Off the Grid!

Off the Grid!

“A vacation is having nothing to do
and all day to do it in.”
~Robert Orben

I still love you and I’ll miss you, but I’m going just the same.  On Sunday, July 24th and for nine more glorious days I’m going to be away from my computer.  I’m not bringing my iPod, my phone, laptop or kindle (I don’t have a kindle, but if I did, I’d leave that home too).  I’m going off the grid!

Every summer we go to a very special place in Cape Breton.  It’s our summer place, you know, the place where life slows up and you connect with nature; birds, trees, water, winds and sit in front of endless campfires.  The place where you can hear yourself think and remember your dreams upon awakening because you don’t jump out of bed but lay there for a few moments appreciating a delicious night’s sleep and anticipating the long lazy day ahead.

We stay a cottage with other cottages nearby where my cousins and their families stay.  (In Cape Breton we call them “bungalows.”)  The lake and private beach is a forty-second walk down the hill.  Our bungalow has no electricity but we run an extension cord to plug in a light bulb at night.  There are no clocks and we don’t wear watches.  We get up when we want  eat when we’re hungry and do all our cooking over a fire.  It’s heavenly!

I wasn’t sure what I’d do about my vacation this year since I started blogging last November.  How could step away from Life, for instance for so long?  But then I thought about all the topics we discussed and all the wisdom that came from these amazing conversations and I knew I’d be a hypocrite to skip my summer vacation, or to try to take the Internet with me.  I’d have missed the whole point – our point – the point about living this life as if it is the only one you get.

Where are you going in the summer of 2011?  Do you have a special summer place?  What’s it like there?  Please continue to talk among yourselves while I’m gone (I’m still here – until Sunday).  I’ll be checking in here first thing when we arrive back on the 3rd of August!  So…your summer place…what’s it like?

photo credit: Lori – yep! This is my summer place!

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About The Author


I have always loved writing and community building. I’ve written a book about healing and happiness, The Happy Place, as well as a Community Building book, Sounding the Drum: Community Building in the Digital Age,both available at any Amazon store. I’ve been through life changes that I thought were the end of my world, but I’m still here. You never know what will happen next. Isn’t that what makes life interesting?