A Rest from My Labor

Ahhh ... Labor Day.

The day we rest from all our labor.

The day most people pack away their summer whites.

The day most pools close for the winter.

Here in the deep South, Labor Day Weekend always signals the end of summer. Though the days may stay warmer for another month or so, our nights begin to have just a hint of fall to them.

Wanting to drink in the last of summer before it slipped away, I decided to travel to my family's lake house for the weekend—the weather was predicted to be absolutely stunning, and it didn't disappoint.




The days were perfectly mild, without a drop of humidity in the air (if you live anywhere near the south, you know that days with no humidity are blissful and few and far between), and a hint of crispness rode the night air.

When I arrived mid-afternoon on Saturday, I was the first one there. Since I rarely have the lake house all to myself, I took full advantage of it. I rummaged through an antique trunk in the dining room until I found a threadbare, decades-worn quilt. Grabbing a pillow and a Patricia Cornwell novel on my way out the screen door, I spread the quilt beneath the Japanese Maple down by the water's edge.


Though I had every intention of reading, the gentle breeze blowing through the trees—and the dappled sunlight peeking through its limbs—soon lulled me to sleep. I awoke to the same gentle breeze not 30 minutes later, and I couldn't help but think, This is certainly not a bad way to spend the day.

Looking around, the rest of the family was still no where in sight, so I ran back to the house to change into my swimsuit and grab a float from the garage. I was still floating in the cove when my sister and her little boy arrived. I'd started out free-floating, but the breeze soon blew me 6 houses down stream. I eventually tired of paddling my way back to our house, so I rigged a ski rope to the back of one of our docked boats so I wouldn't float too far away.

With Christi & Tanner (my sis and nephew) now at the lake, Tanner and I decided a hike was in order.


We started out along the old golf course cart path down by the lake, then moved our hike up on the mountain. We stopped at hidden ponds to watch geese play ...


took pictures of glowing cattails backlit by the setting sun ...


and discovered a hidden tunnel deep within the dense foliage just perfect for exploring.


Dinner was homemade pizza and Caesar salad on the clubhouse veranda at the Highlands Grill, overlooking the 18th green and the foothills of the Blue Ridge Mountains.



The rest of the weekend was spent lazing around, taking naps on the screened-in porch, swimming in the cove, paddle boating with friends, and fishing for bass from the dock.

When Labor Day finally rolled around, our lake house neighbors found us out on the main lake. We all decided to cut our engines, tether our boats, and drink in the last of summer's fun together. Grabbing life jackets, floats, and noodles, we all took to the water—floating the hours away talking horseback riding, college football, the upcoming Georgia/South Carolina showdown, and the promise of a southern Autumn waiting just around the corner ...