My family has a cottage. It is attached to our house. It is 10-by-40 feet approximately and we open it every spring and close it every fall.
We love it for many reasons including the short commute, the simplicity of it and the fact that it is screened in – so we feel like we are outside when we are in it. 
We spend all of our time in the cottage when it is open. We feel very lucky.
As much as I love our cottage, I actually like to think of the entire county as our cottage. There are so many beautiful places to explore all around us. 
During the last full moon a couple of friends called and invited us out for a full moon evening paddle and so off we went. 
We arrived at the lake, launched our canoe and it was a special experience as soon as we started. It was a warm, quiet evening and the full moon was spectacular. 
We paddled out to meet our friends who had arrived a few hours earlier to have a picnic dinner on one of the campsites on the lake. We found them sitting by a small campfire. They had a picnic blanket spread out with lots of yummy treats to share. We joined them by the fire and watched as the stars slowly emerged. 
We caught up on stories from our summer adventures, my daughter sat and fished, we ate chocolate and sipped a little wine. We also sat in silence and just enjoyed being there. One of my friends stretched out on the bottom of his canoe and floated on the lake watching the evening sky.
We were all in awe of the beauty that was around us.  
It was quiet and peaceful and we had travelled 15 minutes from our home.  
The evening was one of our favourites this summer.  It is such a good reminder that we don’t have to go far to have fun.  
It is also a reminder to get up off the couch, or away from the computer in the evening and get outside. The evening time is so magical. I think sometimes we forget about the evening time outside – especially as the days get shorter and we get busy with fall routines.
It takes a little bit of effort to get up off the couch or away from the TV, but it is so worth it. The yogis believe that spending time in the moonlight is very restorative and nourishing.
Really, any time spent in nature is nourishing and restorative.  
I think it is the simplicity, the quiet, the fresh air, the sounds of the wind and the birds and the lack of electricity and technology. 
The entire adventure took us three hours and we all came home feeling relaxed and grateful and all slept really well. Sometimes it is the simplest things in life that give us the most. 
Hope to see you out walking under the evening moon this fall!