Tradition and non change in the summer vacation. Slow to no evolution. That is fine.

 

Hi from summertime.  

There are two ways to operate your summer vacation. 1.  Always be on the move. Make a trip.  Going to a new place and exploring nearly every day.  Travel, see, tour, move.  2.  Go to your summer home or your traditional summer place and stay there and pretty much only there for an extended amount of time with one or two trips but very little movement, but just staying put and doing things there where you are. 

I have no qualms against either.  Obviously it is good to do both.  It is good to explore, see new places and travel, but it is also good to have tradition of place year after year.  I think our family is pretty lucky that we have both in the course of the summer.  

I grew up on going to the summer cottage and staying there for the whole of the summer.  That is what I know.  So naturally that is what I feel comfortable with and continue to do.  Every summer I take my two girls to Northern Michigan where I personally have been going since I was born.  And now my daughters too.  We have strong traditions there.  When my mother was still around my younger daughter was so clear about what we had to do every year that we had to sit in the exact same seats or booth when we went to the restaurants we went to every year.  

Sadly my mother is not there anymore as part of the summer tradition. But we did see her in her all year home.  So some of the traditions evolve slowly.  We dont eat inside that restaurant I just mentioned. We take it out and it seems a new tradition that we take it to a quiet area nature park along a river.  Eat it on a bench overlooking the river then take a walk.  We only got that food once though this year, in the past it was tradition to eat it two times in our vacation.  

We used to eat in a fast food restaurant but that was because the place had a playground and my daughters played there after the meal. Now they are too big for the playground, but its nicer because we take the meal to a park on the bay, eat it in the park then go swimming in the bay (pictured here to the left).  It was tradtion to do that three times, but we only got to it twice this summer.  

But my daughters demand that we get take out pizza from the absolute "bestest" pizza restaurant (no it is not in Norman Oklahoma) in the world  at least once a week.  In this our last week, we only had eaten it two times so we had to get the pizza twice in our last week to keep the tradition up.  Yes we had four weeks vacation this year in our traditional spot.   

What else is on our list of traditions?  At least one small roadtrip, though I was

hoping for a better one farther away this year, but didnt make it. And I was hoping to do two, but that didnt happen unfortunately.   Pretty much eating the same lunch every day if we are at home.  Corn for dinner nearly every other night when it comes into season, around August 6th.  Going to the nearby library and getting books out though not necessarily any day in particular.  But doing some of the arts and crafts events the library puts on like  tye dying, painting rocks, making pom poms etc..  Full reading days at home, just sitting somewhere, hopefully on the dock and reading all day.  For me, rowing or kayaking as many mornings as possible.  Not really a tradition just something I enjoy doing and am proud to do, to get some regular good exercise.  Since my friend and his daughter have been up the past couple years, we have had a grilled hot dogs and s mores night.  Did I forget anything?  Swimming at the island when we can in the late afternoon (Island picture at the beginning of this post at top).

Hartwick Pines park

Unfortunately Michael Moore canceled the Traverse City film fest this year. Otherwise we had been going to that for the last five or more years. 

This all might sound boring and low key to you.  Admittedly if I did it in my home winter town, it probably would be and I would feel bad that my girls didnt get out and we just do boring stuff and waste the summer, BUT since we make a long travel to get to our "summer home" and our getaway is in the woods on a lake maybe it makes all the difference.  We arent jumping out of planes, bungie jumping or white water rafting, but we look forward to our summer traditions each year and even my daughters demand that we do this and that in the tradition.  Its changed a little each year and some of the years we had big changes like losing our traditional summer home which had been in the family for 60 years and my mom retiring and moving away, and maybe next year will be different. I cant say each year is EXACTLY the same, but for my whole life and my daughters whole life we have found a comforting summer tradition which (I hope and suppose) everyone enjoys and looks forward to.  To lay down strong traditions with slow or no evolution, I think, is not only comforting, but very solidifying in a child's and person's life.  

I hope you too have had the chance to carry on some of your summer traditions which hopefully develops good memories for you and your kids.  

Oh, lots of readers (maybe???) from Singapore. Drop me a message, write me a comment. Tell me if you enjoy or why you are reading. Thanks 

I like to listen to music which I personally have on vinyl or CD or have in my store, but in fact this once I listened to some slowcore music which was recommended from a good music blog.  It seemed to fit my mood for this post too. So it was good and I hope I can find the album to buy.  VALIUM AGGELEIN "BLACK MOON"  NUME213LP.  Hopefully the first song will stop you in your tracks and keep you hooked and listening carefully till the very end.  And then again.