Lazy Days

I'll have to come clean… I did nothing on Wednesday and Thursday. The dogs got their business walk, but nothing else. I've sat around reading, but not much else.

Thursday afternoon I finished reading Philomena, a story about an American boy adopted from Ireland. It was a good story - I won't say any more than that in case you read it yourself or want to see the movie. Reading does suck up an enormous amount of time!

I did go back to Spike's blog and repost the entries so that Chapter 1 is the first one you see entering the blog. Unfortunately blogger doesn't have a sorting option… A make-work project…

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Friday morning I got up off my a.. and took the dogs for a good long walk - 1hr 20min. They were flaked out for the day, and I had to resist climbing back into bed.

I thought that I'd take advantage of all these lazy days to write like crazy, but I seem to have lost my imagination and every word is difficult. Too much sleep? Too much beauty? Too much sun? I do have a file with story ideas, but none of them really catch me.

Just for fun I looked up flights to NZ for November… found a really good deal, but it isn't in the cards for another year or two. Although it has been almost 2 years since my last visit.

Friday after we had a visit from my Uncle Ken and his girlfriend Marilyn. The weather was perfect for sitting outside visiting, and even held out till past supper time. We had a lovely visit and enjoyed hearing Uncle Ken's stories of the past. All too soon it was getting dark and they were on their way.

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Saturday was another lazy day with more swimming (huge waves!), and visiting with Bill and Brenda. Again, the day went by all too quickly. Less than a week left… The park is busy this weekend - I picked up 3 doggie doos on our campsite today - and no, they were not from our dogs. If there is one thing that makes me really mad it is people not picking up after their pets!!! If I were to catch the culprits I'd be tempted to drop it off on their camper step - and keep the bag…

Meeting New Friends

Another long, hot summer day was in the cards for us yesterday, but hey, I'm not complaining ;-) 

Sitting outside reading yesterday morning, I noticed that the elderly couple across the way was wrestling with miles of white water hose. It looked like they were planning on topping up their fresh water from the tap about 200' away. He has to sit down to catch his breath every minute or two, while she totters along in a very unbalanced way. I honestly don't know how they manage. But back to yesterday - I obviously couldn't sit comfortably, while they struggled, so I called Carm and we went over to help. Apparently they've been coming here from Virginia Beach for over 20 years - she has cousins in the area. I'd be willing to bet that unhappy conversations about their way of life are happening in their home.

We had arranged with Brenda and Bill to meet here for the afternoon. Icy margaritas kept us cool in the hot afternoon and conversation flowed. It wasn't long though before the glittering water tempted us in for a swim. The water has warmed up so much since the weather turned a few days ago. There was no icy grip, but a comfortable caress. We stayed in for ages, playing like children.

Coming up the path from the water, we passed between our camper and the one behind us. John and Diane were sitting outside so we called over to them to join us for a while. Doffing my wet suit, I made some snacks and got ready to welcome our new guests. We'd talked to them on the road, but not had a real chance to get to know them.

As so often happens at our house, conversation turned to politics and things of that nature. Dianne and I were off to the side, making it easy to keep out of politics, and into a more personal conversation. I'm not sure how it came up, but I mentioned that I was bipolar, and she immediately said that her brother had been. She asked me some questions about what living with bp was like, and then I tentatively asked her about her brother. Yes, he had been bipolar, but that's not what took his like too early. He had been murdered while trying to stop someone from stealing a car. The thug had put a screwdriver through the side of his head.  Eventually the perp had been caught and is now in jail. I didn't get the feeling that his incarceration had put any closure to her brothers story. I feel that a violent death, murder, must be very difficult to move on from. Our conversation moved into other, more happy areas, but I could still sense a sadness about her. It seemed also, that she had taken a terrible event and instead of becoming bitter, has instead embraced life and pursues happiness. I know my last two statements oppose each other, but I think people are complicated enough to do both.

I think it was nearing 8pm before we started with our planned supper - hamburgers for Bill and Brenda, black-eye pea burgers for Carm and I; plus an array of salads. More laughs over the dinner table. My head hit the pillow pretty heavily after such a long day.

Today started off beautifully, but by mid afternoon the wind was blowing so hard that even Grace was happy to come inside. And by 3:30 we had a somewhat of a cloud cover.

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Sipping the Sunset

Today it was 1/2 an hour earlier than yesterday when the dogs and I made our journey,  too early for the sun to stream down through the trees. It was damp. The cold night had coaxed droplets of water from the air, covering everything in a thick dew. The first part of our trip took us down the same roads as yesterday morning, ending up at the shore of the lake. The water was still, with slight ripples in the silken surface. I fumbled with my camera, dogs leashes looped over a picnic table bench, and played with taking photos into the sun.  The occasional water bird caught my attention.

We meandered down the shore a bit, enjoying the peace of the liquid prairie, before turning back. Instead of retracing our steps, we kept to the lighthouse road. As we passed through a natural meadow, 2 deer stared at us, before bounding into the woods. We kept to the road, but stepped into that same wood - deep and dark with barely a sunbeam to brighten it. Tall trees and a thick carpet of needles deadened any sound.

We kept to our route and came out of the woods at the entrance to the marsh viewing platform. From there we could see a wide expanse of marsh leading out into Presqu'ile Bay. It was pretty, but if I'd been there an hour earlier the sun would have been coming up over the misty view.

The start to the day couldn't have been much nicer. Which bookends nicely with the end of yesterday.

We'd been cooling a bottle of bubbles in the fridge for the last new days, waiting for the perfect time to open it. The end of a wonderful summery day seemed to be a fitting time. It was also nice enough to eat outside - a rarity this summer. We balanced plates overflowing with pasta and vegetables, sliced cucumber, glasses right out of the freezer, and the icy bottle out to the picnic table. We dined overlooking the lake, with its edges gradually turning to a pale pink and then darker blue. The chilled glasses of pink champagne looked like we had captured the sunset with our glasses and were drinking down the rest of the day. We pulled our chairs around to the edge of the bluff and sat, sipping our sunsets until it was nearly dark.

Then of course, reality kicked in and we had to wash dishes (and break one), clean Grace's cage, and other mundane chores that sort of broke the spell.

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