When I spent those four or five days in the middle of the winter weeks at the cottage I felt calm, centered, and in the moment. Internet access was weak and unreliable, I ate sparingly and intentionally, I never had a glass of wine, I walked every day, I did jigsaw puzzles, I read, prayed, and watched the sunrise even when it was too cloudy to see, I talked to no one, and I never watched TV or listened to the news or read a newspaper.
Now that I am home, some of those routines have remained—the walking, reading, praying, jigsaw puzzle, no wine, the eating. I talk more, but I lead a quite life. I am on the internet more, although recently I have chosen to check Face Book only twice a day.
However, even with so much cottage behavior that has become part of my routine, lately I have felt the return of the cottage presence in my life. What is the common denominator? It has to be no TV no news, which gave me peace and time to stay centered at the cottage, and now gives me peace and time to stay centered at home.
P.S. I wrote this post a few days ago. Alas, I wish it could stand as is, but after the DeVos vote and the sanction of my senator, Elizabeth Warren, I cannot return to the cottage. As a Christian, I cannot erase Dietrich Bonhoeffer and The Confession Church in Nazi Germany from my mind and heart.