Home Again

4 bags dirty laundry to wash and dry outdoors in the morning sun.

6 dirty SIGGS ready for the dishwasher.

1 bushel of peaches ready for canning, freezing and eating.

12 sandy water shoes needing a rinsing in leftover canning water.

2 tired dogs home from the kennel, ready for baths using new bar of all natural and local pet soap.

4 tired boys, exhausted from tree swings, tree houses, sand dune hiking, boogie board riding, kayak paddling, prank-pulling, sand castle building, late night bonfires, Michael Phelps watching, gold medal dreaming and ice cream eating.

1 mom, with time to spend with her boys, enjoying the fresh air, sail boats and sunshine? Priceless.

Happy to be home? Definitely!!

Scenes from a Vacation

Six suitcases, neatly lined in a row.

Six SIGGs filled with organic lemonade for the 4 hour car ride.

One jar of organic, locally roasted and produced toffee peanut butter.

One box of HFCS-free, organic crackers.

Fresh, handpicked blueberries.

Homemade cookies.

Football, poker chips, boogie boards, sand buckets, umbrella, golf clubs, five iPods, an entire bag of library books, countless DVDs, books, one holey and yet well loved "blankie", three pillows for sleepy pre-teens and a bottle of motrin for the parents.

Two home canned jars of blueberry cherry nutmeg preserves - a gift for grandma.

Tires on mini-van inflated to proper PSI, air-filter cleaned, oil changed - all crucial for excellent gas mileage according to the eco 'burban dad.

We're outta here! Off to Grandma's summer house on Lake Michigan. Sand. Waves. A 130 bluff (scary!). Seeing the stars free of the city lights. A tree house. Bald eagles nesting in the trees. Deer. Maybe some bears. Definitely some raccoons, owls, possums hanging upside down from trees, Petosky stones, skipping rocks and chopping wood.

Vacation. See ya. And yes, the picture is real.

No worries, be happy

When we decided to take a vacation, I thought it was the perfect time to leave the computer behind and completely disconnect. Eek?!? No laptop? No internet access? I can handle it! I also decided to take a mental break from "green".

No, I didn't act like a pig a leave every light in the hotel on and smother myself in Cheez Whiz! Come on, don't you know me by now? I thought it would be wise to take a break from freaking out if there wasn't a recycling bin nearby and keeping myself from panicking reading the restaurant menus chock full of CAFO meats. Some times all the agonizing and debating and worry about foods, landfills, energy and global warming can hang a little heavy over my head and those of my boys. Vacations, by definition, are a way to recharge your batteries, spend time with the ones you love and take a break from your worries.

Yes, we turned off the tap when brushing our teeth, reused our towels, turned off the lights, kept the same sheets for the entire stay, drank out of reusable bottles whenever possible and walked to dinner and the driving range. We even brought home a few magazines and papers for the recycling bin, but for the most part I had to let go. While it was hard, I relaxed and enjoyed watching my boys spend the entire day outdoors playing golf, tennis, basketball and swimming. They hiked trails and admired the forest view from our balcony and the night sky with stars so bright without a backdrop of city lights.

That is an important part of being green in my eyes. Teaching your children to appreciate the great outdoors, the sunshine, the rain, the forest and all the bugs and critters hanging out in there. This way, when we are home and they ask why we turn the heat down, why the air conditioning is off, why we don't eat fast food or fruit roll ups I can ask them to remember our trip. Don't they want to enjoy these things for years to come? Will they one day want to take their boys to the woods, the golf course, the hiking trails? Take care of mother nature, be kind to our planet and it will be there for you when you when it's your turn to teach your children how to hit a golf ball, dive from a diving board or perfect a lay-up on the basketball court. I took a brief intermission from the worry, and I was happy. Tomorrow is another day!

It's a Hole in One!

Vacation time! It's becoming a summer tradition, our golf mini-vacation up north. Actually, I must confess, golf is the one remaining sport in which I can soundly beat my boys on a regular basis. Oh, but wait! Before you think I am a mean, competitive mom, read on. ( And for those of you wondering, no, I am not the kind of mom that always let her kids win at Candyland. Sometimes you win, sometimes you lose - 'dems the breaks boys, learn to live with it!)

If you are the mother boys you see yourself changing throughout the years. You start out as a real hero, pitching the baseballs, teaching free-throw shots, kicking soccer balls and playing goalie in the hockey nets. Then they get bigger and want to play against you. Sometimes they win, sometimes you win. The comes the day when they are bigger, faster and stronger and all you can do is keep score and cheer from the sidelines.

And, this is where golf comes in. See, you need a little finesse, patience and focus - not typically skills of young pre-teen boys. I always liked golf for the calm, quiet chance to be outdoors, play a leisurely game and maybe snag a cold drink from the drink cart as it rolls by. The older my boys got, I realized it would be a sport we could all play together well into old age. So, regardless of how busy we are, every now and then we play golf. And, I beat them. For a moment, it's like when they were little, amazed I could cut with scissors, drive a car, make play-doh animals and read the really, really big words. For just a second they see me as someone they aspire to become - or at least someone they want to beat. Secretly, I love it. It reminds me that before kids and husbands and careers, I was an athlete.

As part of this green journey, I think it's important to remember who we are, who we were before that and what made us happy and unique. While golf, with it's grass, chemicals and excessive watering, may not be the greenest choice for a vacation, it gets us together as a family and enjoying the outdoors. Is it perfect? No. But is it good enough? I suppose. We didn't travel by plane, we didn't even drive terribly far. We are supporting a local family and business and spending quality time together doing something we all enjoy. Don't worry, we brought along our SIGGs, our organic cookies and pretzels. No matter how far we get from home, we always seem to take a little along with us.

So, while you read this, I am golfing. Probably sweating, I have a cold drink in the cup holder of my golf cart and my kids are trying to figure out how their mother, now lighter and smaller than they are, can whack the heck out of a golf ball on a course played by professionals. Hole in one!