I Think I'm Gonna Like it Here, or "Summertime Extended"

In the musical Annie, the cute little orphan lands in Daddy Warbucks' mansion and sings a song celebrating how much her life has changed for the better. I feel a little bit like that kid today. I am back at school of all places as I say this, and I am watching a room full of high school juniors taking a practice ACT test, but I also have time while my eyes are on them to do a little blogging.  

In my last post, I shared a little about our "new adventure" into owning a second home in a place where we one day hope to retire. This weekend, we "bunked out" and scooted up North to escape the heat of Saint Louis. As it turns out, Michigan was experiencing its own "extended summer with temps in the upper 80s pushing toward 90. (still cooler than in the Lou!) Friday was a half day of school for us,  and on Thursday night Ed said, "Let's go North tomorrow!" With nothing holding us back and a light day coming up on Monday (another half day) I said, "Okay!"

So we grabbed the dogs and by 12:30 we were in the Subaru headed northward. We arrived by 8pm to find our grandkids in the driveway waiting for us. Well, they didn't really know it was going to be us, their dad kept them in the dark about what he was up to as they went for an evening bike ride, timed to coincide with our arrival. The result was a delight- their faces lit up as they saw us pull in and they yelled, "What are you doing here?!" (to which we answered - "We live here-it's our house!")

What followed was a weekend that went fast and was TONS of fun. The greyhounds were, at first, not quite sure about what to make of this new place, but as you can see they quickly "got adjusted" and found spots to chill out!

Walking at Sunset

Took a lovely stroll after dinner in our nearby park as the sun was sinking low. The park is one of our favorite place to walk and there are lovely paved paths that wind through it, making it a perfect place to go with the greyhounds.

The park tonight was alive with activity. The most noticeable was the groups of kids and parents doing "conditioning" for Little League Football. Now I use the term conditioning with a just a little bit of a grin. The athletes involved were all between the ages of 5-7 years old! So some of them could barely see about the face guard on their tiny helmets. Others were busy doing anything but what the grown-up coaches were barking at them to do. One little guy decided he'd rather do cartwheels than run toward a blocking pad that his dad was holding up as a target. It was hilarious. When they would tumble they would fall into little heaps on the grass and ended up looking like someone ha tossed a jersey on the grass, but then the jersey would wiggle and up would pop a little boy! Funny!

Also in the park were a good number of dog walkers and just plain walkers as well. So there was a lot of tail wagging and sniffing going on. There was a lovely breeze blowing and it was a little hard to believe that it was August based on the temperatures. I found myself making a mental pact with myself not to let the opportunities to walk in the evening slip by once school gets up and going. There is nothing more relaxing than a walk after dinner... even the greys loved it. (Of course, they are presently sacked out on the floor snoozing.) Perfect ending to a perfect day.

Harvest is Finished!

We finished our harvest work this weekend and with the help of many friends and family who came out to enjoy a gorgeous Saturday, we picked just about 1800 lbs of Norton grapes. They were crushed just before the sun went down, and we could put our feet up and sigh happily.

The grapes came back well from the freeze of last year. If all holds, this year's vintages should be very good! More things to be thankful for in a time when a lot of things seem a bit shaky and unpredictable. Happy Fall everyone!

Door County Days - Part 2

Sailing + Sunsets = SMILES!



One of the best things we did while in Door County is charter a sunset cruise on a classic double-masted sailboat. The day had been cloudy but just as we set out, the weather cleared on the horizon and we were treated to a gorgeous sunset. It was probably the most relaxing thing we did all week. There is nothing like the quiet of a sail to make you just want to lean back and grin!