Pelee Island summer series: Pelee No. 1

Because of God's incredible goodness and kindness Carol and I find ourselves today waking up this morning on a tiny perfect island in the extreme south of Canada. In mid-afternoon we are outside the older house that is fixed up just enough so that we feel at home here. There's a lake breeze to keep us from getting uncomfortably hot - in fact, I've made tea to drink outside here instead of something cold like lemonade because tea seems to fit the occasion rather perfectly today. The sights and sounds around me encourage my mind to float around like the white moths chasing each other around the tall grasses dominated by Queen Anne's Lace. There is a constant insect symphony playing at a level that says all is well. A mourning dove sings her baleful tune somewhere in the nearer distance behind me.

The Alles Gute bakery and deli next door has just closed for the day (so it must be after 4:00). During the afternoon the owner has often stepped outside in her apron to sit at the picnic table and talk with vacationing customers. She has encouraged more than one to come early when there is more "good stuff". Her tidy shop and relaxed ways have something to teach me... I consider setting up a sausage store next door, but with these industrious thoughts I digress.

Without warning a tall white sail fills the gap next to the house most responsible for blocking my lake view. With my so-limited view of Lake Erie, I am forced to write only the tangible and visible. With more view of the great-blue my thoughts might wander off into the world that is not, or to the known world elsewhere - to my life as it has been or as it might become. A swallow races low over the lawn dodging obstacles only swallows can see. Perhaps there is more than meets the eye even within the realm of the few acres before my eyes.

A beautiful woman reads a book nearby. As the shade we were sharing becomes sun and the breeze softens and warms, Carol closes her book and asks me how I would like the bass cooked for supper. And if this is before my eyes and not a dream somewhere out across the blue, then this alone is more than enough to be forever grateful.

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