Matt once called the lake, as he floated in the sun, his happy place
I have felt that pretty much my entire life
So it was awesome we could come here this weekend and enjoy for a while
Usually, weekends at the lake are a wonderful chaos of multiple generations
Some focused on food, managing the babies up at the house
Some hanging on the doc, either in chairs in the sun or wrangling a fishing pole
Some coaxed into driving the boats so that others can ride behind on skis or inflatable couches laughing, screaming at the top of their lungs as they are being flung, bounced
Everyone is creating memories, connecting, hanging, its all such a blessing that we all have this place, a place discovered by Granny and Uncle Faye many, many years ago
For me, and for Brad, its easy to measure the years that have passed
He was born, I turned 10 the year Aunt Dolly (Granny) and Uncle Faye bought the lot at the lake
The lake has been in the family for 52 years, 52 amazing, wonderful, blessed years
This particular weekend was quieter than most memories
It was graduation weekend for many schools given the “Kings Dominion” law I was informed about
That law causes grade schools to wrap up school near Memorial day and go back mid August
So the lake itself was quiet, not as many boaters out there as I expected
Brad, my cousin, joined us at the lake so there were just 4 of us: Matt, Barry (brother), Brad and me
An adults weekend
Brad was excited to be able to ski, I pulled him
He put on his single ski and cut through the waves like a champ!
Barry also got to get some skiing in, the lake was smooth as glass
It was so good to be out there enjoying the fresh air, breathing in the smells of lake water that brings with it so many memories of happy times
As per usual, someone dove or jumped off the pier with their sunglasses on
That was me, this time, on Saturday, our first day there
Barry brought some swim goggles so we dove and dove to try to find the glasses in the merk
Morning brings calm to the lake, daytime brings churn, so the thought was to wait till the morning to try again, when water clarity would be better
I got in and dove, coming up empty time and time again
Barry dove in, lost his goggles on the entry, then dove in without the goggles and came up with my sunglasses!
Then he dove again and came up with the goggles
It was a form of entertainment for us
We took the boat over to a restaurant on Sunday for an early dinner
On the way back, we swung by Goat Island
There is so many family memories from Goat Island
A lot of family lore too
We have been at the lake, as a family, long enough to know for certain there were goats on this island at one point, that the name makes perfect sense even though there are no goats there anymore
All was going well, Matt enjoying his time here…….we decided to stop at Washburn’s Marina for ice cream, another family tradition
That was when things took a bad turn
Matt was assisting getting the boat up to the pier and put his hand in the wrong place at the wrong time
He gained a bad skin tear on the top of his left hand, one to match the skin tear my mom got on Friday when she fell out of her chair
Thanks to the attentive help of the folks at Washburn’s, the counter clerk letting us know he used to be a nurse, we wrapped Matt’s hand up and bought what first aid supplies we thought would be helpful
Luckily its just a shallow, skin level wound, but it will need to be tended carefully for the next few days
Something about Sundays these days, injury day……
I am encouraged by Matt’s injury from last Sunday, when he fell out of bed and knicked his forehead and ear, has healed nicely over the week
So now we will be paying attention to the back of his left hand this week, taking good care to avoid infection there too
We are taking this morning, Monday morning, as a relaxing moment, Barry and I are reading, Matt is luxuriating in bed, up for a few minutes, then back in bed
No rush, all relaxation, something we are all enjoying
I do need to go to the local store, soon, to get bandages big enough to replace those we put on his hand last night……but not just yet
I want to, I crave the ability to, enjoy this moment of nice peace just a bit longer…..
Uncle Lewy 
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