Today there was a splendid sunrise from across the lake. The sky and water were fire orange. I walked down to the dock to try and capture it with only partial success. In just a few minutes it will be pouring down rain. But yesterday was one for the ages.
The weather forecast for yesterday was fabulously wrong, which happens often up here. It was supposed to be cloudy all day. Instead the sun blared defiantly, the sky and water brilliant blue with just an occasional wispy cloud overhead. The high temperature was 53 I think, but it felt colder because the wind blew all day. So what did we do?
My day started with a 4 mile walk. When I got back to the house I saw my wife sitting down on the dock, wrapped up in a sweatshirt and hoodie. The lake was ablaze in yellow sparkles. The sun was delightfully warm but each gust of wind brought a chill. I went up to the house and brought her a windbreaker to take the edge off because she was going nowhere. Despite the chill, it was all just too beautiful to resist.
Around 11:30 we drove into Camden. There was a mission. We had an actual plan for a change, which was to pick up a lunch order we had placed at Camden Deli then take it to the shoreline trail at Camden Hills State Park where we would have a picnic, after which we would head up to Mount Battie for some picture taking. Unfortunately for us—and for the very first time in our collective memories, the park was closed to all vehicles. In addition, the traffic in and around Camden was worse than we have ever seen, even in the middle of the summer. The line of cars waiting to climb Mt. Battie stretched nearly to Route 1. It would be a day where we had to adjust to the reality that being in a hurry was out of the question. We would have to relax and enjoy the gorgeous weather. And…did we ever!
We have been on Mount Battie probably at least 30 times over the years but never in such crystal clear conditions. None of the photographs we took were true to the moment. But we kept taking them. Then we decided that if we couldn’t drive our car down to the picnic tables near the shoreline trail we would just walk. Totally worth it. But by the time we made it back to our car my hips were in complete revolt. Now I was up to seven miles since daybreak.
The final part of the day’s mission involved a trip to Bleeker and Greer, a very bougie, boutique-style grocery store to which we had been given a generous gift card by our Son and Daughter-in-law. Our goal was to buy ingredients for a charcuterie board dinner. This was accomplished with much angst and indecision brought on in no small part by the existence of small, hockey puck sized circles of cheese which cost $19. There was a small box of sea salt crackers selling for $16.99. It felt like highway robbery, but we had a gift card. The resulting feast made me overcome my buyers remorse.
Then, we all settled down and watched the Milwaukee Brewers sweep the mighty Dodgers out of the playoffs. What an amazing day.
No matter how many times I come here I have never lost the overwhelming sense of gratitude I feel that I am able to do this every year. I take none of this for granted. Life comes at us fast. We have no guarantee of anything. All of this could be taken from us in less than an instant. So each year we are grateful. Each year we give thanks for the privilege of being here.
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