I took a little time off over the weekend to go up to the Brainerd Lakes area to stay at our family’s lake cabin up on Gull Lake. I don’t go up very often of late, in fact, I didn’t go up at all last year.
When you are a bit of an introvert, sometimes being up at the cabin on busy weekends in the summer is a bit overwhelming. It has nothing to do with my extended family. They are all awesome people. It’s just mostly me and loving to be home rather than away.
Home is my favorite. Away, less so.
I’d like to think I want more adventures, but if I’m being honest, my everyday life is often enough of an adventure. Being alive is a daily trip if you stop to consider that air in your lungs is a straight up miracle.
I’m not sure if it’s true that the older you become, the more yourself you are. If that were true for me, by now I would have turned into an exceptionally controlling, angry woman who tolerated nothing that got in the way of her idea of the perfect day. Therapy helped re-route that road. It helped me to embrace that anything and everything can happen and I need to roll with the punches or face a constant discontent over the fact that life doesn’t fit in neatly with any plan, however well laid it may be.
Not that anything is going awry today. But I see more than ever that my life is an adventure, even in the daily grind of doing the same things. It’s not a grind. It’s a gift.
More and more I enjoy the quiet. If home is the quiet and away is the adventure, I’m okay with the lack of obvious adventure.
I have all I need right here.
But, the views that are away aren’t half bad.
heidig says
I feel ya.
Juliann says
The older I get the more I love being home too.
Nancy Y says
I enjoy being at home too, but your mention of Brainerd makes me long for another visit to Crosby and my aunt & uncle’s summer home on Serpent Lake. Can’t beat that view you’ve got going there… my cousins keep posting similar ones now that summer is here. Do not miss the mosquitoes though…
Cathy Zielske says
Yeah, the mosquitoes at night can be brutal! Especially if you’re out on the boat after sunset. YEOW!
Sunny says
I totally get it! As an introvert, my daily life can overwhelm me with requests from so many people (family, friends, colleagues)..so when a friend couldn’t go with me on a recent cruise, I jumped at the chance to go alone. Few people understood why I was going alone, so I would tell them, “It’s my chance to travel, relax in my own room, and have no one need me. No one will be shouting out my name from a nearby office; family won’t be there to need me; I will be able to wake up and stare into space until I decide to leave the cabin – or not!” And the trip was blissful. I would wander the towns where the ship docked, get some coffee, check out some shops, walk some more, then return to the ship for lunch and then a nap or a movie… Because of this trip, a friend of mine in a demanding job is now planning her own solo cruise. My vacation days are usually spent flying around the country to see family or help out family. There’s always an agenda and a long to-do list which made the solo cruise amazing for me this year.
Also, I dislike mosquitoes. I won’t even sit on my own deck at home if the mosquitoes are out. Comfort as I get older seems to be key. And being able to say no to invitations without an excuse. 🙂
Cathy Zielske says
Oh yes, traveling alone sounds pretty relaxing! No schedules to follow but your own!
Judi Church says
Oh, Cathy, it’s like you pulled your words out of my brain. Add to the mix chronic pain and movement issues and that exceptionally controlling angry woman is looking back at me in the mirror. That being said, looks like you had a great weekend. ❤️
Cathy Zielske says
It was a good few days away 🙂
Sheri Kempke says
I totally get it–home is my favorite place to be! Thanks for sharing photo’s of my “homeland”, I spent hours on Minnesota lakes as a child and teen, and have to say I miss all the lake time but don’t miss mosquitoes or all the snow! Loved your weekend, thanks for sharing it.
Cathy Zielske says
Yeah, those bugs are not fun. I don’t mind the snow… just shoveling it! 🙂
Janice says
I’m so glad I read this post. I have always felt a little out of the “ordinary” by enjoying my own company. My sweet husband is a people lover and considers the more the merrier. I love people too, but I cherish my time alone…which I don’t seem to have as much of now that he has retired. Don’t get me wrong, I love him with all my heart, but sometimes I need a ME break!
Cathy Zielske says
Oh, I understand that! Completely.
Vivian says
Honestly, the older I get the more content I am to be at home. But that view!!!!! That is worth venturing away for. I would just drink it in, then come back home.
Cathy Zielske says
I think that might be more common, you know? Being content at home. Sometimes it seems as though the world acts like everyone wants to be going places. But I’m mostly okay here. 🙂
Heather says
My family used to vacation every year on the White Fish Chain in Pequot Lakes; we would always stop in Brainerd on our way up for grocery shopping. I loved that week on the lake! My extended family still makes the 12 hour trip every year, but sadly as life has happened I had to give up those trips 🙁 I love Minnesota…the hardest fish I have ever caught was a 4.5 lb northern up there! Thanks for the memories 🙂
Cathy Zielske says
Yeah, my hubby has been going up there his entire life. It’s a very special place in his family.
Sue P says
Beautiful and I agree the older I get the more of a homebody I become. YES I love creature comforts and my space.
Cathy Zielske says
Me, too!
Deb Kolb says
As I read this I am sitting here looking out over our lake close to Hayward WI. I do so love it here, the quiet of nature and peace of it all. But the adventure of 4 grandchildren loving it is also wonderful!
Cathy Zielske says
Best of both worlds!
Leora says
Thanks for sharing, Cathy! I think I have come to enjoy the “adventures”of home more and more as I get older.
Cathy Zielske says
Yep. 🙂
Claire says
Funny isn’t it , we long to escape , then the minute we get away we can’t wait to get home ! I used to dread returning home from a holiday thinking that I’d be back on the treadmill as soon as I stepped back over the threshold but these days I relish the return to a comfy bed , a shower you can move in and all my ‘stuff ‘ around me ….oh and the cats who actually looked pleased to see me . I read somewhere once that you can get more enjoyment from looking online at holidays you might take than actually going . I think there’s an element of truth in that … I’ve spent hours on travel company sites enjoying my armchair holidays and it hasn’t cost me a penny !
Cathy Zielske says
Online holidays sound more affordable, too! lol!
Janel says
I think that the older one gets, the more one realizes that no matter “where one is”, you are always “home” in your body…so it is important to nourish, cherish and appreciate and accept our soul.
Cathy Zielske says
Truth.
Mary Ann says
Cathy, I have long been a fan of your openness, words and images but your line about air in your lungs being a straight up miracle deeply resonated with me and brought tears. As a lung cancer survivor still struggling with shortness of breath due to radiation, I can attest to the preciousness of our everyday breath which until recently I took for granted. May we all appreciate the ordinary.
Cathy Zielske says
Wow, MaryAnn… I’m SO thankful that you are a survivor! The ordinary is the deepest of blessings in our lives.
Gina says
Thanks for sharing this. I completely agree. It’s taken me 50 years to realize that it’s okay that I enjoy doing things on my own and like being in my own home. I like to travel but it does cause stress. I like spending time with my family in my own house. I grew up with a very loving mother who was a go go go, never miss anything person. She still doesn’t understand why I would rather stay home. Honestly it’s been hard to have that pressure my whole life but now that I know what I like at least I can voice my own opinions.
Rosemary McIlwaine says
When I was young my mother used to say ‘there is nowhere like your own bed’, I thought she was weird. Now at 65 I understand what she meant and love nothing better than my own company in my own home, sometimes other people are just too much.
Cindyellen Robinson says
what’s interesting is that people who meet me think that i’m an extrovert. no, i’ve just had very good training in what’s polite – and it takes a lot of energy. then, i go home and hole up and don’t talk to anyone. i actually enjoy making videos because no one talks back lol. i also like to travel when it’s short, in a car, and i know that i can be home soon. there’s only so much “excitement” i can take these days.
Cathy Zielske says
Cindyellen, YES! I can relate to this so very much.