Your Cre8tivity’s quick starts include an exercise called Description Alley. I’ve never taken a real retreat, but I know what my perfect one would be like - at least physically. So here’s my description of it - now all I have to do is find it. ;-)

It’s mid-day as I approach the rustic log cabin. The sun shines gently, casting only short shadows across the landscape and sparkling off the lake’s waters. The sunset will be beautiful viewed from the cabin’s screened in porch.

A gravel path leads toward the lake and I follow it, reluctant to leave the sun just yet. At the half-way point, both the lake and the cabin are visible, making it the perfect place for the rock firepit situated there. Further down, the path splits. One branch leads directly to the lake, the other to a secluded hot spring at the lake’s edge.

By the time I wander back to the cabin, the surrounding mountains are beginning to cast shadows that will eventually shade and cool the entire valley. The refridgerator is stocked with fresh vegetables, fruits and meats. Enough for a week’s worth of simple meals.

Furnishings are simple and comfortable, making me want to pull a book from the library’s shelves and curl up in their overstuffed cushions. I’m pleasantly surprised by the size of the library and the number of reading nooks in the cabin. There’s one near the fireplace in the front room that I think will be a favorite.

The cabin is quiet, almost too much so. As I peruse the rooms I notice there are no alarm clocks. This is something I am extremely happy about. I do notice small speakers mounted on the wall of each room, and it takes some hunting to discover what they are for. The entire cabin has been wired so that the stereo system can be piped into any room.

I’ll have plenty to do - swimming, hiking and even some rock climbing if I care to. If the weather should turn, though there wasn’t any hint of that in the forecast when I left home, there’s an exercise room here in the cabin. Free weights and an elliptical machine take up one of the corners, but most of it open. One wall is mirrored and floor is polished wood - perfect for yoga or dancing. Of course, I may decide to lazy and just soak in the hot springs between reading and working on my stories.

There’s been a smile on my lips ever since I arrived and it blooms into a grin as I flop down on the bed, feeling it give just the right amount.