Summer Colony

Once again, this is going to be a hastily written blog entry. The baby keeps faking me out as to whether or not he's really sleeping. We'll see how long this quiet moment lasts...

Summer Colony

This is our second morning in Pennsylvania, and I'm still having a hard time believing that we actually live here.

Henry captured my feelings perfectly yesterday when he said, "I'm not sad about living here yet because I don't really feel like we live here. I just feel like we are on vacation."

Bingo, little boy.

We are definitely in some kind of surreal transition here. Our first evening was nothing but movers and boxes and running up and down the stairs. The next day, which we declared a day of rest and recovery, we did no unpacking, no cleaning, no nothing. We slept in as late as the baby would allow. The big boys went out on our front porch and chatted with our neighbors. When we all finally got dressed, we put the baby in a stroller and walked downtown to the Dosie Dough bakery for some morning pastries.

It was glorious.

But it did not feel like we lived here.


On our morning walk, we waved at other walkers, most of them carrying cups of coffee. (Oh, how I miss coffee...) We passed the boys' new school, which William was interested in, and Henry was not. (I was on Team Henry for this one. I don't even want to think about dealing with school.)

When we got back to the house, the boys played in the backyard with the two neighboring dogs on either side of our picket fence. (It's like having pets, but without all the work...hooray!)

The weather is insanely pleasant here. No heat, no humidity, and no bugs. (Except fireflies in the evenings...)
So maybe it's the weather that's throwing me off. After hunkering down in air conditioning for the majority of the South Carolina summer, it seems utterly strange to be outside.

It all reminds me of a summer colony George and I visited ages and ages ago along the Great Lakes. It was one of those old fashioned kind of places where families used to spend the entire season, staying in charming old houses with big porches and chatty neighbors--kids riding bikes up and down the sidewalks, families walking for ice cream.

Being here is evoking those same feelings for me now. Being here feels suspended in time, like it's not really real, and if it is, it's certainly temporary.

The loveliness of this town and this place is both very pleasing and a little disconcerting. I said to George that I feel like I'm being lulled into liking this town, but also like I'm about to be tricked. Like something is going to happen (like, say, WINTER) that will undo everything and make me suddenly hate it here.

Or this could all be the ramblings of an exhausted, slightly delirious woman...

Regardless, I do like it here--for now.

And quoting wise little Henry once again, "I'm not so worried about making friends in the summer. I just like doing stuff with my family. But when school starts, that's when I'll be worried..."

Me too, little man. Me too...