Fallen Leaf Lake

Out on the road I was reading an article in Travel and Leisure magazine by Dominique Browning when she described one of her favorite seaside towns as, "a delicious, old-fashioned ice cream sandwich of a place. On either end are the rich, luxurious bits. The fun stuff is in the middle, and you have to catch it fast before it disappears."

 To me, this sums up life at Fallen Leaf Lake perfectly.



Emerson Flynn Codding

My oldest boy is 10 years old today.

 I can hardly believe it.  We stared at you moments after we brought you home from the hospital and had no idea what to do with you- we were in absolute, undeniable AWE.  Dad and I looked at one another and like so many parents said, "Now what??!!"  We stared at you, you stared at us, we attempted to eat a normal meal at the table, yet you had other plans for the night.  At 10pm you started to wail and didn't stop until 2am. Were you hungry?  In pain?  Tired??  No, you were just cold, or so we thought. Your Dad wrapped you up tight in his signature swaddle (that he had been practicing for weeks) and put an adorable knit cap with green frogs on your fuzzy head and pulled you into bed close against his chest. There we were- a little family.

 Instantly, overnight, you made us a family.

Emerson Flynn Codding.

 My contemplative, cautious, caring boy. Handsome, soft spoken, and sincere, you made me a Mother and trained me well. Your gentle manner and insightful words often make me stop and pause- you see the world differently than most. You are like a Buddha, taking it all in, churning it around in your head and feeling it in your heart before you comment, before you take a step, before you react. You are the only human I know that can catch a bumblebee, a fly, or a lizard with your bare hands and whatever said creature will let you hold them in your palm for inspection and examination. You are my nature boy- connected to the universe on a wavelength that most are not privy to. You commune with creatures, trees, mountains, and water like some kind of Whisperer of the Woods. You are amazing to watch every day, but especially when you are in your element.

You are a planner, already deciding that you want to go to college in California so that you can drive to The Cabin to spend your summers. You want to be a chef (you are already talented in that department!), you want to travel, you have an amazing joie de vivre for someone who is only 10. You are accomplished (climbing and summiting Mt. Tallac at your age!), steady, stoic, and loyal. Your sense of humor is sophisticated, your musical tastes eclectic (Tupac to The Dead), and your imagination active and amazing.

I love you. We love you.

 I can't believe you are 10. I wish you the happiest birthday my sweet, firstborn Buddha child. Thank you for being my baby, my Flynn.

I love you!!

Happy Big Birthday, Mr. C!

Today is your day! 

 We love you and wish you the Happiest Birthday ever!  Enjoy the almost 10,000 ft. mountain hike with your oldest son today- such a sweet, memorable way to celebrate your 40th and his 10th. 

Keep climbing, keep aspiring, and most important- keep inspiring us all.

Happy Birthday!!

We love you!!

Tales from the Road

1:30 am.

 Mitchell, South Dakota.

"Holy shit! You're never going to believe what I just saw in the parking lot!" Mr. C just finished schlepping our luggage up from the car as I am tucking the sleepy kids into bed after the first leg of our California or bust odyssey.

Judging from his initial shock and excitement I couldn't imagine what just happened in the deserted parking lot of the Kelly Inn.  Aliens, perhaps?  Maybe The Black Eyed Peas stopping for the night on their way to the benefit concert they are giving in Minot, North Dakota?  The Kelly Inn did have down pillows and comforters which I thought was quite something for about $100 a night.   If it was good enough for Fergie, it was certainly good enough for me.

 But no, it wasn't Fergie and the gang.  It was this.

See, Mr. C is not from around here and still marvels at all things that scream "Midwest"- Crock pots, polka bands, the prolific use of "Uff Da" among seemingly normal folks, Sloppy Joes, hotdish, a beer chaser served with a Bloody Mary, the whole hunting culture.  All of these things still stir up mild confusion for poor Mr. C., but this mobile hot dog, that was something entirely mindboggling and quite frankly (no pun intended) without explanation, super weird to him.

"No WAAAYYYY!!!"  I nearly screamed in the dull, flurescent light of our motel room as he showed me the picture he snapped on his phone. The Oscar Meyer Wienerwagon!! The look on his face was an expression of shock, horror, slight disgust and total confusion.

"YOU know what this thing is? Of course you do."

You see, that magic mobile hot dog is based in Madison, Wisconsin and was once the symbol of the most coveted internship on campus at the University of Wisconsin- Madison.  I actually wanted to apply to drive the thing in college for a summer (well, not really, and even then my driving record was not exemplary so I'm sure I never would have qualified) but it was a seriously difficult gig to land. The job went mostly to marketing and business school students at Madison (my alma mater) and honestly I was never quite daring enough to spend a summer away from my friends in exchange for co-piloting a giant hot dog around the Midwest with some earnest ag- business student from Appleton.

But I was quite tickled to run across the Wienerwagon almost 20 years later with my kids in the middle of South Dakota.  And I must say, the vehicle nowadays is way more slick then it used to be- it was hauling ass down the freeway and seems to have some aerodynamic type of sports package.  It actually looked, dare I say, "cool".  We spotted it several times the following day and it was good fodder for killing time on the drive.  After regaling my family with some of these good, clean college tales outloud they were all quite relieved to know that their Mom (and wife) did not spend a summer of her youth driving the Wienerwagon while conducting a Heinz ketchup cross promotion in a Wal-Mart parking lot in Omaha. 

"Soooo embarrassing!!!"

 I read that it is now a year long paid position for any college graduate.... I think I might put my resume together.

(PS- I do not know how to put that little accent thing over the word "resume" on my laptop.  Just wanted to let you know that I know it goes there.)

　

Vacation

I think I might be married to Clark W. Griswold. 

Tonight we head out on a vacation like none we have ever taken- an almost cross country road trip to California. 

No, we're not going to Wally World, but a little slice of heaven known as Fallen Leaf Lake.  Mr. C. has been there nearly every summer since he was born, and I have been every summer with the exception of one, since we met in 1995.  It is a special, magnetic place on the planet where the air seems different and the sound of the wind blowing the tops of the Sugar Pine trees is all you hear when you close your eyes for a swing in the hammock. 

"The Cabin", as it is affectionately known, is rustic and original with red check curtains, kitsch galore, and memories to last several lifetimes.  The bears are frequent guests and the same families have been coming each summer for decades.  Your feet are always dirty, the lake water always freezing (she was formed by two colliding glaciers, after all) and laughter is constantly rolling when Mr. C's family congregates around the fire each evening.  They are a special group and Fallen Leaf is a spectacular, special place.

Note to readers-

We have a Fort Knox alarm system set up at the house and two enormous bodyguards taking up residence while we are away.  And don't forget the watchful, snoopy neighbors; daily workmen coming in and out who are still working on our damn ice dam project; and the two fierce Tonkinese cats who will scratch your eyes out should you even attempt to come near my front door. 

Stay tuned for tales from the road.