the lake 2021

It has been awhile, hasn't it? 2021 has been...hard. For that reason (and maybe because of growing, changing kids and circumstances), I have gone blog quiet.

A couple weeks ago, we got to return to "our" special lakeside retreat for the first time since before the pandemic. Here is my post from last year. (It links to the several years' posts before.) The text below is what I shared on my personal social media page from our time up there this summer. Before you scroll on, let me share that "our" side of the lake and a vast portion of the surrounding area has now been burned or is now surrounded by the Caldor fire. The fire continues to burn, descending on South Lake Tahoe. We know exhausted firefighters are doing all they can to stop the spread and protect what they can. 

This place always brings up so much emotion for me, but with wildfire added to the layers, my emotions have been difficult to process and articulate.

Please keep our forests, firefighters, and residents in your thoughts.

 

Little cabin, 2018

From social media, 8/19/21: I haven’t been in this space in awhile. Life has been needing me full on. I hesitated sharing these photos. I have very few this year from our special place. We hadn’t been in two years (last summer being the first of my life not to go), and while normally it is the respite we all crave, this year’s trip was fraught with the deep anxiety, stress, and mental health woes that have continued to challenge us. We were able to get to this special spot for a few days with my parents, brother, and his girlfriend, but, to be real, it wasn’t the restorative nature balm I/we needed. It was familiar but different. It’s beauty was muted by hazy smoke. There were “roses” and special moments, I am glad we went, but in the end, mental health needs brought us all home early, and as hard as it was to make that call, it meant that we were ready to leave when the haze (present the entire time) shifted to heavy smoke and poor air quality. Once home, a small wildfire has grown, evacuating much of the area. So many emotions this year. 2021 is teaching us gratitude and grit.