I’ve had this itch since yesterday. Just below my neck and slightly to the left. If I scratch it any more, it’s going to bleed. But, if I don’t scratch it, it’ll fade away, with the other feelings, tastes, sounds, smells of the cottage — Rascal’s little footprints at the shore, the patch of sand we placed on the dock where Monkey left her mark (a big, stinky mark….; yeah, we’ll not go there…).

It’s all still sitting there right now. The lake water’s rippling. The sun glinting off the ripples. The bonfire’s still sitting there. The dock still rocking (I still feel like I’m rocking even as I sit here typing…). The little motor boat’s back at the marina. The canoe, in which Josh-O and I enjoyed some of the most peaceful, real, moments we’ve had together in a long time, is still sitting there beside the dock. Red and faced down. It’s all there. But, we’re not. {Gulp. Fahklempt.}



The bench it’sgrandma fell off of after 2 GLASSES of wine (she’s TEENY)? It’s still there….

It’s a mosquito bite. Darn mosquitoes. I got it yesterday, on my last walk down the cottage lane, before I said goodbye to the trees, the flowers, the, OH, the lily pads…. I never knew lily pads looked so much like lotus flowers. Also, I never knew I was such a country girl. A lake girl. A cottage girl. A nature girl…

I could live there. Even with the mosquitoes, and EVEN with my entire extended family under one little cottage roof. What a gift.

There’s still sand in Monkey’s hair. Still sand on my yoga mat — and possibly a dead bug. Rascal still has blisters from crawling — really crawling! — on the cottage floor. All of us still have kisses of colour on our faces from the warm cottage sun…. I still have this mosquito bite.

And, here I am back in the city. With you. And, with kitties. The city DOES definitely have it’s perks….

But, still this cottage itch, this desire to be back there with everyone in the stillness.

Until next year, then….

Thank you, it’sgrandma and papa’shere for this gift that I’ll remember LONG after this mosquito bite fades, and that I’ll look forward to receiving and enjoying with you for years to come….