Spring into Summer

Although technically this is still spring, it feels more like summer.  The last few days have been truly hot, in the mid-80s -- and Lake Erie has been warm enough to wade in, if not to swim.  The cottage is almost ready to use, but there is still some work to be done outside down on the beach.  The flowers have been planted, most of the lawn furniture has been cleaned and taken outside, the grass has been mowed several times, and the patio cleared of all of winter's debris.  However, the cottage windows need washing and the curtains put back up, the floors need to be washed, the porch needs cleaning, the steps need to be scrubbed with clorox,and the picnic table needs sanding and a coat of paint.  Every spring there seems like a lot to do, but every year it somehow gets done.  It helps that as we get older, so do the grandchildren and they help with the chores.

I'm not sure why we still need to do this every year, as we don't really stay at the cottage.  Our house is right on the lake, on the bluff above the cottage.  But every year we need this spring ritual.  When we walk down the steps to the beach, we seem to go from the hurly burly of every day living to another world.  Time stands still; there are no freeways, no malls, no traffic jams, no crowded stores; just us, the trees and the lake.  Of course, each year there are more and bigger boats going by, and more jet skis pretending they are mosquitos; but there are also ducks and geese that swim by daily, kingfishers that dive in front of us, blue heron seemingly floating by on air, myriad seagulls, and every once in a while a bald eagle or two.

This is truly a place to forget your troubles; they will most certainly work themselves out while you sit on the beach with a cup of coffee or a glass of wine and just dream.