Settling In

I decided to do this blog to chronicle my first summer alone at the lake. I had to do this at some point and as it turned out, my first summer off since Doug died is also a summer when Darlene is off traveling. So I will report in by blogging rather than sending long email reports. That way, folks can check in on me when they want to.

I arrived in MN on Saturday, 5/9/09, in the evening and went straight to Damon & Sarah's so I could see Heath before bedtime. He seemed surprised to see me in 3D since we have only been seeing each other on Skype since they came to visit in December. He is now 8 months old and definitely the cutest, happiest baby I have known since Damon!

We had a great Mother's Day dinner at Jane & Charlie's (Sarah's mom & dad) and then went back to Damon & Sarah's for some Quiddler practice. Then I went to spend the night at Carol & Mel's so I'd be close to the car repair place that had ordered the fan relay my car was scheduled to have replaced on Monday morning. Then I hit the road for the lake and Karen Wilson left their house in time to meet me when I arrived. We got the cabin opened with only a small hitch - the GFI circuit for the bathroom was off and I needed some coaching from Pete Barr to get it turned back on. Karen brought food for dinner and I stopped at Morey's for some herring so we had a great dinner on the grill, cleaned the bird feeds, inspected the work the beavers have been doing on my property next door and hit the hay early.

Tuesday morning our plan to go down to the lake for a morning fire had to be changed due to rain - I forgot that it rains in MN, especially in the spring. So we just had our coffee inside and Karen headed back to Brainerd. I spent the day unpacking, surveying the Clubhouse, and going into town for the mail & supplies. Ann called to check up on me and as we were talking, an adult and juvenile eagle swooped down in front of the front window and headed over to the island. As you know, Doug is resting in his Eagle bentwood box here in the cabin but I believe his spirit lives in the eagles that nest here on Crystal Lake. And it seems as though he has found a younger buddy to hang out with this year! I also had a pair of common mergansers swim by in the evening and the great blue heron passed by on his way to the bay on my property next door. It got really windy late in the day so after dinner, I hunkered down and watched the one CBS channel we get before going to bed.

This morning it was windy but sunny so I went out for a walk and came back for breakfast. Then I got the bird feeder out but the birds have been sticking close to their nests rather than looking for feeders! After a couple of hours trying to catch up on email, I headed to the Clubhouse with my boxes of photo projects and started tyring to figure out an arrangement that will work for my summer office. Being in that space is hard because it was supposed to be Doug's getaway, and now it will be mine. So I will have to claim it cautiously and expect to have crying times like I did this afternoon. I picture all the times I would walk over to see what he was working on or to take him food, since he would never stop to eat.

The great discovery of the day was that among the things my niece Kelsey is storing in the huge warehouse-like building of which the Clubhouse is a little corner, I found a dining room table, a coffee table, some end tables and a desk chair that I can put to use rather than have them stacked in storage. So I put together the table, cleaned cabinets & countertops, unpacked the photos I plan to organize and made a list of all the things I need to get to make it a comfortable workspace and extra sleeping space. It was a productive day!

As evening came, it started raining so I decided not to grill my dinner. Now it is dusk - the wind is blowing the rain across the lake and onto the windows. So as I look out to the south, the evergreen boughs are in constant motion and I am ready for some tea and then plan to finish my book - The True and Outstanding Adventures of the Hunt Sisters by Elisabeth Robinson. I started it in January and had only read about 50 pages before I got on the plan last Saturday. Now I have only 30 pages left and I am hoping to make better time as I work my way through the stack of books I sent so I can read them this summer.

I look forward to the summer and visits from many of you!