Musings

It is amazing what food can do.

I am sitting in Louisburgh Ireland, in a cottage by the sea, and with one sip of mint tea, I am transported to a dock on lake Manitowish.

Last summer, as I do most every summer, I spent some time at the family cabin in Manatowish Waters Wisconsin.  For me, it is as close as it comes to heaven on earth.  That could be for a number of reasons:  I have years of great memories of the place, it is in a picturesque location, and yet the one thing that really makes it stand out to me are the people whom I have spent time with there.

Oh yeah, last year, that’s right.  I was at the cabin with my immediate family, as well as many of my family who are not genealogically related to me.  One of the members of the “adopted family” had brought a box of peppermint tea, and a bar of dark chocolate that she was sharing with the rest of us as we sat around the fire playing cribbage and sharing stories.

To my surprise, I unintentionally picked out the same tea from a supermarket in Galway this weekend.  I have had a cup of this tea twice now and both times have brought me back to last summer.  I am now sipping on a third cup as I write this.

I like to have things that remind me of home, things that can bring me to a happy place when I am away.  I think I just found one of those things.

Looking back on what I have written so far on this post I realized something.

I am so so lucky. 

Ok i didn't just realize this, I just thought that I should throw it out there.

Part of my luck is due to the fact that I was born into a lot of privilege, but the part that I am most thankful for is that throughout my whole life I have been surrounded with wonderful people who love and support me.  There are too many of these people to name here, but chances are that if you are reading this than you are one of them, and I am so lucky to have you in my life.

I’m sorry if this post was a little bit scattered.

But what the heck lets stick with it.

I’ll leave you with a quote from Maya Angelou that I somewhat ironically remember well.

People will forget what you said

People will forget what you did

But people will never forget how you made them feel.

Stay excellent,

Willie