Part of the appeal, definitely, is that it reminds me of the cottage we had when we were kids. But a bigger part is that this weekend while we were there I felt right in the moment as all kinds of new memories were being formed. Like, sometimes it takes a while after something’s over before you realize what a great time you were having, but at this place, it’s impossible to miss. Time doesn’t crawl or fly, it just happens. Here, you live.

Dad showed us around the lake, fixed the dock (our Chicago neighbors called him “handy”), and grilled us some awesome kabobs. Probably we should have done a lot more to spoil him, but I think being out in nature, with family, was pretty much what he wanted. That’s part of what makes him my favorite dad! If I shared the full list here you’d probably be reading it for most of the day