Sandy Bay - Day 2
19/11/11 06:23
I must say. The coffee is hot; the company robust; the lake dream-like; the morning serene; the muffin sweet; the air pristine; and the fishing, who knows. Who has time to go fishing with all of these other things to do. There are barbecues to manage, guests to oblige, senses to fancy, and plans to make. List. Lists. You can never have too many of them. Problem is, I don't like to keep them. That isn't entirely true. Even here, I want to keep a list of things that we found in the fridge upon our arrival that we've found eminently useful and we will certainly need to make it a point to replace before we leave this lovely joint. But I digress.
Debbie and Will arrived at the appointed hour yesterday and they will be leaving almost as abruptly as they arrived. Before they do, we'll need to make sure that we get them out to Sutton's so Debbie can peruse the goods, over to Dirty John's for a plateful of "hots", and we'll send them on their way with a kiss and a wave. Jason and Chrissy came along to too yesterday and it was lovely to see them. Chrissy is my sister's daughter. She has the world's sweetest disposition. We did not see Katey, her fraternal twin, but that is the way it goes here in the north woods. Even Denise, my sister, was off on a girl's only weekend and could not make it to the family gathering here on the shores of Sandy Bay. And Lise, my other sister, could not make it for whatever the reason. We never did get to the bottom of that one.
But Rollie, Terri, and Carli came late as expected. They had their own commitments and I think they arrived around 6. It had been a full day hereabouts with guests arriving and barbecues to get off the ground. I found the whole grilling experience just a little bit easier this year and I'm not sure why. I didn't burn anything. Truth be told, I think the fact that there was as little charcoal as there was left me with little choice but to use what we had and I might have otherwise used more. I have so little experience with charcoal. I guess it just worked out. Did I tell you that Chrissy and Jason arrived after having hiked Buck Mountain? And they did that with Jason's 6-year old daughter in tow? What were they thinking? But I think they did well and they seemed no worse off for the experience as they arrived on our doorstep.
I was happy to man the grill but felt overwhelmed by having to coordinate the rest, i.e., setting the table, putting out the condiments, slicing the onions and tomatoes, although I did make a last minute decision to offer bacon cheeseburgers instead of regular cheeseburgers. I think they were universally enjoyed. And, a spot of brilliance on my part since it was the extra something that I like to offer our guests. Something they are not expecting and something they are likely to take pleasure in. And, they did. Some had more than one which pleased me to no end. There were so many good things on the table, including sister Kathy's bow tie pasta salad, that no one went hungry. The day was too beautiful, the company just right, the food delicious and plentiful, and it just worked.
There was a lot of inside family talk which because tiresome after a while. Not that it wasn't interesting, but all too hard to quantify and substantiate. It had a seemingly souring effect on the person holding the views so might well be toxic over time. Got to let those demons go, dudes and dudettes. Got to move on. The past is the past and it is sometimes better left alone. Forget the rehashing, the gnashing of the teeth, the snarling and snottiness directed at siblings and others, and it just has to end before it eats you alive. If you didn't get what you wanted when Dad passed along, maybe it was meant to be. If another brother or sister by another mother walked away with an heirloom or two and it turned out to be your loss, it's time to move on. What is this business about entitlement? Who died and left you king? What make you think that that heirloom you had your eye on was ever intended to be yours after your father's death? I just don't know how folks arrive at these far fetched conclusions. After all, you know what they say. The Lord works in mysterious ways. Maybe it just wasn't meant to be.
It is funny, isn't it that I just don't care for the water. I like to drink it, bathe in it, behold it as I do Lake George, drive boats on it, but I couldn't care less about swimming it it. Maybe I just don't like getting wet. I don't mind being in the water but I don't go out of my way to get into it. Swimming seems to require more energy that it's worth so why bother when it really isn't necessary. Even here in Sandy Bay, where you can walk across the bay as though you were walking across a sand bar at low tide, and where swimming is not actually required of you, the effort is not warranted when considering the reward. What, to get to the other side? Who cares? That is not to say that I shun exercise. I do not. I'm a fan of endorphins and seek them out whenever and wherever possible. And I know of people who swear by swimming as the best exercise one can do. Metabolically, it is supposed to be the most difficult and demanding of all. I just don't get it.
All right, Willie. I think I have this down. I forgot to bring the plunger to my Melior pot and will have to use the filters found here in the house. I fumbled with the darn things yesterday and it just didn't feel right. It worked out in the end and I had me a dicey cup of brew. But it was touch and go there for while. I wasn't sure I that wasn't going to botch the whole pot. Well, the whole cup maybe since I make one cup at a time.
Time to sign off as the tribe is stirring.
Debbie and Will arrived at the appointed hour yesterday and they will be leaving almost as abruptly as they arrived. Before they do, we'll need to make sure that we get them out to Sutton's so Debbie can peruse the goods, over to Dirty John's for a plateful of "hots", and we'll send them on their way with a kiss and a wave. Jason and Chrissy came along to too yesterday and it was lovely to see them. Chrissy is my sister's daughter. She has the world's sweetest disposition. We did not see Katey, her fraternal twin, but that is the way it goes here in the north woods. Even Denise, my sister, was off on a girl's only weekend and could not make it to the family gathering here on the shores of Sandy Bay. And Lise, my other sister, could not make it for whatever the reason. We never did get to the bottom of that one.
But Rollie, Terri, and Carli came late as expected. They had their own commitments and I think they arrived around 6. It had been a full day hereabouts with guests arriving and barbecues to get off the ground. I found the whole grilling experience just a little bit easier this year and I'm not sure why. I didn't burn anything. Truth be told, I think the fact that there was as little charcoal as there was left me with little choice but to use what we had and I might have otherwise used more. I have so little experience with charcoal. I guess it just worked out. Did I tell you that Chrissy and Jason arrived after having hiked Buck Mountain? And they did that with Jason's 6-year old daughter in tow? What were they thinking? But I think they did well and they seemed no worse off for the experience as they arrived on our doorstep.
I was happy to man the grill but felt overwhelmed by having to coordinate the rest, i.e., setting the table, putting out the condiments, slicing the onions and tomatoes, although I did make a last minute decision to offer bacon cheeseburgers instead of regular cheeseburgers. I think they were universally enjoyed. And, a spot of brilliance on my part since it was the extra something that I like to offer our guests. Something they are not expecting and something they are likely to take pleasure in. And, they did. Some had more than one which pleased me to no end. There were so many good things on the table, including sister Kathy's bow tie pasta salad, that no one went hungry. The day was too beautiful, the company just right, the food delicious and plentiful, and it just worked.
There was a lot of inside family talk which because tiresome after a while. Not that it wasn't interesting, but all too hard to quantify and substantiate. It had a seemingly souring effect on the person holding the views so might well be toxic over time. Got to let those demons go, dudes and dudettes. Got to move on. The past is the past and it is sometimes better left alone. Forget the rehashing, the gnashing of the teeth, the snarling and snottiness directed at siblings and others, and it just has to end before it eats you alive. If you didn't get what you wanted when Dad passed along, maybe it was meant to be. If another brother or sister by another mother walked away with an heirloom or two and it turned out to be your loss, it's time to move on. What is this business about entitlement? Who died and left you king? What make you think that that heirloom you had your eye on was ever intended to be yours after your father's death? I just don't know how folks arrive at these far fetched conclusions. After all, you know what they say. The Lord works in mysterious ways. Maybe it just wasn't meant to be.
It is funny, isn't it that I just don't care for the water. I like to drink it, bathe in it, behold it as I do Lake George, drive boats on it, but I couldn't care less about swimming it it. Maybe I just don't like getting wet. I don't mind being in the water but I don't go out of my way to get into it. Swimming seems to require more energy that it's worth so why bother when it really isn't necessary. Even here in Sandy Bay, where you can walk across the bay as though you were walking across a sand bar at low tide, and where swimming is not actually required of you, the effort is not warranted when considering the reward. What, to get to the other side? Who cares? That is not to say that I shun exercise. I do not. I'm a fan of endorphins and seek them out whenever and wherever possible. And I know of people who swear by swimming as the best exercise one can do. Metabolically, it is supposed to be the most difficult and demanding of all. I just don't get it.
All right, Willie. I think I have this down. I forgot to bring the plunger to my Melior pot and will have to use the filters found here in the house. I fumbled with the darn things yesterday and it just didn't feel right. It worked out in the end and I had me a dicey cup of brew. But it was touch and go there for while. I wasn't sure I that wasn't going to botch the whole pot. Well, the whole cup maybe since I make one cup at a time.
Time to sign off as the tribe is stirring.