Here we are back at the lake after a whirlwind month of May. John, Libby, Jack and I headed up here on Wednesday. We arrived to a mid-summer temperature. It was 90 degrees. The lake looked so inviting. Thursday and Friday were more of the same and both Jack and Libby spent a lot of time on the dock and in the water. I was tempted but I didn’t cave. I did sit on the porch and read my book being totally happy and content. This was the best of the best, North Hatley at its finest. Mid-summer in the early days of June. Not so great for sleeping but wonderful during the day.
Then Friday night happened. Not with a bang and flourish but a whimper. The wind changed and the temperature dropped by 30 degrees. We woke up on Saturday morning to 54 degrees farhenheit, about 9 celcius and it has been fall like ever since. That old saying “if you don’t like the weather, wait a minute, it will change” was very true here. Last night we even had a fire, something that we would not have even entertained a day before.
After a month of May that was about as perfect as it could be it is wonderful to be up here. After a month of waking up and going over planning and menus in the middle of the night to be sure we didn’t forget anything, we are finally able to sleep almost through the night. Wake up, no big event yet, and roll over and go back to sleep. It is heaven especially now the temperature is more normal. I learned the hard way last summer that walking in the heat is not a good idea. Not for me nor for the dogs so we just hung around the lake and the dogs went swimming. Then Saturday we went for a walk. Typically it took us almost three hours to get from our house around the end of the lake and back again. There are just too many things to see and too many people to catch up with. Oh, joy, to be back and to even make a new friend, from Newfoundland, my new favorite province. The dogs and I were ecstatic as we followed a very familiar route. The way they knew when to turn and where to go as if we hadn’t been away for months. It amazes me how they just know. We managed to get all the porch furniture out and to find the things that we had put away last fall. The house looks like ours again.
An Anniversary
Saturday was also the fifth anniversary of the day my mother died. It was only fitting that I spent a good part of the day walking around North Hatley, a place she loved. Truly cannot believe it has been five years. It honestly feels like it was yesterday. So much of this place reminds me of all the wonderful times we had here with her. One big event that was celebrated here was her 80th birthday. It was the year of the renovations but we still managed to through an incredible party here with her sister and brother in attendance and the living room turned into the dining room with pretty much wall to wall table. The room is over 40 feet long and it was all table. Her 90th was celebrated in Montreal. Her 100th would have been next year so perhaps we might need to throw her a birthday party anyway. I kept my promise to her that the only way she would leave her house was in a box – sure enough that was the way it was.
“What moves through us is a silence, a quiet sadness, a longing for one more day, one more word, one more touch. Then, little by little, we begin to remember not just that you died, but that you lived, and that your life gave us memories too beautiful to ever forget.” ‘´Anonymous”
A Cute Tradition
All the cars are Volvos. Ranging in age from 2010 to 2021. They all have the same license plate with a slight difference. NH-PDQ, NH+PDQ, NHPDQ+ and the original NHPDQ. So fun to get them all lined up together in the driveway.
At the beginning of next month we will celebrate Canada Day, 4th of July and a birthday here at the lake. We are all taking a deep breath before we jump into the next celebration. You might guess what the theme of the party might be.
