Sun Tea, Childhood

Daily Meditation 851–6/29/2024

Growing up “out in the sticks” where my nearest neighbors were my great grandparents, literally nearly a half mile away “up the lane,” as we said (they lived across the road).

Summers in the UP of Michigan are wonderful and beautiful, and as a kid, they were heaven — although admittedly, many of us Millennials and prior (pre-internet) adults have near perfectly fond memories of summers, I’m certain.

We had a lot of about 30 acres, more or less, in Felch, Michigan. Our ranch home sat atop a subtle hill overlooking a sprawling field and steep dropoff into a thick cedar and poplar forest. Both my parents (grandparents, in truth, as they lovingly adopted me very young) were teachers. This meant some summers — as could be afforded — meant traveling, driving around the US. Other summers, well…my family is descended from Swedes and Finns who logged back at minimum 6 generations. That’s a lot of logging. Many summers were spent deep in the woods, felling and peeling those poplar for pulp wood.

I earned a dime for every length I helped measure and peel with my father. In the moment, I hated the rough, dirty, sticky work, but in retrospect, one day when he is gone I know those moments will be cherished.

Summers in the UP, for me, meant walking to the river way back in the forest behind…