Beautiful week in the wilds of New Hampshire with my family. No Internet. Awesome! Hours spent down on the dock, reading, swimming, sunning (well, with SPF 90 not many rays got through, which was the point), and hanging out with my nearest and dearest. Lucy had a breakthrough in terms of her water toleration, and, after a huge meltdown early in the week (she didn’t want to wear her life preserver vest) on the last day there actually jumped into Jean’s arms in the water. Big moment!
William is a small ball of love, crinkling up with huge dolphin smiles every time you look at him. He appeared to really enjoy my singing of “Feed the Birds” (ie: he fell asleep), so any time he appeared to be resisting sleep, Jean would say, “Maybe a little Tuppence a Bag, Sheil?” I am also convinced that he grew, visibly, during our week there. He looked noticeably bigger. Ben said the same thing!
Cashel is a true water baby and watching him leaping off the floating raft (as Brendan or Siobhan shouted out commands – things he had to act out while mid-air) was so relaxing and enjoyable. He seemed to have a great time. He read three or four books while we were there. He’s such a good kid, such a nice person. I loved seeing him interacting with Lucy and William, his cousins – all my memories of my dear cousins and summery moments spent on that very same lake, having a BLAST with my multitudinous cousins.
Unfortunately, it was the week of the All-Star Game so we only had a couple of Sox games to watch, but we made up for it with a group viewing of So You Think You Can Dance which was a lot of fun. Siobhan and Ben spent some time putting together their adorable wedding invitations, and Pat had brought up fresh steamers, which was a great treat. We had a joint birthday party for Siobhan and Bren. I took 500 pictures.
I slept like a rock. It took me 24 hours to settle into the fact that I had nothing to do. For the past 2 months, it’s been go-go-go for me, with no leisure time to speak of, all free moments spent in working on my script. The first day there was like when you stop roller skating after an hour, and your legs still vibrate for a bit. I kept wanting to WORK, and then realized: well, for now, there’s nothing more I can do. I had earned some leisure time.
I read two books: Tana French’s Faithful Place
We all went to see Guys and Dolls at the New London Barn Playhouse (a summer stock theatre we have been frequenting for decades) – and I’ll write more about that later. Mum stayed home with the babies and we wished she had been there with us. It was an insanely fun night, and a GREAT show.
I miss the house, its rambling porch with tilting deck chairs, and I miss seeing my family every day. It was wonderful.
I used to go to Lake Ossipee once or twice a year with a childhood friend who had a house up there– good times.
Re Tana French- I just finished “The Likeness” a while back, and really enjoyed it. I’d found “In the Woods” at Housing Works, and felt like I’d made this special discovery (until I realized she was already quite popular– this is the danger of buying most books second-hand.)
Sounds like I should wait until people sell this next one back before I cough up the dough?
Roo – I was bummed because I LOVED the first two. She moved into Irish-family waters with this one (not really present in the first two) and I felt she was out of her depth and resorted to cliches – that didn’t work, and didn’t explain things. Where Tana French is really really strong is her description of police work – with that Irish twist on it – and what it feels like to be undercover or working homicide – as well as her keen observations about Celtic Tiger Ireland. She is not a domestic chronicler. Also: I knew “who did it” instantly – it basically screamed off the pages: “He is the one who killed her!!!” so there was no suspense. Disappointed! However, it’s getting great reviews. Shrug. There is still some awesome writing – she’s very very good – but the whole Irish family thing is near and dear to me and if you’re not John McGahern then you had best leave that to the professionals.
Yeah, that’s strange, considering one of the aspects that was so strong in her first two books was writing about characters who didn’t really have families– how that changed them, changed the sort of friendships they made.
I loved the first two books enough that I’m probably going to have to read this next one– but I’ll definitely wait and get it second-hand.
After you read it, I’d love to chat about it. Basically I didn’t “buy” the family – it was lifted out of every Irish cliche known to man – AND the family wasn’t nearly as monstrous as it should have been. The lead character cuts all ties with them completely for 15 years because Da is a drunk and Mam is a nosy nag? Irish families don’t work like that. Anne Enright’s THE GATHERING shows a truly horrifying family – monstrous – totally – and even then the ties that bind are hard to break. That’s the Irish thing. It’s cultural. Tana French makes it seem like it’s easy-peasy to walk away from your family – and, not only that: because they honestly don’t seem much worse than any other family (Yes, he’s a drunk, and yes, the mother is a judgey nag – but so?) it made the narrator seem like a whiny guy with bad judgment (not what French was going for, I imagine). Really missed the mark with the Irish family dynamic. Also: the crime itself wasn’t all that compelling – but it could have been. Ah well, you can’t win ’em all. Would love to hear your thoughts!
And I agree: the sort of rudderless heroes/heroines of her first two were fascinating because you could see their obsessive natures: their “families” were the precinct and the squad. It made a lot of sense – especially in her first one.
Sounds marvelous. I love the pictures!
Welcome back….unplugged with nothing to do-what a dream. I think soon people will pay a lot of money to go away for a week to a place that will make you surrender all electronic gadgets upon arrival. You know people after a day or two would be jonesing for a little iPad or blackberry right? It could be quite funny.
So glad you got a chance to get away for a much-deserved break. The photos are wonderful!
That looks like a perfect vacation.
We just spent a week with the cousins as well in a less scenic spot.
Any chance you titled this post On the Lake subliminally after In the Woods? Hmmm
Dg – No.