Return to Oak Lake

We spent the past weekend at Oak Lake with some of our closest friends. I took this picture Saturday morning as I stood in the living room and looked out at the lake. Pictures can tell a story but, as beautiful as this picture is, it doesn't tell the whole story. There were 10 adults, 7 children and 3 dogs.

There were Scrabble games.

Some worked on a jigsaw puzzle late into the night.

There were movies - a new generation hooked on Indiana Jones.

There were kids and adults working together to drill into the ice for fishing.

People ice skated.

There were walks in the woods on the island across the lake, the woods barely visible in this picture.

The grown-ups built a fort out of downed trees while the kids wandered freely out of sight.

There were incredible meals and good wine and beer.

The kids' iPods played a loop of "Telephone", "5 o'clock in the Morning", "Price Tag" and "Dynamite".

Seventeen people is a lot of people. One of the most surprising things I experienced this past weekend was calm. There were many moments that required absolutely nothing of any of us. I know that the kids are growing up but this was one of those times that I felt it.