A lovely spot - for a season

Best campsite we've had in a really long time. We have all the shades open because there are NO next-door neighbors ten feet away on the next lot. We are nestled into evergreen trees. Lush bright green grass all around with bunnies hopping here and there and a mourning dove cooing overhead. A refreshingly cool breeze sneaks in through the screen door.

Maybe the best campsite ever! Well, except no sewer hook-up. But hey, we have a holding tank so it's all good. Probably I mean the loveliest campsite in terms of beauty and privacy and peace and quiet.

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It really is beautiful here. Serbian spruce just inches from our dining window. We love Serbian spruce. Actually we are surrounded with lots of the kinds of trees that we would choose to plant if we wanted to create a lovely spot.

Oh, wait; we did. We planted these trees. Many, many years ago.

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Perhaps an explanation is in order...

Well, you see; there is a big event happening here tomorrow night. It's a concert at the amphitheater that Bob and his "boys" built several years ago. This event was already in the planning stages when the property sale went through last fall. We could have looked for another venue, but the new owners said we could have it here. How cool!!! In fact, they seem to be rather excited to see how it works to produce a big event like this because they are hosting a wedding here in a few weeks. Talk about a win-win situation!

What this means is that we have come back "home" to Hidden Hollows for a few days to get ready for the event. Yes, it is a little strange to be back home, but have it not be home anymore. Except that we do feel at home because we brought our little home with us. And because the owners are letting our family use the log house as a staging area for the happenings. That old log house has so many memories from selling Christmas trees to college friends coming home for Thanksgiving, from celebrating Christmas with uncles and aunts and cousins to hosting youth group retreats - and most recently the two of us living there for a couple years.

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This is just too bizarre. How can it be that we get to come back here and enjoy this place - even though we let go of it and it no longer belongs to us? Just terribly amazing!

How wonderful that we were able to create this place decades ago! That we were able to enjoy it through the years and to share the enjoyment with literally hundreds of other people. How wonderful that the new owners have graciously invited us back for this week. How amazing that so many of our old friends are able to come for this event. It is exciting to hear from so many that we have not seen for years or decades.

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And here's the kicker.

Yesterday, we were sort of shaking our heads about all of this. Marveling that we get to be in this beautiful place for a few days and to enjoy such a fun event but also marveling that we don't have to stay. We are not tied down here anymore. We don't have to stick around to mow the acres and acres of grass every week. Hubby doesn't have to start cutting firewood for the winter - because we will be long gone before the snow flies. And he is pretty happy that he is not the one making the mortgage payment or maintaining and repairing everything around here.

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To everything there is a season.

We have enjoyed so many lovely seasons here. And now we get to enjoy seasons in other places. Nice how that works!