Vacation Day 5 - July 6, 2019 at Eagle Lake

I'm slowly starting to sleep in and relax. I woke up and got my coffee at 8:30 this morning. The thermometer indicated it is already 25 degrees Celsius. As I stepped onto the deck to enjoy the view, it was already HOT and HUMID! There was a breeze off the lake as I enjoyed my coffee and an omelette for breakfast. As I sat and relaxed in the chair on the deck, I could hear blue jays, grackles, chickadees, woodpeckers and robins. Then I heard the gentle call of the loon while I was writing in my notebook.

The weekend on the lake has arrived. There is more motorized boat traffic, kayaks, canoes, paddle boards and water skiers. I could also hear the RKY campers out in 3 canoes earlier before the motorized traffic started. I could hear the campers singing as they paddled. It brought back memories of my childhood when I would go to camp for a weekend at most. As the boating traffic increases, I can hear the rhythm of the aluminum boat hitting the dock as wakes and waves come to shore. It makes me think of Martha Hill Duncan's piano composition called "Rowboat At The Dock" which is included in a collection of her compositions called Cottage Days, copyright 2008.

At 2:00 p.m. it is sunny, windy and the air is finally less humid and feels cooler. It is a beautiful, perfect day!! It's wonderful to not feel sticky. As I sit looking at the water, I am feeling reflective and creative. So bear with me as I have a brief interlude of reflection.

Many Faces of the Lake

• The lake can be still, reflective and completely calm. - I hate to disturb it and I feel it doesn't want to be disturbed.
• The gentle waves lapping at the shore. - "Come in and swim" it chants. - "Come play" it insists.
• Windy, blue, excited! - I'm so happy to see all my boating friends with their children's laughter and squeals. I love that fathers chase their children in the water saying "I'm the monster and I'm going to get you!" as their children scream and shriek in play and laughter. Lots of pleasure boats, party pontoon boats, kayaks, canoes. Weekend is here!
• Angry, grey, cold, windy, rainy. - "Leave me alone!" - "Let me have a 'tempest in a teapot' kind of day. People listen and leave the lake alone 

I'm back to myself now and continue with my day.  At some point in the afternoon, I found myself whistling and humming one of my favourite hymns "Will Your Anchor Hold". How appropriate that it comes to mind unconsciously while I'm at the cottage on a lake. With reflection, I'm so very blessed to have had my "anchor hold through the storms of life" in the last 2 years! The many faces of the lake have figuratively been part of my 2 year journey with this bout of lymphoma. My faith, my prayers and those of friends, family, acquaintances and strangers have lifted and carried me through the storm. I'm blessed with God's hands that have cradled me and looked after me physically. God's hands appear through the actions and caring of Hubby and many friends.

So currently, my "lake of life" is full of gentle waves calling "Come in and play". My lake of life is also windy, blue, excited and saying "I'm so happy to see all my boating friends with our laughter and squeals of happiness." 

Vacation Day 4 - July 5, 2019 at Eagle Lake

I awoke early again this morning but not as early as one of our friends who stayed over. As I walked slowly onto the deck with my coffee, it was an enjoyable morning with the peaceful lapping of the waves on the shore. I espied my friend at the end of the dock just sitting on a lawn chair with his coffee. I thought I needed a picture and would call it "Man At Peace". I went quietly inside the cottage to get my camera. I took the picture and looked at it. It was completely blurry because I forget to change the settings from the dusk pictures of the night before. I picked the correct settings and went to retake the picture. As I tip toed on the deck it creaked. The man looks around and the moment was lost. Maybe some day I can try to paint the picture from my mind.

The rest of the day was overwhelmingly hot. We continued to bask in and share the love and friendship with our friends. We all ended up taking a dip in the lake to cool down throughout the afternoon. Our friends left in the late afternoon. It was a hot and peaceful evening. A dip in the lake was required again as I started to overheat.

Hubby and I were floating on the pool noodles out in the lake past the dock. The surface of the lake felt like bath water and I wanted to cool down. I forced my feet and legs down and found a lovely area of cool water. Then BAM!!!! A fish (I assume it was a bass) bit my calf and left marks. I was OUTTA THERE!!! The bite marks did not break the skin so it was not an eel or snake as there was no swelling. I really believe it was a bass. Probably the same bass Son was trying to catch the other day. My lily white legs probably looked like a lure to the fish. Anyway, once I was on land, the mosquitoes were bad and I moved into the sun porch where I could still get the great views.

I put a fan on the table in the sun porch and took it off the oscillating feature. I adjusted it to blow directly on me while I read my book and enjoyed the sunset. It was still HOT, HOT, HOT and STICKY!  In our bedroom, I again fixed the fan to just blow directly on the bed. I had a great night sleep as the fan kept me somewhat cool.

Vacation Day 3 - July 4, 2019 at Eagle Lake

I, again, awake and am up at 7:30 a.m.  There are high, lazy clouds in the sky this morning.  There's a young man out in the bay in front of the cottage dock fishing with his girlfriend or maybe his sister. He's not using his motor but is just drifting quietly. The day is already warm and humid. The boats are coming to life and zipping here and there creating wakes.

As the morning progresses, you hear voices echoing across the water. The cottage life on the tranquil lake is stirring and awakening. It's a very idyllic morning.

I have no internet and having no electronic devices allows time to read, reflect deep upon myself and just enjoy the views. As I reflect upon myself, I realize that I love being surrounded by my family and friends BUT I had forgotten how much I love being alone within the still and quiet nature. It is a balm to my soul and definitely recharges my batteries. This is probably why I love early mornings with my coffee on the deck here at the cottage or on my patio at home. The trees that surround the cottage are cedars, pines, oaks, birch, maples and spruce.

In the afternoon, our invited friends arrives. It was a hot and humid day. The day was filled with laughter, chatting friendship and love. A quick dip in the lake was needed to cool down. The out in the boat we went with our friends. I loved seeing their enjoyment and wonder as we went around the lake. We saw the resident pair of loons come from shore near the abandoned cottage. They led us away on a slow, gentle chase. We wondered if there might be a nest on the shore. We got close to the smaller loon (female?) and saw the vertical stripes in what makes up her 2 white rings around the neck and again, the white dots on her back.

When we returned to the cottage, we had a "root beer can" chicken on the BBQ with potato salad and baked potatoes with shredded cheese, chopped chives, butter, salt, pepper and sour cream.  After dinner, Hubby started up a campfire. It was still hot but there were tons of mosquitoes, so I dressed in jeans, socks, shoes and jacket to protect myself. I was dripping with sweat and bug spray, but enjoyed our friends company around the fire. It was another gorgeous sunset!!

Vacation Day 2 - July 3, 2019 at Eagle Lake

It's 7:30 a.m. and I walk into the sun porch with my coffee. The white glare of a boat house on an island across the lake catches my attention. The sun is hitting it just right and it reflects in the mirrored glass which is the lake this particular morning. We went by that cottage on the island on our boat ride yesterday.

The cottage has seen better days. It is leaning and appears to be slowly collapsing in despair as no one seems to love it anymore. I wonder what memories and family fun those leaning tired walls of that cottage has seen. The poor old man of a cottage is decrepit and begs for some loving care. I can just imagine a young family enjoying time together at one time in that space. Perhaps the children have grown and left the area. Perhaps the parents became too old and frail to continue to use the cottage regularly. I imagine that they have died and left the cottage to their children and their families. Perhaps they live too far away now to pay attention to this poor property anymore. The black cottage with white trim and the matching boat house seem so forlorn and sad. Again, I wonder what the real story is behind this one time retreat.

As I look out, I see the combination of fir, cedar and deciduous trees on the far shore. They are clear and sharp with the various shades of green. Interspersed among the trees are bare rock cliffs that climb out of the lake. Also docks and cottages peek out of the trees on the shoreline. In contrast to this sharp, clear view is the blurred reflection of it all on the absolutely still lake. I much prefer this quiet time with the lake before the motorized boats and sea doos get going. I've always been more partial to a silent canoe cutting through the water.

It's now 8:20 a.m. and the lake has woke up from her overnight slumber. Boats are on their way out to do some fishing and perhaps some currents have come alive. The water has gentle waves but it has more movement than earlier. The surface of the water looks like little diamonds floating along as the sun hits the water. The diamonds of light are not quite moving in a lazy manner. There is no reflection of clouds this morning. The sky is blue and hazy.

It's another lazy day of reading, listening to the birds chatter and sing while woodpeckers attack the trees and we can hear the hum of flies and insects.  By Noon the heat is already becoming heavy but is relieved by the odd soft breeze off the lake. It's definitely a day to search out and sit in the cooler but still hot shade while I read. A late afternoon dip in the lake is so refreshing and washes off the sunscreen, bug spray and stickiness from the hot, humid day.

After dinner, in the early evening, Hubby and Son went fishing for the first time together. They returned in the boat with no fish to be cleaned or cooked. But the sunset was lovely. They saw 3 loons and a bald eagle while out on the water. After their return, we retreated to the screened in sun porch for a respite from the mosquitoes. All three of us spent the evening reading although I must admit to looking up and enjoying the view of the lake until it got too dark to see it.

Vacation Day 1 - July 2, 2019 at Eagle Lake

Hubby and I decided we need a complete break and down time for a week. So we rented a cottage on Eagle Lake for the week. It is a hot day with heat warnings all around. The fans are on in the cottage to help keep it somewhat cooler at night so we can sleep.

I woke up early and made my way on the the wrap around deck to just sit in a chair and take in the view. There is calm, rippled water which provides a mirror reflection of the rocky shoreline, trees and other cottages. The colours reflected in the water are blue, dark green (the trees) and the white reflection of the clouds.  As the morning progresses, a yellow dragonfly flits and lands on the deck railing in front of me to sun itself. I look up and I see puffy cottonball clouds hanging lazily in the sky.

It's Hubby's birthday today and we enjoy a lazy coffee with cereal in the screened in porch to escape the sun. As we eat breakfast, we look out over the beautiful lake. By 10:30 a.m., motor boats have come to life and disturb the calm lake. The wakes and waves will be the view for the rest of the sunny, hot day.

I see a father and very young son in a motorized aluminum fishing boat. The son is sitting in the bow (the front) with his bright yellow life jacket on and he seems very happy. Another boat comes into view towing a water skier. I see the white wake of the boat and the smaller white wake of the skier as the wakes slice through the calm water like a sharp knife.  A man glides by on his paddle board as Hubby bails rain water out of the aluminum motorboat at the dock. Genial morning greetings between the two men echo up to me at the cottage. I peek out to see who Hubby is talking to.

In the afternoon, Hubby, Son and I venture out in the motor boat and go slowly around the lake. Because we are idling and going slow, we come within about 10 feet of a large loon. They are so majestic!! I clearly saw the white rings around the long black neck and the absolutely stunning white, speckled back before it dove beneath the surface of the water. We saw it resruface as a speck in the gentle rippling waves closer to shore.

Later in the afternoon, we have a lazy time relaxing in the hot, sticky sunshine. The afternoon is spent with cold drinks and reading as well as laid back conversation with Son who visited for a couple of days. A refreshing dip in the lake and I feel great again.

Birthday dinner for Hubby is a grilled steak with grilled onions and mushrooms, baked potato with shredded cheese and chopped chives from my garden and a salad. After cleaning up from our amazing meal, we go down towards the dock and the firepot. Hubby gets the fire going and we watch the flames dancing as we answer Son's questions about our youth and we reminisce of days gone by. I walk out to the end of the dock to enjoy the view at dusk. Everything is absolutely quiet! .......Except for a large whine of mosquitos as they hover over the water at the end of the dock. OH NO!!!! Here they come!!

First "Big Wing" Ride of the Summer

Yesterday, Hubby and I decided to get away from chores and unpacking boxes. We went out for breakfast to Star Diner and then packed up the Big Wing (our 1997 Honda Goldwing) for our first long ride of the summer. What a lovely day it was. The sun was shining bright and its warmth seeped into my being. This was our first really warm day. As Hubby steered the Big Wing, I sat back and soaked up the wind, warmth and sun.

Over the years, we thought we had covered all the areas around home on day trips. This time, we headed west. We often take the Loyalist Parkway along the shores of Lake Ontario which has stunning views. We wanted to do something different so we headed west using Highway 2. It took us through Napanee, Deseronto, Tyendinaga, over the bridge into Picton and then west through Bloomfield and into Wellington. We parked in front of the Wellington Town Hall, changed into running shoes and took out our lunch bag/cooler. Being one of the first really gorgeous days of the Spring let along Summer, the main road was very busy with tourist/cottager traffic. We finally ran across to the Lions Park and found a picnic table near the water. We had noticed during our ride that the Lake Ontario water levels are still very high. Some cottages were still surrounded by water. While we had a cold drink of water and some orange segments, we leaned on the railing at the top of the shore wall and watched the choppy, high water. As we looked west down the shoreline, we saw docks still under water and a gazebo "out in the lake". It will be awhile before the owners of that cottage will be able to use their lovely lakeside gazebo.

After our snack, we wandered around and people watched in the park. It was a busy location with lots of young families. Up by the playground area which was in the full sun, it was very warm. The children and parents were dressed for the hot summer day. As the families wandered down to the shore wall, they discovered the wind off of Lake Ontario was very chilly. We didn't mind it as we still had our motorcycle jackets on. As we made our way back up to The Big Wing, we decided to see if there were any geocaches. I hadn't planned to do geocaching so I didn't have any of my paraphernalia, but Hubby had his phone with the app. We noticed there was a geocache in the park area. Of course, I didn't have a pen on me so that I could sign the log. Hubby went back into the cargo area of the bike and found a pen in my purse. After locking everything up again, he came back and we found the cache very quickly. This was a really nice break in our day.

We hopped back on The Big Wing and continued our way west. We rode through Carrying Place, Consecon and then......  Well, then we decided to just meander and make turns according to our whims. I have no idea what road we ended up being on but it was a great road for a bike ride. It had hills, it had hairpin turns and beautiful rural scenery. I did notice that the corn fields in this area were further ahead to what the fields are close to home. The land near home has been so wet that some farmers were only able to finally plant their crops during this past week. Some fields further east are just starting to show their corn and soybeans. Some fields further east (near home) are planted but nothing has come up yet. On this particular rural road, the corn will easily be "knee high by July". As The Big Wing meandered and turned here and there, we went over the 401. Now we had an idea of where we were. We finally meandered our way through Stirling which I recognized from Son's teenage days of curling bonspiels. We continued making our way east. After a couple of turns and again being on some road that I had never been on before, we ended up in Corbyville and on our left was Signals Brewery. We stopped to share a charcuterie board and I had a their ION beer. It was lovely and refreshing. Typically I don't like beer but I don't mind some craft/microbrewery beers. This one was described as a Cerveza with a twist of lime. It went down well as we sat on the patio beside the Moira River. Our table was in the shade and there was a lovely cool breeze coming off the river. Just further south on the river was some rapids which created a soft, laughing water sound. It was very soothing. Our little break was needed by my body. I had starting to have cramps in my hamstrings and feet from sitting too long. It was good to get up and walk to get the blood flowing again.

After our Signals Brewery stop, we continued heading east and made it home. It was lovely long afternoon ride. Hubby and I were very surprised at how late in the day it was when we arrived home. Of course, it didn't feel late in the day because we were fully enjoying this time of the longest days of the year. Our day ended with a hamburger done on the barbecue and eaten on the patio. We then enjoyed the birds singing and the soft lighting as dusk descended. Here's to many more Big Wing rides this summer.

A Fabulous Month

I can't believe that it has been 4 weeks since my last post! Time flies when life is great!! So we had our flooring installed (most of the house), my daughter was home for a week (wonderful, wonderful visit), I continued to fund raise for Relay for Life which was last night, I had a chest CT scan and I'm unpacking all the boxes of "stuff" that was packed up for the floors to be installed.

It's been a crazy and hectic month but I've had a grand time! Throw in a few parties, barbecues, bike rides and life is very, very full. The best thing of the many best things was the news this past Wednesday that my Follicular Lymphoma is currently in full remission!!! Woo Hoo!!! Do we know how long it will be in remission? No, but that's OK. I am all about living fully in the moment and enjoying every single minute.

Last night was the Relay for Life event. I had set my fund raising goal at $2,000. I am very pleased that I surpassed that amount. As I walked the track last night, I couldn't help but compare my energy to a year ago. Last year, I was only able to walk about 2 laps and was at the event from 5:30-8:30 p.m.  Last night, I walked a number of laps and I was there from 5:30-11:45. This is how I measure my progress in energy levels. Hubby and I celebrated my good health and remission by walking and flirting and dancing (kind of) to the music. It was a special night. The Luminary Lap is always an emotional time for us and last night was no different. We remembered 3 close family members who are no longer with us due to cancer. Hubby had made a luminary in honour of me (not in memory). As I looked at all the luminaries that lined the track and lit the way after the stadium lights were turned off, I felt anger. It's not often that I have had that surge of rage about how unfair my journey has been or that I have been afflicted with lymphoma. But as I walked the track and struggled with tears in my eyes, I also had anger deep within. It took me by surprise. I acknowledged it but I didn't dwell within it. When we left to come home, I was not in as happy a place as I normally am. As I think about my emotions, I am coming to the conclusion that all the emotions will be coming to the surface now that I have been granted good health. Kind of like the wake of a boat. When a motor boat goes full throttle and then stops, the wake can come up and swamp the back of the boat. Perhaps now that I've been given the great news of remission, some of the other negative emotions that have been restrained unconsciously and consciously, are now straggling through to the forefront of my being. Who knows, but the anger I felt last night regarding cancer certainly took me by surprise. It was like "Where did that come from?!"

While my floors were being installed, I chose to spend my time outdoors to avoid the dust and dirt. A year ago, I would not have been able to consistently weed my garden. This year, I've been able to dig and weed, till and plant my gardens. It is wonderful to have energy and feel healthy. As I write this post today, I'm feeling very tired. So I'm giving myself a day off.....kind of. It's Giveaway Day in my city today and so I put out my free items at the curb around 7:30 this morning. I made turkey soup yesterday, so I divided it up into single servings and froze it this morning. A large load of laundry has been done and is hanging on the line. We are have a wonderfully warm first day of summer and the warm breeze is causing my laundry to gently flap on the line. This is what I call living in the moment. Enjoying all the little things. I am so blessed and I truly believe that all the prayers said for me and by me have been answered. A cure? Not yet, but I am blessed with the ability to recognize the good things, feelings and people around me. Thank you God!!

Living fully in each moment.....seizing the day....carpe diem. This is what makes life worth living and enjoying. ENJOYING!!!! Bring summer on! I'm ready!!!