A 2020 Summer At Deep Creek Lake, Maryland

I started out writing this post over on my Instagram account, but realized there was more that I wanted to say than could be said in a caption, so I’m continuing the thought here.

My entire life has centered around two locations: home & the Lake. It’s a bit strange to try to explain to people: but from spring until fall, my family would pack up the van every single Friday night, and we spent our weekends at my family’s lake-house in Deep Creek Lake, Maryland.
“You mean, you go on vacation every single weekend?”
No, it’s not a vacation – it’s just, the Lake.

Since I’ve spent roughly 1/3 of my life at the Lake, I have very strong memories tied there. One of those days that I distinctly remember was a sunny, warm, summer day when I was about 6 years old. I remember being down at the Lake, and then walking up the hill, back to the house, with my Meme.

About halfway up the hill, she asked me: “What do you love about Deep Creek that we don’t have back home?”

This question stumped my little mind. Certain things came to mind right away: Swimming! No, we technically have swimming at home. Playing games! No, we play games at home. Sitting around the fire! No, we could sit around a fire at home. Saturday morning pancakes! No, we do that at home too. I thought long & hard, stretching my brain & attempting to put into words why I knew I loved Deep Creek & what specifically made it more special than home.

Finally, I settled on an answer: “Moss.” I loved to jump from patch of moss to patch of moss in my bare feet & since we didn’t have moss at home in our backyard – that was the best answer I could come up with.

It’s funny, because as an adult, I have a much different answer to that question.
I love going to the Lake because it’s getting away from home.
It’s letting go of the hustle & bustle.
It’s an invitation to be quiet & still.
It’s a beckoning to be outside, to hike, to soak up the sun, & enjoy nature.
It’s putting busy-ness aside to read & play games.

There’s so much about the Lake that I love, simply because it’s not home.
Home is where the to-do list is.
Home is where the laundry is.
Home is where responsibility is constantly knocking at my door.
The Lake says: “Let’s set all of that aside for a few days – relax.”

I’ve said this before & I’ll say it again: my great-grandfather was an incredibly wise man for buying the property my family owns on Deep Creek Lake. Beside the wise financial investment, I think he knew something else: as an entrepreneur – a man who owned his own creative business & ran it out of his home, he needed a place to get away. A location where he could go & not see the work that needed done beckoning him from the other room.
Other people work 9-5 jobs and they leave their work to come home – their home is their sanctuary. But for a person who works from home, they never truly leave their job. It’s always present. And as a creative person who owns their own business – it’s not just a job, it’s a passion, a love-affair, something their immensely proud of. So, it’s incredibly easy to get pulled into working constantly. After all, we love what we do.
And so, I count my great-grandfather as an incredibly wise man for seeing that & seeing the benefit to owning a place to get away.
(In case you didn’t know, my great-grandfather was a photographer with a studio & dark room in his house – the same house my family now lives in.)

And so, here we are – at the end of another wonderful season at Deep Creek. Next weekend, my family will close up the house & we’ll say goodbye until next spring. We didn’t spend as much time at the Lake this year as we did last year (mostly due to us not being able to enter the state of Maryland while everything was locked down), but the time we did spend was absolutely precious & wonderful in every way.

In absolutely no particular order, here are some photos of our summer at the Lake!