Don’t know if I’ve mentioned it in this blog previously, but I’m a wind freak.  Have been since I was very small – and when I say that, I mean to say that some of my earliest memories involve windy days in Shoreham, when I’d play a sort of game by trying to simultaneously hide from the wind and being out in it.  One of my favorite places to attempt this was behind a bush that grew between the roots of a large elm tree in our front yard.

The rules of my game were never set in stone and I’ve never been able to adequately describe them to anyone, but I knew (and still knew) what they are; and I still play my game whenever I get the chance.  The briefest possible explanation of the rules is this: you must be able to fully experience the wind, yet you must attempt to shield yourself from it.  With very few exceptions, man-made structures cannot be used to accomplish the latter, although if the structure is more or less open to the wind, then it’s acceptable.

I write all this as a way of introducing the fact that a wind storm came across the lake last night just as I crawled into bed, and it was fantastic.  My boathouse was literally shaking, the dinner bell in the main cabin was ringing so violently that it sounded like a fire engine, and it was apparent that Old Man Winter wished it to be known that he was on the way back from his enforced vacation and was none too happy about it.

I immediately opened all of the windows in the boathouse (the resultant paper storm was impressive), crawled back under my down comforter and spent my time wondering (in a most pleasant way) exactly what things I’d need to grab first should I determine that the boathouse was indeed going to collapse (answers: tuba, pants, iPod, phone).  During extra large gusts, I’d attempt to make myself as small as possible under the comforter and when things died down a bit, I’d let the top half of my body come out and challenge the elements. 

Just playing the same game in my doddering old age.  And feeling like a little kid.

After 20 minutes of so, the wind died down, replaced by a soaking ran that lasted, I’m told, for a few hours.  By the time it was over, at any rate, I was fast asleep.

What a great end to the day.

TWD

Today was another one of those “grab bag” days.  It started out rather drearily, with low temps, overcast skies, and an occasional drizzly rain that made everything seem 10 degrees colder than it actually was.

On the plus side, however, this type of weather is great for sleeping.  It stormed a bit last night, which woke me up briefly, but other than that, I slept like a dead man until just about 9 this morning.  Then trudged up to the main cabin, had some coffee, read a bit of my book, and waved goodbye to the 4 elder statesmen, who took off on a road trip to Burke’s Falls and Dwight sometime between 10 and 11.

Left to my own devices, I caught up on email, figured out how Google’s new phone-dialer thingy works (quite well, thanks.  It could save me a lot of money on future Canada trips.

I also got to watch as the sun struggled to cut through and ultimately did so, transforming the day into a perfect late summer afternoon.  I jumped in the lake for a short while, then practiced my horn, then read some more – and the others returned somewhere around 4.

Because the day was now gorgeous, Cy and I hit the tennis court, where, I’m somewhat proud to say, I took the first set with her and was tied with her (4-4) in the second when we mutually agreed to quit for the day before one of us (me) had a stroke.  Immediately after tennis, I again fell in the lake – ahhhhhh.  Nothing quite like it.

Dinner tonight was prepared by Cy, and was so unbelievably good that I’m salivating as I type this.  Pork chops, beet salad, and potato salad (made by Julie).  The chops were unreal.  I will get the recipe.

Had a brief chat with Cy before dinner and it’s been decided that she and “T” are probably leaving on Tuesday, rather than Wednesday as had been planned.  Since I don’t need to be in Grand Rapids until Friday morning, we decided that I’ll just stay here by myself until Thursday.  Kinda cool – I’ll get to be the last guy in the camp this year.

On step closer to my hope of coming up for a week in the winter sometime….

Don and Julie are set to leave early tomorrow morning, and Don’s feeling – and sounding – rather sick, so he’s gone to be already.  Julie and “T” and Cy just completed the jigsaw puzzle that they started a few days ago and they’re now settled in on the couches, each with a book.   In between chats with Betsy (instant messenger is a cool little toy), I’m updating this blog at the dinner table.  The sound on my computer is off. It is a wonderfully quiet evening.

TWD