Happy Labor Day. Here in the United States we celebrate the men and women who work for a living by taking a day off. It's the unofficial last hurrah of summer. The lake closes until Memorial Day and if you want a weekend at the shore, this is the best time of year to do it because rates are cheaper and there are way fewer people. I keep reminding myself that there are still 3 weeks left of summer (how can that be?!) and I plan to squeeze as much outdoor time in as possible.

In that spirit, we took a picnic lunch to Batsto today. Peter Kevin and I have been going there since we were in high school. We introduced the girls to it early and it is a favorite family place. We drove past the lake (Atsion Lake) where you can see that it is crowded. They closed it at one point to wait until more lifeguards came on duty. But we weren't on our way to the lake. We were on our way to Quaker Bridge Road. We crossed Rte. 206 and drove into the woods. The first thing you see, after the Ranger station (I send the Rangers a Christmas card each year. We really appreciate them), is this church. It is so pretty and peaceful there in the woods. There the road plunges into the forest and it is quiet. Unearthly quiet. At one point, Pk and the girls all got out to take some photos of a huge area of cedar trees (the smell is fabulous) and as I shut off the car engine, the silence was deafening. Almost literally. There were no sounds, not birds or insects or traffic. I could hear a faint ringing in my ears and the quiet had weight. It was more than a little disconcerting. I realized how few times we are really surrounded by silence. At home, the appliances are humming in the background or I can hear cars on the highway which is less than a mile away. What I think of as quiet? Isn't. I was almost relieved to have them get back to the car and talk.

We drove a little ways and saw some lily pads and flowers growing in a small branch of the Mullica River. I've seen large, dinner plate sized lily pads at Longwood Gardens but these were small "wild" ones. The flowers were white with bits of yellow inside. They were a nice surprise. And look, my sock in progress with some evidence that Fall is almost upon us. (Hiss, boo! )The sock is one that I am working on as a Christmas gift so we shall say no more about it. It is a Muscari lace sock from Knitty.com and it's an easy pattern. The yarn is called Zen Peonies and is the Aug selection from artwalk sock yarn club. And Teresa found some yarn that she thinks will coordinate with my bamboo yarn and is sending it out tomorrow. Yay! I can go back to working on the Wildflowers shawl.

We looked for a "road goes ever ever on" shot as Kate and I call it and I think I found one.

It reminds me of a bit of poetry from Tolkien.

Still round the corner

there may wait

A new road or some secret gate.

And though I oft have passed them by

The day will come at last when I

Will take the hidden paths that run

West of the moon

East of the sun.

Have a good week everyone!