It’s early morning and I’m surrounded by the sounds of nature. Robins and cardinals sing their precise notes, a lone woodpecker taps out a staccato, falling water burbles in the background. The woods around me lightly breathe in and out with the rustle of the wind. In the screened in porch, a hot mug of espresso sits at the ready on the coffee table. I ease into the couch lined with plush pillows, stretch out my legs, pull up the book I’m reading on my IPad and settle in. Time stands still. We are already on our third day away. But who’s counting? Minutes, hours, days have no significance here. We just follow our whims, allow our bodies to dictate what we’ll do, let our cares float away.
Our rental cabin sits in the middle of the woods on the edge of Shenandoah National Park at the end of a steep and bumpy lane not meant for the weak of heart. Each time we arrive and leave, we open and close the long metal gate meant to keep the cows in. The half a mile drive seems to go on forever the first time we take it but now we recognize the landmarks and the curves and know what we’ll find at the end. Sadie, the dog, is eager to run around and sniff all the new smells, and once we’ve unloaded our belongings, we take our first hike with her down the narrow and stony path to the waterfall. She’s excited to wade in the small pools along the river bed and leads me across the large stepping stones that crisscross the flowing water.
Every day here, we follow a morning routine, the same one we have on Sundays back in our hometown. I get up first to turn on the oven to bake a breakfast treat then take Sadie for her morning walk. When we return, I feed her while Jim makes our coffee and pours the orange juice. For the next several hours, we sip and nibble as we read, do the New York Times mini crossword puzzle, listen to music, relax. Hours pass in the quiet morning. Later, we’ll go for a long walk. Sometimes we stop in at Goshen Brewing for a drink on their patio.
Here, that means a long sit out on the screened in porch and a second cup of coffee. We read and write and take in the sounds around us. Later, we’ll take a fifteen minute drive to the National Park for a hike up to a scenic mountain view or a hike down to a tumbling waterfall, then a stop in a Front Royal brewery for a drink on their patio.
We live in the moment, watch the clouds rolling in, feel the mist of a foggy morning, soak in the star-filled skies at night from the hot tub, smell the mountain air, a mix of pine and earth. We eat when we’re hungry, nap as needed and create our own schedule. Jim says it well: “It’s like having a week of Sundays!”
Soon, it will be time to leave. But for now, I agree. Let’s enjoy this week of Sundays. It’s a luxury we need, a way to renew and reboot for the work ahead. How do you renew and reboot yourselves?
Thank you, Suzanne! Time off is essential to a creative life.
Love this! 💖