summer weekend, autumn monday

 I spent Saturday with my aunt, enjoying the beautiful summer day in Lake Geneva, Wisconsin. If you're not familiar with this town, it's 75 miles northwest of Chicago and has been a resort town since the late 1860's when wealthy, famous Chicago families such as Wrigley, Schwinn, Maytag and Sears began building summer estates around the lake.

Little did we know it was Venetian Weekend and the place was mobbed. We drove around for an hour, trying to find a parking spot. We finally got lucky with someone leaving in a school parking lot about 1/2 mile away from the main part of town.

 We walked around to pretty shops...

 fell in love with a pretty bench...

 had lunch at Sprechers, and posed with a hotdog.

 Side note: I'm sporting a new, short haircut. My regular hairdresser is out of commission for awhile with a broken arm and I went to someone new. I did not want my hair this short and at first was quite upset, but I reminded myself that I have two friends battling cancer right now and they don't have any hair, so I need to quit bitching about something that's truly insignificant. I have to admit - it is a lot easier to take care of. And it will grow out.

A simple pleasure that was pure enjoyment and made me smile...we found a quiet park away from the hustle and bustle of the town. There was a shallow, winding creek in the park with the clearest water and a stone bottom. I just had to take off my shoes and go for a walk. I hadn't done that since I was a teenager living in Kentucky. It's very calming and meditative and I felt like a kid again. I highly recommend it if you have a clean creek or stream nearby.

 So now Monday rolls around and we had a high of 69 degrees and strong winds. It truly felt like a September day. I actually made a pot of red lentil soup for lunch. (*Later update: I thought I'd better include the link for the soup recipe. It is so delicious, healthy and easy to make, that I'm making it again tonight! Hubby even requested it again. It's from the web site, The Kitchn - one of my favorite recipe web sites. Anyway, click HERE  for the recipe.) That might not sound surprising to you, but you see, I normally only eat soup in the fall and winter. (Likewise, I can only eat ice cream in the summer.) And then I actually turned on the oven...

and made banana bread! It's a healthy version - no white sugar, no oil, no dairy, and made with whole wheat flour. You can find the recipe here.

 

The good news: it's going to warm up again by this weekend. :-) After all, it is still August and summer is still on for almost another month. I'm in no hurry at all to rush in autumn.