I marvel at the variety of lake traditions we’ve picked up through the years, Shanghai games where we gamble with the same pot of money stored with the cards (about three dollars), foods that arrive at the table with a new twist, like the barbecued corn dressed with mayo, cheese, and hot sauce (delish). Luke Bryan blasting on the radio all day long. Of course, my favorite is the morning ritual, which takes place on the deck, with all the kids lounging in pjs sporting mug after mug of steaming coffee.
Audrey, my granddaughter, is the alarm clock, once she’s up
there is no use trying to sleep in. We can spend a good portion of the morning accomplishing absolutely nothing. If no one got hungry and demanded waffles we might never leave the deck. Regina Brett says, “Summer is the annual permission slip to be lazy. To do nothing and have it count for something. To lie in the grass and count the stars. To sit on a branch and study the clouds.” The dynamics of family weekends are always interesting to me. I watch my grown kids interacting with each other as adults and I wonder how I ended up as one of the oldies.
The ancient club does have its advantages, (four generations this year) like not having to carry heavy coolers packed with beer down to the boat, I can conduct beach clean-up from the deck, and kitchen duty has become a joint effort instead of my sole purpose for being. The siblings fall back into familiar routines. The oldest still thinks she can boss everyone around, number two spends a lot of time extolling her status as favorite, number three enjoys a challenge, and the fourth is MIA most of the time. I checked his room last night at 1 a.m. and it was empty.
There are three households of Oreglia’s within walking distance so we don’t spend a lot of time trying to find anyone. They’ll eventually find their way home. There is a lot of reminiscing during these weekends where we reinvent family lore, stories become exaggerated, and then we remember them with the new and improved endings. Like the time my husband was towing a couple of kids on a tube, he was not paying close attention, and when he finally looked back they were gone. He eventually found them floating in the warm water, no worse for the wear, but the distance grows each year. I think we’re up to a mile and a half. 
The fish we catch keep getting bigger and the amount of wine we consume seems exaggerated (maybe this one is true). I suppose this is all part of belonging to a large and exuberant family. And that got me thinking about how we define family? The Webster dictionary claims, “All those persons considered as descendants of a common progenitor.” I have to debate that definition because I believe it has to include the people in our lives who have become family by choice, people so closely bonded we’re now part of one clan, and I would not be the same without them. They live near and far, you all know who you are, and I love this extended family beyond measure.
Here we are on the cusp of another long hot summer and I can only guess at the gifts this season will bear. Looking forward to more lazy days, exaggerated memories, and lots of blogging!
Here we are on the cusp of another long hot summer and I can only guess at the gifts this season will bear. Looking forward to more lazy days, exaggerated memories, and lots of blogging!
How does ‘lazy’ look for you this summer?
If you enjoyed this posting you might also enjoy: I’m at War with my Ego
Living in the Gap 