sauna bathing

Spider on our deck railing. Anyone know what kind it is?


***(Update Tue Sept 7/2004: Had a major problem while upgrading to the new version of Movable Type. Looks like I have to do a full reinstall, ugh. Fortunately I did backups of most of my blogs, including this one, but I may have to recreate some of the templates. If you notice anything wonky, like not being able to post comments. that's why. Anyway, thanks for your patience.)***

Congrats to Liam O'Donnell for having Feeding Change named as one of the 10 Top Blogs in Canada this month! Also cool to see Daily Dose of Imagery on the list, another of my favourite blogs.

Woohoo, the newest version of MovableType has been released! Improvements include dynamic pages, post scheduling, and a plugin pack including MTBlackList. Can't wait to get home so I can download and install this.

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Jeff and I are at the cottage; we decided to go late last week.

Went swimming yesterday...the water was pretty chilly, just on the verge of being too cold to swim comfortably. After the first few minutes (of trying not to scream), however, it was fine.

By the way, I'm totally hooked on bathing in the sauna. I prefer using an old-fashioned pot with a spout and handle rather than the camp shower set-up; I just dip it into a big pot of water that's been heated over the sauna coals, pour it over my head. Then I soap up using some Camp Suds (tm), dump on more hot water. Lather, rinse, repeat.

Bathing takes more time this way, but I find it more intimate, comforting, sensual. Instead of rushing through washing up with my mind on the day ahead, I luxuriate in the moment, closing my eyes and giving myself up to the inevitability of heat and steam, the fragrance of damp cedar, hot water and soap sliding over my skin. Then the wonderful shock of cold when I jump in the lake at the end of it all.

And that's part of what I love so much about the cottage: it's a place where we're forced to slow down, focus on and appreciate one thing at a time rather than multitask every minute of the day.

Now if only we could learn to do this back in the city....

Related link(s):

Hypertaskers do things faster but not better

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tent

Sleeping out in the tent was fun (thanks to Scott Murray for the loan of the tent!). I hesitate to call it camping out since we had access to far more luxurious conditions that we would normally on a canoe trip.

An air mattress, for example, as well as many layers as struck our fancy without regard to bulk; we didn't have to carry everything on our backs, so why NOT double up on sleeping bags?

Still, it was wonderful to snuggle down into a cushiony arrangement of liner and sleeping bags, leaving only part of one's face exposed to the chilly air. I listened to my audiobook for a few minutes (an iPod is also a luxury I wouldn't have on a camping trip) before shutting everything off and going to sleep.

The tent platform, designed and constructed by Jeff & Scott a few days ago, was solid and level.

Doing it again tonight! Going back to the city tomorrow.

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change in seasons?

Jeff paddling just after sunset.


Summer seems to have turned the corner into autumn this past week; we've all been bundling up in sweaters and using the fireplace in the boathouse to keep warm. Lake's colder, too (brrr), but I still try to get in a couple of swims a day anyway. One benefit of the colder weather is that there are far fewer bugs than when we first arrived.

Tonight Harry, Jean and Ginny arrive! Jeff and I are sleeping out in a tent to make room for all the people at the cottage this weekend. Should be fun if it's not too cold. :-)

Thanks to those of you offering ant problem solutions. I'm trying the detergent solution for now, and it seems to be helping (either that or the colder weather!). Must still figure out where the ants are actually coming from, but I figure this is going to be difficult since the nest is probably UNDER the cabin.

Congrats to Gary & Sheryl, and Rob & Larissa on getting married recently!



Wild raspberries we found on a hike.


And I've finally updated My Life In A Nutshell:

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cottage

Chris Conway took this photo in Greenwich Village, NY.


At the cottage. The water's warm enough for comfortable swimming (as opposed to "holy toledo, that's cold, get me OUTTA here" swimming), so I'm spending as much time in it as possible.

I do slow laps in front of the cottage, and when my arms get tired I float on my back, arms and legs outstretched, watching the clouds drift by. I find it one of the most relaxing activities in the world, with the water below, sky above, letting the gentle breeze take me where it wants. I usually wake up before it takes me too far.






Leaping into my German Verb Drill book again, spurred by the knowledge that we're going to Vienna (and a brief visit to Berlin) in a couple of months. Anita and Scott give me tips, and help me with vocabulary. I'm also reading slowly through my copy of "Amerikanische Liebesgeshichten", a book of romance stories I picked up in Vienna last December.

The English version is on the left-hand pages, German on the right. The first story is Morley Callaghan's "The Snob", a story I remember reading in school. Right now I can only pick out a few words in the German version, but I'm hoping that eventually I'll become more fluent. "Es war in der Buchabteilung des Kaufhauses, dass der Student John Harcourt plötzlich seinen Vater sah..."

If you didn't see my last entry, the big Urban Tapestry news recently is that ALLISON is going to be at OVFF, woohoo! Jodi and I are very, very happy about this. OVFF this year has Ookla the Mok as GoHs, Scott Snyder as Toastmaster, Heather Dale as Interfilk Guest, and Mary Frost Pierson and Elaine Richards as Listener Guests. It's going to be quite the party. :-)

NOTE: I only have a dial-up line here, so please don't send me any big files, thanks.

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