Lake CabinLooking back,

may I have lived a life of

few regrets, joyful days,

&many laughs.

Mrs. Brown

Birch Lake

Sand in your toesThe breeze in your hair

Fresh pine treesThe soothing sun

The call of the loonTasting s’mores

Beautiful sunsets

I go there

to get awayto play

to relax to be refreshed

to feel joy

to live life to the fullest.

solitude & simplicityI forget about the papers I need to correct, the students I’m worried about, the students I’m frustrated with, the

lessons I need to plan, the meetings I need to attend, the appointments I need to make, the grades I need to enter, the web-pages I need to update, the copies I need to run, getting to school on time, leaving at a decent time, dropping Brielle off at daycare, picking Brielle up from daycare, no time for lunch, what will I make for supper, when will Mr.

Brown be home?, will the football team win?, what are the plans for the weekend, I need to do laundry, the garbage needs to be taken out, the toilet needs to be scrubbed (and the bathtub, too), Sadie should get out more, I’m ready for Thanksgiving break already(!), the car needs gas, the car needs to be washed, I really need to do my devotional today,

those leftovers in the fridge need to be eaten, the kitchen floor needs to be swept,

there are dishes in…

I just am.

“Fe!”

FAMILY

I am similar to Thoreau…-I want to live life fully.

-Forget about the “details” in life.-“Simplify, simplify, simplify!”

My place is similar to Walden…-It is near water, amongst the trees.

-It is a refuge, a “safe” place for me.-We have worked hard to “make it our

own,” similar to how he builds his house.-The focus there is on nature, not “things.”

I am different from Thoreau…-I can’t stay there all the time.

-My family is always with me there.-It’s a “regular” escape,

not a twenty-six month journey.

My cabin is different from Walden…-It is huge and beautiful and not at all “roughing it.”-While I have reflected there, I have not (yet?) made

or learned any amazing insights and discoveries about myself there.

I am an individualist… TV isn’t a constant in our house.

READ to Brielle.Play and color and do puzzles.

Go outside.We are best friends.