Lake Days and Horse Thieves

My husband and I are on a whirlwind trip to Minnesota.  We are out and about together, at home, and home feels amazing.  It makes me a little nervous to be here, because I just started feeling happy in Canada, and I'm worried about this upsetting the balance.  I wavered today, but a trip to the neighborhood bookstore helped.  Regardless, while I can't say that we are on vacation, because my husband has been working most of the time, I can say that I am on vacation and he has been stealing relaxing moments as often as possible.

Friday was a perfect Minnesota lake day.  Such a day includes the following: 80F with a slight breeze, more time on the boat than on land, no time in dry clothes, stops on land only to move people or to replenish food and cocktails, frequent submersion in the lake, sunbathing which does not result in ruinous sunburn, and lots of family and friends around, all doing the same thing and resulting in spontaneous mayhem and afternoon intoxication.

This weekend we have been in St. Paul visiting my husband's family.  We spent some time today with his grandpa who is old-school and very cool.  He is 92 and still lives independently in his home, with a fair amount of support from his attentive daughters.  He is sharp as a tack.  He gave us advice on two topics: family and luck.

As we discussed family roots and backgrounds, at one point he said, "Well, don't shake the family tree too hard, because you never know what's going to fall out."  Pause.  "Horse thieves," he chuckled, almost as an afterthought.  I secretly hoped that there was something so interesting and scandalous as horse thievery in my family.

We also talked about his career in the trucking business.  He drove truck for ten years before starting his own trucking business, at a time when there were far fewer rules and regulations, so he has some stories from that as well.  His advice on the topic of work is that the harder you work, the luckier you are.

My husband has to go back to work already tomorrow, and I know he hasn't had enough time with his family.  I'm fortunate enough to be able to head back to the lake for a few more days before driving back up north.  I plan to squeeze as much Minnesota as I can out of these coming days, before I have to go back to Canada and make some luck.