Paradise is usually associated with the divine, the otherworldly
But sometimes we find a corner of paradise in this world. I did!
Nothing metaphorical here. I spent a mid-September week at Camp Quimby in the Great North Woods of Vermont, two miles from the Canadian border. Quimby is in northeast Vermont, which is euphemistically called the Northeast Kingdom. It’s sparsely populated up there. My car had all to itself stretches of the four-lane Interstate 91 that ends at the Canadian border. That felt surreal.
Camp Quimby was established in the late nineteenth century as a sporting camp. Situated on 1,000 acres of forest, Quimby now offers something for everyone, especially during its summer high season family weeks that feature an abundance of activities. It’s a summer camp for adults and a summer camp for children.
Off season was idyllic for me. Nature beckoned and I sank into it. The total peace and quiet enveloped me. The stars were stunning in totally black nights.
I had my own rustic cabin overlooking gardens and a beautiful lake. The rocking chair on the porch beckoned me for hours of lake watching. The fall foliage turned before my eyes. Much better than watching grass grow.
Have you ever wanted to cut the cyber cord? Quimby strives for an electronics-free environment. There is no cell phone service in this remote area, and wifi is only available in the camp lodge. No robo calls! Listen to the loons on the lake instead. (Full disclosure: I did check my emails and scan the news on my laptop daily.)
The local hiking trails were almost empty even though fall foliage was in full swing.
For the first time since I can remember, I could totally concentrate on some serious reading and understand the material.
Did I mention the awesome yogurt with cinnamon every morning with breakfast? And Lilly Devlin’s home-baked breads meant wrenching decisions between choosing slices of them or the delicious bagels. (Lilly is co-owner of Quimby with her husband Gene.)
My week at Quimby was a notch on my bucket list. But the Quimby bucket sprang a hole and now “real life” is creeping back in! That means I’ll have to go back to Quimby next year to fill up the bucket again.
In the meantime, I’ll work on some blogs about self-publishing and the great response that 1844: Convergence in Prophecy has received.