It's been a busy week since I've been home, with doc appointments almost every day. And the rest of the time? Bringing my house up to "code" -- it's amazing how many spiders start webbing when you aren't there for a huge chunk of time! And, a groundhog has dug two holes under the house. Now looking for a compassionate way to get him to leave!
There is nothing so hard for me as buttoning up the cottage and saying goodbye until next spring. Fortunately, our last couple of days brought some sunshine and dry weather. It was a good time for that last walk or two, putting away the outdoor things and the porch. I even managed lunch on the porch once or twice (albeit dressed in layers!).
After a few days of having a fire going in the fireplace from dawn till dusk, the cottage warmed up a bit. This was a good thing as the weather continued reminding us that in some things we have no control! Even when it wasn't raining, it looked as though it might. Word on the street was that we might get our temps up to 50 during the day here in our second week and there might even be sun (well, partly cloudy) on one of those days. Talk about crossing your fingers for luck!
Those October visits to the lake are often bittersweet, often beautiful, and on occasion, filled with surprises. I arrived in early October, Lizzie in hand (or carry box), with Rick cycling up. As I turned into our area, this was the site -- not full fall, but certainly well on the way!
In my last post, I took you along with Rick and me for a color ride. We had such a wonderful time checking out the fall color near the cottage -- and it was just getting better and better!
So, when my friend Susan called and said she was coming to Gaylord, we decided to do another color tour.
Our year at the lake has drawn to a close. The house is buttoned up for the winter, the car stuffed to overflowing with all the things coming home that we brought up for the summer (and a cat) and outdoor furniture tucked safely into the garage or the house till next spring. Oh, I hate leaving.
It has been an odd last visit. There were so many plans that didn't happen -- road trips that didn't get taken, work that didn't get done. Having pneumonia will do that to a person. I was knocked for a loop and it was a big one. By the time I was well, the weather had pretty much gone from glorious to cold and damp. A good time to be inside; not much good for anything else. But....
In all the craziness of the past few weeks, I never got this posted! So before a color tour is a thing of months past, here are a few photos from my last visit to the lake in early October.
When watching the yahoos hired to take my neighbor's dock and boat ramp work away is the highlight of one's week, you know it has been an odd and unexpected week!
When I came north about a week ago, it was with the idea that Rick would join me as soon as he could. I was thinking within a few days and so was he. But he's been up to his eyeballs with painting the duplex, doing repairs and loads of stuff outside -- not to mention (hopefully) getting a new tenant booked and ready to move in. I realize I really miss the guy! But one does what one must, like adding a lantern to the mantel!
Happily back at the cottage for a bit and wondering when we'll go from green to red and orange. I can see hints in some of the trees but it will be a few weeks yet before we hit full fall color.
It's sad, thinking that this will be my last visit to the lake. But it has been so breathtakingly beautiful, I can't complain for a second.
The cottage has been my point of safety during this Covid-ridden summer, a place where I could isolate and not feel isolated, spend time with Rick and just enjoy the water, woods, painting, reading and so much more. Now the geese are flying south, and soon I shall be, too.
After our splendid first day "color tour," I decided to check out the other ski area and a few other places for some beauty.
The Otsego Ski Club couldn't match the beauty of yesterday's Treetops in its hills and color, but the sky was finally blue!
After checking out the color there and picking up a couple of mums to take home, I headed to Michawe golf course. It didn't have hills, but it didn't disappoint.
I was intrigued by the birch trees which had lost their leaves but still looked stunning in the sun.
I can't resist all the photos. It seems like I never really saw fall last year and this one is making up for it big time!
After Michawe, I took a quick stop at another golf course, The Loon. Nothing much to see here, except this golden glade -- and it was spectacular.
Rick got home from his walk about the time I returned -- and with him, some surprises -- flowers for me!
And a book, from the Little Free Library, "A Woman of No Importance," about WWII spy/resistance worker, Virginia Hill. I've been wanting to read this and while it was a lucky guess for him, it was spot on!
Our fungi collection in the yard is continually changing. These were huge.
I enjoyed another walk later in the afternoon, this time admiring the color in my own woods.
While out, I walked through the now-fading grounds of a nearby garden shop.
I was enthralled by these glorious hydrangeas.
I finished my walk, following that well traveled road and noticing tiny changes, like the last of autumn's apples, clinging to a tree.
A curious squirrel is intent on climbing the pines that seem miles high.
And color. Everywhere you look. Color.
Home again, where I try (less successfully than usual) to capture some of the day's leaves.
And then Rick's wonderful onion pasta for dinner.
Life is quiet and good. Outside my space our country is in turmoil. We are missing the contact of family and friends we cannot see or touch. Doing things that once seemed easy -- a trip to a store, going to a movie or play or a hug from a toddler -- now seem to have an element of danger that didn't exist when the leaves drifted to the ground last fall.
I wish it could stay this peaceful forever. But I miss those hugs.
She looks so innocent, doesn't she. Don't believe it for a minute. She may only have a vocabulary of three words but she's smart as a whip. This is what the bedroom looked like after I tore my bed apart -- mattress, box and all. Of course, by then she had bolted into one of her hidey holes in the bathroom.
After trying to decide if I should find a cat care person and just leave or go get her, I managed to get her into the dreaded box and off we went. She gave me the evil eye all the way.
I have to say the color all the way north was fabulous and when I arrived, it was no less so. This is one of my walking roads.
And this, the morning view.
A friend of Rick's, George the Cyclist, camped out in our yard on his cycling journey to Carnegie Libraries in Michigan. George is an interesting fellow and writes a great blog on his bicycle travels around the world. We had a lovely distanced dinner on the porch in our jackets. The next morning, Rick and George went on a long bike ride.
They had a perfect day for it.
While they were gone, I went to my teeny-tiny post office (one window) and mailed some packages and then took a ride to the other side of the lake. That's the cottage -- from afar!
When they got back, George took off. I settled in with a book. After the stress of the ride the day before (plus, on that day learning of the terrorist plot to kidnap our governor and overthrow the capitol, just another day in these weird and wacky and wretched times) it was pure heaven to sit on the couch with my book, occasionally glancing out to see this.
When Rick finished work we went on a color ride. Oh, it was spectacular. He knows all the back roads from his rides and we saw some pretty stuff. But nothing topped the view at the ski lodge.
Everywhere I looked, it was like a painting. All the fall colors -- reds, oranges, yellows, even some browns and of course, green. If the sky had been a little more blue, it would have been the most glorious spectrum!
But to be honest, I don't think it could be much more so than it was.
It was a windy day but of course we had to record the moment for posterity! Because that's what I do.
Then we had a beer on the patio, overlooking the loveliest view. It was relatively warm -- high 60s -- and so quiet and peaceful, even though others were about.
After getting home, a quiet and delicious dinner -- Rick's homemade pizza. A new episode of "Great British Baking Show," and just enjoying the peace of the lake (that finally descended after next door's lawn and leaf-blower guys left!)
And still enchanted by the magic of fall's beauty!
Coming from the south of the state, the heart beats a little faster when we hit the northern counties and the colors get brighter.
It's difficult to keep your eyes on the road!
The color makes for beautiful walks as well.
This patch of sumac is particularly lovely.
At least, I think it's sumac!
And if one has something rather hideous like a boat lifting system to hide for the season, why not dress it up?
I think these people have a sense of humor and style!
Every day is more and more beautiful. Of course, the woods isn't the only colorful venue. This is the view when I look across the lake in the morning.
I never get tired of seeing these colors!
They get more brilliant with every passing day.
The leaves are beginning to fall. Birch leaves are beginning to land on the beach.
And maple leaves float gently in the water, drifting lazily along the shoreline.
The color is inside, too. You find it in the pumpkins...
...and in the last of sunflowers.
As the sun begins to set, another burst of colors kicks in. Whether it's a sunset from afar...
...or the play of color on the water...
...it's clear that when it comes to creating a palette, nature wins, hands down!
