Hi, Lake! I'm Back!

Rick and I headed to the lake to open the cottage in the Land of No Internet after months of being closed during the winter. It's exciting going the first time -- you hope there are no "incidents" (a tree on the house, which hasn't happened; a winter 'guest'  which has in the past -- probably a squirrel -- that ate every piece of Kleenex in the house, along with pillows and other things -- and had no respect for the concept of litterbox.)

No ugly surprises. All was well. Our never-ending screen repairs of last year (three years, eight trips to Lowes) had held! And so had the protective sealing our foundation repair guy left on the cottage when he finished part one of the job. We'll be ready for part two as soon as he can get there!

After spending the first couple of days under the guest room bed, surfacing only for meals, Lizzie rediscovered the porch. She was captivated by trying to catch the evening bugs.

And delighted to eat the grass that seems to grow in by the crack in the door.

Rick was in seventh heaven, too -- back on the bike in Michigan's "Otsego Alps."

It appears the neighbors we weren't fond of on the other side of the vacant lot have sold. That's the good news. The bad news is that the new owners, who weren't there, have cut down a number of the trees on the lot which can only mean one thing -- building coming soon. Hopefully, an appropriate structure, not a McMansion. Nonetheless, it was hard to worry about it too much when the sky looked like this each evening.

There was work to be done like raking the pine needles from the yard, putting the porch together, making the beds. But we managed to find time for a nature walk (aborted by swarms of mosquitoes in the woods) and a visit to a nearby little lake where we engaged in a rather long conversation with a kid walking his grandparents' dog. I know a lot about that dog now.


Rick practiced hours on his guitar and you could tell. It was fun to finish off three books to a musical accompaniment!

And I had some art time. I redid my "Let Rick Ride" watercolor (on the left). I can't decide if it's better or worse than the first time. (The original is on the right)



And a friend's cat. As a cat it looks pretty good but definitely not quite right for the original model who has a little more black versus gray. Still, getting better at animals.

There was time to visit my friend Fran's kids, engaging in the sad work of going through her things and being at her home for the first time since my Lady of the Lake left this world. It felt right to sit in the chair I always did during our conversations, talking to her two daughters. I thought this picture was a bit of a metaphor -- it's a view of the lake where there is sun and all the brightness it can bring but with it the very real possibility that the darker clouds in the sky could open with tears.

There was time to read, time to Sharpie a couple of scarves and time check out the action in town (not much).

                     

And we leave as we began -- with time to watch the sunset.

There will be a few more months of this, some with family, some with friends. And oh, I can't wait.

Life is good.

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