*I can’t take credit for this photo-my friend, Martha, is the genius behind this one!

Have you ever caught yourself fantasizing or daydreaming? Do you dare to imagine things that might never become reality? It’s harmless fun, really. Allow yourself to feel and experience. Be courageous and brash. Let your mind wander and see where it goes. This is where I like to go….

I’m in Maine and I’m living in a cabin about 100 feet from the lake. I’m spending the summer working at the music camp I went to every summer throughout my childhood. My bedroom window looks out over the water and the porch is where I sit every afternoon watching my kids swim. In the evenings I sit and write until I feel ready to drift off to sleep.

I know this place as if it were my home. I know the sounds. I know the smells. I know the people. The people “get me” and that feels good.

I know the sounds of young people practicing. The sounds of careful confidence and young minds exploring and growing.

I know the feel of the wet grass as I walk up the hill to breakfast in the morning. I can feel the sun on my face and in my eyes as the flag is raised and the bugle sounds.

I know the sound of the orchestra as I sit in rehearsal. The smell of my violin. The vibrations under my chin and inside my soul. I like the sound of pencils being dropped on metal stands.

I know the sound of the milkshake machine. I know the taste of a Moose Tracks Shake, the resistance of my spoon digging through the chunks of caramel chocolates at the bottom.

I know the sounds of the night. The loons call back and forth from one end of the lake to the other and several times a week I listen as a train passes on the other side of the lake. Each night I fall asleep to the lake water lapping against the rocks outside my window.

This is the place I belong. This is where I feel whole.

I am whole, and it is so.

Good morning Syracuse! The Blonde family is headed back to Denver.

From where, you ask?

Heaven. A dream. The most beautiful place on earth. Approximate location of Heaven? 40 hours drive time from the other Heaven, Colorado. That’s a long time for my ADD ass to be sitting in a seat, so when I looked at my Facebook update this morning it occurred to me that, not only do I have time to blog this insanity, it might just be award winning material for ye olde bloggie.

HOW does one spend an entire summer in a dream and not blog it? The question is really, “How did I, spend an entire summer in a dream and not blog it?”. I have my theories and the amount of potential blog fodder those theories could produce should keep us busy for awhile this fall. For now, I leave you with my favorite photo of the summer….