Thankful Thursday

 I am thankful that in 9 days, I will roll my windows down in the car as we cross The Falls and breathe in Bass Lake.  What does Bass Lake smell like you might ask?  Well, it is something like this.  Clean mountain air, mixed with the scent of pine trees, and fertile soil.  Lake water, which must be the scent of native plants that hug the lake's shore line.  The smell of  boats, gasoline, suntan lotions, and often times the far off smell of an approaching thunder storm on the horizon.  That smell, a smell I will never forget, and forever long for, will whoosh past my face, fill my senses, and all at the same time, fill my heart and spirit with what I will forever consider my happiest place on earth, next to home.  It is my favorite place to go.  My favorite place to be.  And I will be there with all of my favorite people.  My family.  In an instant, when that aroma sweeps through me, I remember 40 years of my summer vacations spent there with my family.  The ones who made this place so special for me.  I remember it all, like one of those little flip books we had as kids, where each has a slightly different page to it, and when you take your thumb to the pages of the book and flick it quickly so that the pages race along, revealing a motion picture of sorts, this is what I see.  Every ski ride, every cabin we ever stayed in, or tent, or trailer.  Every frog race, and dance, and dive contest off the end of the dock.  Every sailboat race, every outdoor shower in the rugged Lee's cabins.  Every breakfast on the dock, and sipping that first cup of hot coffee with my Dad as we read the local paper, and munched on hot apple fritters.  Every nap in the swing, and every race to be the first boat ride of the day.  Every dish we washed on our knees in the rustic Bar Cabin, and every meal that our parents prepared for their hungry crew.  Every bear hunt, and campfire, and rendition of Hey Loddie, Loddie, Loddie. Every trout our Dad's brought back to camp, and every sunburn our Mom's dabbed aloe vera on for us at night.  Every scary story told after dark, and every star studded sky.  Every raccoon that visited, and even a couple of bears.  Every skinny dip, every water ballet, every midnight cruise we heard our parents take.  Every slide down The Falls.  Every rain storm, and visit to the mountain theater where we sat on logs to watch a movie.  Every roasted marshmallow, and berry cobbler.  Every person that ever came with us to help make these memories.  Through each of these fleeting memories, the most precious of all, are those spent with my Mom and Dad and brothers, as we made memories to last a lifetime.  The memories that fill my heart with joy.