Summer Vacation!!!

Now that I am a "Grown-Up" (stop laughing!!!), I just don't get as excited about the words "Summer Vacation" as I used to. . . Even when Army Boy and College Girl were in school, I sometimes got excited about Summer Vacation, with it's trips to the pool, and baseball games, and the generally more flexible schedule. It was hard, especially when I had a job (part-time, tho, and also very flexible), because I just did not feel as "free" as they appeared to be. sigh!

This year, my first year working full-time ever, I really looked forward to this week of Vacation in the Summer! It started with the family 4th of July picnic at my in-laws' house. . .

Eventually, just about everyone was sitting in the shade. It just got too hot to move or be anywhere in the sun! But we all had a lot of fun!

Monday was technically a holiday, so my friend Flora had to wait until Tuesday before she could be sent along to her next destination, in Virginia Beach! I packed her up with a little tea bag, that she and her next hostess will hopefully enjoy while sitting quietly in an air-conditioned space!

I tried to talk her into staying for the trip to Amish Country that Sweetie and I went on yesterday, but she said we were just nuts if we wanted to go anywhere in all this heat! I think the heat indexes were 100 degrees F, or higher! But we have A/C in the car, so we dropped her at the post office, and headed for a simpler time. I took my purple, cabled socks to knit in the car, so I had the choice to look at this for the whole trip. . .

Or look at this. To tell you the truth, it was a hard choice. I know it was hot out there, but from the comfort of my air-conditioned automobile, the scenery gave me the feeling that I was more in touch with nature. . .with the simpler life of a people who seem left behind at first glance, but then again, maybe they have the right idea.

I mean, one stop inside an Amish bakery, or a cheese factory, or even a restaurant and you get the feeling that these folks know how to live. They work hard. They dress modestly, even in a heat wave, and yet they never look uncomfortable. They smile easily. They cook with and eat real butter, and cream, and meat, fresh vegetables and fruit, and eggs. The Amish know when to work, and when to rest, they cherish family time, and shun technology because it interrupts what they find most precious. . .and they don't blog.

I might have been able to make it in an Amish community before Ravelry, and Etsy, and my blog adventure. . .but these days, I am happy just to go there for the day and shop. Sweetie and I occasionally talk about an overnight trip, but I would have to insist on flush-toilets at the very least! A "roughin' it" kinda gal, I am not!

But I do know how to relax! And I am doing a LOT of relaxing this week, too! Here is where that sock ended just before we pulled into the drive after our Amish adventure:

Approximately 162 miles of knitting took that sock from just over half-baked to almost done! I finished the sock in the next hour, and I started on the second. Then I switched over to the Harumi Cardigan (no new pictures, sorry!), and I am well into the lace - Yay! For the next few days, there will be knitting, visiting with Army Boy, Wifey-Poo, College Girl and Best-Beau, perhaps a little reading and probably more shopping (it IS vacation, right?).

I hope that you are enjoying your summer, and resting a little more when and where you can.

Knit in Good Health!