People
My cabinmates were awesome. We chatted long into the night, drank cider (Woodchuck) and wine and showed resourcefulness in making tables and opening bottles. It was wonderful to learn so much about each person. There was Amber, Viviane and Wanda. I made coffee in the wee hours and tended the fire, and generally talked to way more people than I do in the normal matter of course.
The meals were a little more bedlam than normal. We were a large group, and when you have 10 knitters together (or really 10 of anybody) the conversation can get rowdy. We were loud. The food was excellent and the coffee was mostly fine (I brought my own in a pinch, but drank the decaf with grounds anyway, because it was convenient and not that different from a french press). Bonnie and I had a banana split night, when we decided that nothing would be better than to take scoops of ice cream and top with chocolate sauce, whipped cream, and nuts. And bananas of course.
The entertainment included a very poignant (tearjerkingly so) performance by Jonatha Brooke about dealing with her mom's descent into dementia. This was followed by a book talk the next night, which included Maya Donenfeld's new book, Reinvention (on my short list till paycheck day). Opening night was a rather calming introduction to all of the teachers, rather than a more involved affair as we had all traveled.
The art fair on Saturday was awesome as always, with blocks of lake ice lighting the path with candles inside. It still feels magical to see that. The vendors were awesome, and enough of them took cash only that I didn't overspend (I only brought a card and was being very careful). I came home with some additional treasures, and a short list for another book (waves at Ysolda).
Too soon it was over.
Outside of the entertainment and the classes, there were empty spots in the schedule. Like the legal books with notices "this page left intentionally blank," these spots were surprisingly happy interstices to the weekend. Some people used these to continue working on projects from the classes, but for me this was the push to do some of the things available on Squam Lake that I hadn't tried the previous year. I went swimming on Saturday, grateful that I had brought my swim suit and not caring if the water was warm or cold. Later that same afternoon, Amber, Viviane and I went hiking up Pasture Trail (which was marked as easy and to my out of shape body felt anything but) and found both a geocache and a luna moth along the trail.
It was great to do things that I don't normally do. The empty spots provided a feeling of calm and relaxation that are really not part of a class. I needed those spots, because life has been full of rough patches. It was a great idea which I came into Squam being highly skeptical of, but without those spots I would have forgone the walking and the swimming and probably just sat in the cabin stitching. I'm such a homebody for those kinds of things.
I cannot wait to go back!
