The other day the fax machine quit working.  So I found the manual, and stood on the desk to reach the shelf and started paging through, skimming the directions and pushing buttons.   I was talking to a friend of mine about fixing those electronic things.  Really–I didn’t fix anything.  It occurred to us that in the end, most things just need to be turned off, and rest for a minute, and then they magically reset.   And so it was with the fax machine

Last week was a little hot here at Tuscarora.  Once it gets into the upper 80’s…it’s hard to keep the zest for working.   So about every two hours, it was time to hit the reset—we call them “safety swims” but really–they’re a fabulous fix for morale and productivity….and just to remind us that life is fun.  It’s amazing how a lake can do that for people.  And you can bet, every two hours, we’re grateful for the cool waters of Round Lake.

I’m convinced that the reset button improves creativity too.   One afternoon after work, the staff took up dock bowling.   Jenny (Jen-ay)  was the pin and ball retriever….the water is mighty comfortable, a person can float  for a long time..

Lucky for us in Minnesota, we’re not experiencing the drought so familiar to some of our southern guests.  Cross River is up–and last Saturday my nephew Tom and I hit the reset—and we tubed down the river from the bridge on the Gunflint trail to the bridge entering Gunflint Lake.  It’s rare for me to get such an uninterrupted 2 hours with this kid these days..well, he WAS a kid about 10 minutes ago, ….The adventure was mostly a gentle float, but there were a few rapids thrown in just to keep us awake….yikes!

Tommy is on reset from medical school this month….but our lazy river sleepy discussions seemed to wander between woods and life and relationships and his classes.  He has sort of an interesting perspective on the ways that the earth systems all mirror internal life systems.  As in….the narrow rapids were fast moving arteries, and the lazy parts were the capillaries of the Cross River.   The entire universe is a  human anatomy metaphor or would that be the other way around? 

All I know is, on a day when the water is the same comfortable temperature as the air, it is a great thing to just lay my head back on the tube and close my eyes half way, and hit the reset button.