed over us until three in the afternoon. The
roof began leaking somewhere around eleven, under which we put a stew pot. The
rain stopped entirely at about five; no chance to barbecue since everything
outside was soaked. We badly (since we didn't know the stove well) fried up
some eggs and ate their tasteless selves. The whole day was wasted, of course,
and miserable, and wet everywhere. We argued about the dishes, since the sink
was too small and basin-like, completely inappropriate. We finally gave up, and
went to bed. Damp bed.
M
A
moment: a brief moment. (Actually, a couple moments, but so what? Thought is
free!) We were sitting out on top of the boathouse in the early afternoon,
looking out over the lake, which was, at that time, a serene mirror of the
heavens. We clinked our prosecco glasses together, and sighed as one. "Oh,
look." I looked where she was looking: a bird, a heron, a great blue
heron, flying towards the boathouse. It settled down right in front of us with
a delicate splash. "Really is blue, isn't it?" I whispered.
"Yes, an iridescent blue," came the whispered reply. "Royal
blue, royal blue. Nobility has come to see us." "We must be doing
something right." The huge bird swam around, diving occasionally, for a
good twenty minutes. We were stock-still all that time. Then, a noise from
somewhere beyond the tree-tops on the other side of the lake attracted its attention,
and the heron, like a hydroplane (?), sped across the top of the water,
splashing loudly until airborne, and got over the trees and disappeared from
view. What a sight! So glad we discovered this place. At that point we went
inside, for some afternoon delight.
Tu
It's
midnight, and I finally have a chance to make some notes.
Who the
fuck does a home invasion on vacationers? Yes, the thieves were that dumb!
Super-dumb!
Early
afternoon, and we're sitting down to a couple sandwiches. (It was raining
again. My God, what an awful climate!) There comes a knock at the door. Not a
usual event. I got to the door and open it, and these two tough guys, shove
their way in, pushing me to the kitchen floor. First one says: "We're here
to rob you." I said something like: "Rob us? We're on vacation. We
got nothing. Some towels, maybe."
Second
guy steps over me, intentionally dragging his foot over my thighs. He proceeded
to rummage though drawers. I got up, said: "It's a rental."
Second
guy comes back, whispers to first: "Nothing doing."
First
guy spots the laptop. "We're taking the laptop."
My wife
said: "It's nine years old. Practically worthless."
"Shut
up!" Second guy takes the laptop. First guy smiles at us. "Sorry. We
didn't know you were renters. Have a nice day."
With that,
they left.
We
didn't go after them. We did nothing. We were in despair. A horrible place!
W
The nice
weather has just kept coming and coming. We had dinner down by the lake, on a
picnic table. Perfect view of the sun setting behind the trees, over near the
rail tracks. (It's so nice and melancholy to hear a train pass in the middle of
the night!) The sun set, and it started to get dark. A noise from the lake: a
seaplane was approaching. It pulled up to the nearby dock, and a gentleman in a
three-piece suit got out. He came walking through the brush up to us, then
addressed me by name. "You're a hard man to get hold of." I explained
why we were there, nothing wrong with that. So, what can I do for you?
"I'm here to inform you that you have won the national lottery. Sole
winner, you." I had forgotten all about it. "I won a lottery? I've
never won anything before. How much is involved?" "It's an estimate
right now, but it's somewhere north of twenty-six million dollars."
"Wow!" "Wow indeed! I am here to request you contact our offices
once you're back in civilization." "Indeed, I will!" He got back
into his seaplane and flew away.
Th
(late)
What's with all the bears? I never heard they were able to hunt in packs! I
mean, don't they just eat fish and berries? They got defences, claws, but for
them to get together in a pack and terrorize people, well, that just goes to
show there's something seriously wrong with the bears up here! It started early
afternoon, when one of them showed up in the distance. We went inside, of
course, into the enclosed porch, and waited and watched, then a second bear
showed up and the appeared to confer before heading our way. We closed all the
windows and watched. Then two more bears showed up. Again: a pack of bears?
Then two of them‑I don't know which‑started battering on the glass,
and they wouldn't stop. We retreated into the cottage proper, and sealed
ourselves in. Doors, windows, closed. They bashed and bashed until finally one
of them broke through the glass of the enclosed porch. In they lumbered,
looking for us. We were afraid to breathe. The sun's gone down now; this is
being written by a single 40W bulb; we don't know if they're still out there or
not; what a horrible vacation!
F
This
morning, we bade farewell to our perfect little cabin in the woods. It's always
difficult to leave a place; especially when it seems like a magical place. We
packed it all up‑except for the laptop computer, of course‑and
stowed everything, the used and the un-used, into the trunk of the car. A
little moment's reflection we shared down at the pic-a-nic
table was all we had time for, to reflect on things. The bears, the lottery
win, the thieves, the great blue heron, the storm: all of it was of a piece, and
we would never have that piece taken away from us.
We're
back at home now: nothing has changed. We alone have changed. The place, way up
there, in the woods and under the quiet sky, is both real and not real. It's
there, up there, assuredly: but what about the events of the week? They no
longer seem real in that way. Go over it again and again until I'm blue in the
face, yet still I come up short on the magicalness of
it all. We travelled, that's certain: but still we were in the same place all
the time.
How can
that happen?
