The View From Mrs. Sundberg's Window
How Lovely it Was
July 8, 2008
Listened to the show Saturday and it was not bad. Listened from the car this time around, driving west into the sunset on the way home from a day at the family cabin. Yes, I know we should have spent the night, but with the kids heading off to camp on Sunday and loads of laundry to do and lists to check off, a night away would have put me a bit too close to the edge. And after a day like Saturday, why risk it?
The day began with the drive to the cabin, a good two hours. Unfortunately, the kids got hungry and ate up the tortilla chips and the oatmeal cookies and the bacon I'd pre-fried for the broccoli salad so we had to stop by a grocery store on the way which Mr. Sundberg didn't like much. Until he saw the lawn equipment on sale in front and then we had to figure out how to fit a small push mower in the van, which was no easy task. When we got to the cabin, north of Hayward, Wisconsin, my parents were down at the dock sunning themselves and reading magazines and my two brothers and their wives and five kids total were in the water splashing and hollering. Mr. Sundberg took the kids down to join them while I made lunch. We had burgers, brats and chicken breasts, along with pasta salad, broccoli salad, beans, potato salad, cole slaw and chocolate chip bars. It was a simple meal, really, since I picked up a few things at the deli on the way and poured them into bowls so they looked homemade.
After we ate, there were boat rides and waterskiing, sandcastles and kayak rides, s'mores by the campfire and swimming. There was one puncture wound to the foot and one hand pinched between the boat and the dock, one argument about whose turn it was to drive the boat, and one beach towel blown into the water. I talked with my sisters-in-law about mom stuff, and what kind of vacations we'd each like to take, and I talked with my brothers about fishing and plans for the rest of the summer and how fast the kids are growing and how we ought to plan a reunion for fall. My father didn't say much at all and after a while took the kids fishing, and my mother told me all about the colors she's considering for the house. I heard one of the cousins say, "What the hell?" and my brother took him up to the cabin for a chat. By 4:45 p.m., another cousin began to cry because he was tired, and someone, or something, had pooped in the lake. Everyone was sunburned. And it was time for us to go.
Theodore Roethke wrote, "I trust all joy." And so do I. Thing is, half the time you're in it, you don't know it's joy. Only when you look back do you see it. How sweet the pine on the breeze, how bright the children's eyes. How good the taste of burned marshmallow. How strong your mother's hands. How happy you were. How lovely it was.
Got myself a fishing license over at the gas station on the Fourth of July. And I'm going to USE it, along with this recipe. Something about coming home from a day on the lake to a plate of this stuff...can't explain it. You simply have to experience it. Kind of like parasailing.
Creamy Kielbasa and Kraut
1 ring smoked kielbasa
1 can cream of mushroom soup
1 can sauerkraut
Slice smoked kielbasa and fry up in a skillet.
Drain fat, and add a can of cream of mushroom soup.
Stir, and add a can of sauerkraut (drained).
Stir it up again and heat until bubbly.
Serve in a bowl, on toast, on a bun, whatever.
Enjoy!
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The View From Mrs. Sundberg's Window Archive
- Choosing whom you're taking with you, and going
- It will stop, I promise
- Come on in here and tell me
- A Postcard from Mrs. Sundberg
- Not Much of Summer Left to Go
- Trust me on this one
- A face lit up by lightning
- Hurtling Off Into the Clouds
- One Whole Day
- The Very People We Need Along the Way
- Back on the earth again
- Just make up your own words and no one knows the difference
- It Took a Moment
- A dark, cool corner somewhere
- Spa time, only cheaper
- Radiate and Flicker and Glow
- There isn't much that lasts forever
- You never do know
- Float above it
- Go with What You Get
- Kind of like falling in love
- Springtime will do that to a person
- It all evens out
- A lovely break as always
- Firm enough that they could count on her
- Where there's a give, there's a take
- And then the phone rang once more
- Extraordinary in itself
- They Were Only Having Fun
- It's all about perspective
- Things I Hope To Do
- Fodder for future conversations
- Be alive while you can
- Now what is there to do?
- They can take a flying leap
- Goose Bumps Just Thinking About It
- As Real as Fun Can Get
- It all happened so fast, and now it's over
- A Manageable Endeavor
- Cheers, and a merry one to you, and to yours
- Where's your list?
- Lives of Radical Uniqueness
- Why not switch gears?
- For whom are you grateful?
- Take a Few Risks Along the Way
- Winter's at the Door
- It's Not Long Off
- Not Great, But Better
- The List
- The Last Thing On My Mind is Panic
- March Toward Those Fears
- When You're Cooking for a Crowd
- Might Be a Friend
- Something to Look Forward to
- Good to Just Sit Sometimes, and Be
- Think I'll Find me a Tree to Climb
- The Countdown has Begun
- The Cake to Make
- Always Leave the Party When You're Having Fun
- Routine, Schmoutine
- Nothing Like a Good Garage Sale
- The Great Gift
- Facing West, Scrubbing Pans
- How Lovely it Was
- One Summer Day
- The Great Thing About Beer
- It's Summer. No Regrets.
- You have yourself a lovely day
- Put a Sock In It
- Look Out Your Window Now and Then
- Oh, My
- To Everything a Season
- Tenderness
- The Big List
- Home Is a Fleeting Thing
Complete The View From Mrs. Sundberg's Window Archive
