More Summer Fun

I can’t believe that summer is quickly coming to an end. Labor Day is upon us, and many kids, if they haven’t started already, are gearing up for school, heading back to college, and getting used to earlier bedtimes. The air is notably changing with a hint of fall. I’ve even noticed a couple of trees with autumn colors showing, slight, but undeniable. Soon, the leaves will begin to flutter to the ground as the new season makes its full entrance. The days are getting shorter, and, at least here in the UP, the nights are getting colder. I like to take my coffee and sit under our pavilion in the morning and, like today, I bundled up because it was 47 degrees. But until it gets unbearably cold, I’ll continue to enjoy that fresh morning air sitting by the river.

The reason for these back-to-back blogs is because a week after our wedding adventure with Jessica and Brandon, aka Mr. & Mrs. Hominsky, Dan and I had one more summertime event. A couple of Dan’s cousins planned out a Vermote Cousins Reunion. It was held across the street from the New Zoo in Green Bay, Wisconsin. Luckily, that meant we only had a two-hour drive, so any worries about sleeping in the truck dissipated quickly.

It was my chance to meet some of the Vermote’s that I’ve been on Facebook with for some time but hadn’t met in person, and meet new family members. And, of course, happily, visit with the members of Dan’s family I’ve already had the pleasure to meet and spend time with prior. The hugs were plentiful, as was the food and conversation. I don’t know how God designs us that we can meet people and quickly feel a connection, but that is the wonders of His work. I am shy, but everyone made me feel welcome right away. Just under fifty family members attended, so it was no small group.

The crazy part was about six of us went across the street and did the zipline at the zoo. Wow…that is a lot of stairs to climb. Getting to the top had me out of breath. A reminder that I am out of shape. I don’t like stairs without a backing, so I had to concentrate on looking at the rungs and not through them. Once I was at the landing, I second-guessed my decision and wondered if I had lost my mind. But if the others were going to go through with it – challenge accepted. Then I worried if I could step off the ledge – call me crazy, but that turned out to be the easy part. I hope to be posting a video of my experience and plan to put a link on Facebook. So, if you don’t care to zipline, you can live vicariously through my video. Let me say it was risky holding my phone out of fear I’d drop it. I don’t know why I worried because I had a death grip on it. I also had my favorite flip-flops on and was concerned they’d fly off – but I guess my death grip worked on my feet, too, because everything stayed in place and the experience was better than I expected.

I was glad to check this one off my “bucket list” – but that won’t be the last time I zip-line. I think it could be my new hobby. My mind quickly compared it to a prior experience – my daughter’s fiance has a VR (Virtual Reality) set up, and a while back I did the “Walk the Plank” – where you go up an elevator and walk off a plank from a very, very, very tall building. I was standing still in her living room, not moving until I had to take one step to the right. It took me so long and included a lot of screaming to stepped off the plank – and it wasn’t even real. Ziplining is more natural in comparison – and involved a real “step-off” – so there you go. Real or not – life carries a variety of experiences. Some make you laugh, some make you cry, and some make you scream. It’s all in perspective, boundaries, choices, and chances you engage in throughout your life. I have my share of regrets; however, ziplining is not one of them.

I hope you enjoy the Labor Day holiday weekend, and, as always, thank you for reading my ramblings.