Posts Tagged ‘People’
Fifty Years
Coinciding with our usual 4th of July celebrations up at our lake place this year is a gala weekend recognizing the 50th anniversary of the community we call Wildwood Lodge Club. It’s like taking the most awesome event of the year and turning it up to eleven. No, make that twelve.
The brief history is that in 1966, one man spearheaded an effort to enlist a group to chip in and buy an old fishing lodge. The membership has changed a little bit over the years, with Cyndie’s family joining in 1969. The current 7 families decided to celebrate this year’s milestone by inviting everyone they could find who had ever been a member to come up for this holiday weekend.
It was a brilliant idea and the last two days have been more fun that we imagined possible.
I enjoyed a little milestone of my own at the start of the day by getting back on my bike just a week after the Tour of Minnesota. Last year after the ride, I hung my bike on a hook in the shop and didn’t get around to riding it again for the rest of the summer.
Cyndie’s brother, Ben, enticed me to bring my road bike up this year so we could get out for a ride together. It was a gorgeous morning and we made the most of it with an easy breeze through some of the beautiful lakes and woods of northern Wisconsin.
Back at Wildwood, we cooled off with a dip in the lake before the rest of the families and guests started their big day at the beach. For this special weekend, some extra floatation toys were added. They were well-used all day long.
In the evening, we gathered at the lodge for a brat and corn feast highlighted by a slide show and videos that overflowed with memories of the last 50 years.
It was informative and confirming for me to hear from some of the past members who spoke about what this place means to them still, long after their families moved on from the association.
As beautiful as this lake property is, it is the people of the member families, and the community they have created, that truly set this apart as a spectacularly incredible thing. I have always known it was special, but it is possible to take it for granted over time.
Celebrating a milestone like a 50th anniversary serves to remind and reorient me to the magic I fell into when I became a part of Cyndie’s amazing family and this special place.
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Shortened Day
I guess it should come as no surprise that sleeping in has a way of really shortening a day. It was worth every minute, but man, I don’t know where the day disappeared to.
We didn’t do all that much. There was a brief trip to the grocery store in town for some items to help Cyndie do her special magic in the kitchen. While she was preparing things inside, I moved some snow around outside, digging a path to the fire pit so we could make a cooking fire. The grill was stowed away somewhere, so I suggested we just cook over a wood fire.
That meant I got to manage two fires at once. I built a fire in the fireplace, in addition to the one outside. That’s about all I did, between periods of eating things Cyndie prepared.
Late in the afternoon, our friends Barb and Mike arrived to help us tend the fires and eat food. We did well at both.
The short day was sparked to additional heights when we received a surprise visit from our friend Jane and her pal, Eric, who stopped over to say hi. What a joy.
If there is ever any doubt about what matters in life, experiencing the pure delight of time with treasured friends, and the energy of meeting someone new, does a lot to make it clear.
It’s the people.
I’m so happy the day wasn’t too short for that.
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People Grouping
Obviously, we are all individuals, but there is no denying that people are pretty easily grouped for any number of reasons, one of which being, it’s just plain fun to do!
The other day, I decided there are three kinds of people. Those who grab a knob to open a drawer or a closet door without ever noticing the knob is spinning loose —causing it to get worse with every use, …those who try to fix loose knobs by tightening it until the threads strip —making it impossible to ever fix, …and those who are aware of the situation before they ever grab a knob —leading to handling it in such a way it doesn’t spin loose every time or causing thread damage when snugging it up when needed.
It is a known fact that there are two kinds of drivers other than ourselves: Maniacs who drive faster than us and idiots who drive slower. I’m gaining plenty of experience with driving styles during my hour-long commutes to and from work.
Seems to me there are three groups of people in the left/fast/passing lane of the expressway: Those who pick their comfortable speed and stay put, oblivious to what other cars around them are seeking to do, …those who pick a speed below what other fast lane drivers prefer, staying in the left lane no matter what, as if to spite anyone behind them who wishes to drive faster, …and those who drive in the left lane while passing slower cars, but notice immediately if someone approaches from behind at a greater speed, in which case this third group of drivers will move over at the earliest opportunity to allow the faster driver to proceed past.
It’s not rocket science, people.
For grouping people in the world, I think 3 is the ideal number. Splitting us into 2 groups is too easy. Anything more than 3 becomes an exercise in “where do you stop?” If you break it down into 4, you may as well go to 5. Oh, heck, why stop there?
See? Three is perfect.
On people’s opinions about a roll of toilet paper: Those who believe it should be mounted to roll off the top, …those who believe it should roll off the bottom, …and those who don’t give a flying eff what direction it comes from. (Okay, sometimes 4 isn’t all bad… those who say, “Toilet paper? A place to mount it? I wish!”)
Mostly, there are three kinds of people in the world.
I tend to see myself as residing somewhere in the group between the maniacs and the idiots.
Don’t we all?
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People Energy
This morning the sound of wind through the trees is providing a perfect ambiance for the idyllic experience we are enjoying of late. Once again, what takes it from a truly pleasant solitary adventure for us is the inclusion of other people. After 13 trips to visit our hay supplier over the last week and a half, I drove it one more time yesterday morning —this time in Cyndie’s convertible on the beautiful rolling country road— to take Cyndie to meet Tom and deliver payment for 520 small bales.
While we stood in his driveway visiting, a couple of guys arrived to pick up some bales of straw to mulch their garden and we had the opportunity to meet two more kindred spirits who live nearby. Tom took a moment to share a vivid story that had us all busting a gut with laughter, and the endorphins were flowing. Getting to know Tom and his son, Dan, has been a pleasure beyond the mere fact they are exactly what we dreamed of finding in terms of a local source of hay, baled in small squares. They are good people.
Later in the day, while I was trying to hustle to get the lawn grass mowed before it caught up to the growth in our hay-field, neighbor George Walker drove up the driveway, pulling a hay wagon in preparation to bale our field. After an informative visit, we walked out to test whether the cuttings were dry enough and I got a bit more education about the process. It is quite possible I may end up being the one to rake the field into windrows, pulling his rake behind our tractor today. He expects to be available to come do the baling shortly after that.
We parked the hay wagon in front of our hay shed and I drove my truck to his place to help him unload a second wagon, so that I could tow it back home as well. Things seem to be falling in line, in the nick of time. George and Rachel are two more people who we are blessed to have met and come to know.
While I was at their farm, I spotted a cat napping on the conveyor and wandered over to take a picture. As I got closer, I spotted kittens peeking out from within. It wasn’t until later, when I brought the image up on my computer, that I spotted one more cat laid out just above the first one that originally caught my eye.
Somehow, even with all the other activity that filled the day, when I got home, I squeezed in the completion of mowing all our grass, and in the final minutes before sunset, ran the reel mower through the labyrinth after I spotted Cyndie down there pulling weeds.
I think it was all the precious people energy that fueled my last burst of activity, allowing me to get the absolute most done by the end of the day.
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Relative Something 