The Outdoors and Us

The outdoors shape both of our lives, in similar yet different ways.

Cheers to the good old outdoors.

I've grown up in a family invested in the outdoors: camping trips, national parks, snowboarding trips to Montana, backpacking excursions, canoing in the BWCA, and endless time at the Potter cabin. Located about an hour and fifteen minutes away, our second home is the epitome of a true rustic Minnesotan cabin. Heated in the cold months and busy with iced tea and bathing suits in the summers, it's charm will never be lost.

 What I love best:

After dinner boat rides equipped with blankets.

The smell of the espresso machine in the mornings and the warm smell of hashbrowns, susages, and eggs.

When you wear nothing but your swimsuit all day.

Eating meals on the dock.

Weekends with friends.

Early saturday mornings at the flea market.

Strawberry picking and jam making.

Old quilts and cozy reading chairs.

The sauna.

The upstairs loft, where my whole family sleeps.

We would sometimes drive up Sunday afternoon and drive home Monday morning for school. Quite often, my dad drives back into town for work and then drives back out after work. 

We love it; I love it.

Keela

p.s it's name is Loon Song.

Have I ever talked about wood hauling on "The Blog"?
Probably, but is my ultimate connection to the outdoors and rustic living.


My grandma (maternal) lives on a non-active farm in northern Minnesota, and she has a wood burning stove. What do you need for a wood burning stove?
Wood!


Every year my mom's whole side of the family gets together and has "wood hauling."
We head out down the lane and into the woods to reap the woody offerings of the forest. 
The nippier and fallier the better. 
Your cheeks should turn pink.

1995

Afterwards we eat beef stew and chicken noodle soup.
This is the first year I won't be in attendance.
I think ever.


Lily


p.s. My grandma's property is called Pine Knoll