“Summer vacation” this year consisted of just two days—the only two days my two sons could free up to take off with my wife and I. There wasn’t even enough time to go out of town, so finally we had a real “staycation”. The first day we did classic Seattle tourist gigs like Waterfall Garden Park, Pioneer Square, the Underground Seattle Tour (a real hoot), the Seattle Center Chihuly Garden and Glass Exhibit (mind-blowing), and dinner at the Pike Place Market (Shiro’s new place Sushi Kashiba—fantastic).

The second day was even more domestic: together we disassembled one of the icons of the boy’s childhood—the treehouse we spent a whole summer building fifteen years ago (but which now had become a full-blown hazard due to a rotting floor).

Yes, there were some sad moments—but all of us sweating together on it (it was a record-breaking Seattle afternoon) made it more of a wake than a funeral. And we left the swings (far left of the picture), which were always the most-used part of the whole contraption anyway. Given the size of the beam they are hanging from, those swings should be still be there for our grandchildren’s grandchildren.

Afterwards, as I lounged in the pool-temperature water of Haller Lake, I didn’t regret for a second that I only had two days of vacation. Rather I marveled at how much beauty, joy, and satisfaction one can soak in from even the briefest breaks from the grindstone. Which is why I make it a habit to blog this as I reminder to myself after every vacation—no matter how short.