In Nature's Hem

There is nothing like the softness of hair washed in the lake, or the taste of liquorice candy melted on the sauna stove! And what kind of exclamation is this, you may wonder. It is the result of a few lazy wonderful days spent at the summer cottage with my relatives! A few of my favorite moments:

I sit in the sauna and I tell my twin cousins riddles that they try to figure out by asking yes/no questions: A man with a backpack approaches the edge of a field, death inevitably follows. Why? They figure this one out quickly between swims in the lake, and the next one takes them much longer: A man works on the tenth floor. Every day, he takes the elevator to the third floor, and walks the rest of the flights of stairs. But when it rains, he goes to the seventh floor by elevator, and walks the rest. How come?

I wake up earlier than everyone else, and go out for a run (which reveals to me what happens when one has not been consistent with exercise) in the sunny morning along dirt roads. I return and cool off in the lake. Still, no one else is awake, and I try to quietly make coffee. I enjoy my muesli and yogurt on the dock with my cousins' friendly dog comfortably settled by my side. The sun makes pearls appear on the lake surface as the wind briskly nudges the tall reeds by the shore.

We play cards late into the night, and I teach my cousin Anna to draw a woman's face, as her sister Henna concentrates on drawing a horse. I am reminded how just a short while ago, I was the kid with the playful energy and budding drawing skills. It is interesting to find myself in the role of adult, when all my memories of the summer cottage are of me-the-child: learning to paint, picking flowers and meadow strawberries, sleepwalking, brushing teeth outside, swimming across the lake, making up water ballets with my sister, and so on. I am making new memories.

We make rounds to swat all the mosquitos inside the main cabin before we go to bed, but somehow, to no avail. It is a great frustration to try to fall asleep to the whine of mosquitos in your ear, because you know they're just looking for a juicy spot of exposed skin...this morning's welts testify to their successful night and my sleeplessness! But, even the mosquitos do not diminish my enthusiasm to return. It's all part of the summer!