Our Cottage in Michigan

I have spent the last few days at our cottage in Michigan. I almost didn't go. I am embarrassed to say that I haven't been up there in about 8 years. This time was almost the same as prior years. There were so many reasons not to go; it's a long drive; this would be the first time leaving the kids at home alone - they would surely throw a party and the police would come; old dog Pepper has a UTI and no one would clean up after her or let her out....

But at the last minute, I decided to move outside my comfort zone (something I just told a fellow blogger to do) and I went. We belong to an association of other cottage owners, and there's an annual meeting, and this year the meeting was going to be at our cottage. That happens every 20 years. David was willing to go up alone, but I thought he should have his wife there to co-host this event.

I had a day of worrying; could Pepper make the trip with us? She'll be 15 in 2 weeks and is showing signs of her age. I gave up on the kids watching her. How would the kids do? Finally, I did what I always do when I worry too much; I became exhausted. And I reached the point of thinking que sera, sera.

It was a lovely few days. Pepper did fine on the trip - we stopped every few hours and she was a hit at the rest stops - one guy even gave her a dog biscuit he apparently keeps in his pocket. And once we got there, Pepper acted like a puppy! It was very amusing to see the transformation. The weather was perfect - not too hot. The cottage looks great - there is new furniture since I was last here.

Now I'll tell you what amused me the most about this trip. David goes up to the cottage every summer for a week with his high school buddies. They play golf, poker, and hang out. One of his friends, Jeff, wanted to spend some extended time at the cottage this summer. He went up in early July, stayed through the week of the guys hanging out, and stayed afterward. He used it as his home base as he visited friends and relatives in other cities.

Now Jeff has the cutest dog ever. He was featured in an earlier blog post, but here is Ducky again:






Well in the 3 days we spent at the cottage, EVERYONE we talked to said "I enjoyed talking to Jeff." David's family has owned this cottage since the 1920s and he doesn't know half the neighbors, but in the month that Jeff spent at the cottage, he somehow endeared himself to everyone up there. We had 15 people at our cottage for the association meeting and David didn't know who several of them were. But they all commented about how much they enjoyed being with Jeff. I think Ducky helped.