Postcards From the Lake: What's New

Life at the lake moves peacefully and at its own gentle pace. I find myself gradually and gently sinking into a sense of peace, calm and yes, even ease. The routine is not that much different than at home in some ways. Up early, give Lizzie her meds, check in online with mail and the daily New York Times games, then look at blogs, feed Lizzie, more online and then time to be productive. 

 

That includes watering the plants and herbs. I ended up bringing the rest of the potted plants from home to keep them from certain death if I left them behind again. There are more geraniums in the back yard.

Productivity. That's a loaded word. What is productivity, anyway? These days, I think most would call what I'm doing less than productive! Reading a book? Doing a bit of art? Running to the farm market? All more relaxing and fun than productive. But then, who said having fun or relaxing couldn't be counted as productive time. Self care. Yes, I like that!

 

I was having breakfast on the porch the other morning. Late breakfast. Suddenly, I heard whooping and hollering from a boat in the middle of the lake, right in front of the house. Naturally I got the binoculars and saw this!

 

Then I got the camera!! I had no idea we had fish this big in our lake. And in Dad's old fishing hole!

 

My dad loved fishing. If he wasn't on the trout stream, he was casting his line from the shore (we are on a drop-off) or out in the boat, trolling in front of the house. He had a lot of luck catching fish. But he never saw one like that!

 

My cousin David is here for a week  or so and for a few days, his son Joe was here too. I have fond memories of Joe as a little boy up here. 

Now, he's a handsome man. We had a wonderful dinner together on their first night. I know the schedule will be tight during his visit. It's David's annual friends week, when a group of his buddies come up for the week. 

 

David and I were noting how much the beach had changed over time. When we were in our 20s, their beach (which is now about four feet of sand) was large.

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Now, there was barely room for Aiden to play. 

 

The tables have turned. Ours used to be  much smaller. No more. Let's just say it took a long time to rake that beach today! Our neighbor had it tilled and I wanted to rake out what I could of the weeds that went down under. It looks pretty good! 

 

 I've done a little bit of art. Not a ton. I'll have more of that soon, but for now, a little bunny in the sketch book. 

 

And this is a portrait of The Marmelade Gypsy from a photo I took eons ago.

 

There have been a couple of wildlife sightings too. The geese are in force. I counted 103 in this group, and that might have been an undercount, as some blocked others from the sight lines.

 

Han Solo continues to return. The lonely duck. Earlier I saw who may or may not have been Han with babies. But then, I've also seen the eagle. I don't want to think about it.

 

And finally, a sighting of Harry North. It was a fast and lucky shot! It was good to see him back!

 

Finally, Rick has arrived in South Carolina for his trade show. On the way down he stopped at Ohiopyle state park in Pennsylvania for a long ride and later went to see his aunt, Becky, in Maryland. He said his ride was one of his best and it was good to see Becky again. 

 

I'll save him a sunset.