What We Did On Our Summer Vacation

When my family goes away on our summer vacation,  we like action.

We crave adventure.

We live on the edge.

This year, however,  we changed it up a bit.

Instead of thrills,  we just chilled.

We spent a week in Lake George - on the beach.

We connected with old friends.

We made new friends too.

And we took our annual family vacation pictures at the Sagamore.

We also ate a LOT, played rummy, read books, watched Masterchef,  sprayed 10 cans of sunscreen on ourselves, ate ice cream at Ben & Jerry's and also at Martha's Dandee Creme, and played mini golf at Around the World. 

This year, we added a new activity that we will repeat next year.

We went bass fishing.

I usually stay up late on vacation and sleep later in the morning.

This year, I went to bed earlier than normal, woke up

@5:00 AM, and headed out into the dark with my camera and tripod

to capture the sunrise over the lake.

The first morning was disappointing.  There were low clouds and mist.  I could barely see the mountains across the lake.

The second morning was better, but before the sun had a chance to peek over the mountains a huge dark cloud got in the way!

This is Dome Island taken from the waterfront on Cotton Point Road in Bolton Landing.

Still, it was very pretty and well worth it.

The third morning was clear.  The color in the sky reflected in the water making an incredibly beautiful scene.

On this final day,  I was happy to see the sun come up behind the mountains and sparkle across the calm early morning water.

This was our 21st family vacation at Lake George.

As the kids have grown up,  we are content to do less

and relax more.  Our little cabin with tiny bedrooms

puts us in very close quarters.  

Definitely not even close to luxury acommodations!  

But we love it.

And we'll be back again next year!

Losing My First Pet

When I moved away from home, I was lonely.  I had my own apartment with no roommates.  I would come home from work to an empty apartment with nobody to talk to - and I would miss my mom and dad and sister.  This was back in the days when a long distance phone call cost 75 cents per minute and I was making just enough money to get by.  I missed eating dinner with them, watching TV with them, and even if we weren't interacting, I missed just knowing I wasn't alone.

When I guy I was dating told me about a litter of kittens,  I jumped at the chance to get a "roommate".

I named her "Neko" which is the Japanese word for cat.

Neko was my very first cat that was all mine.  

We bonded quickly and she eased by feelings of loneliness.

I would no longer dread coming home from work to no one.

I had someone there who was happy to see me.

I loved her so much and took my motherhood role to heart.

When I went home to my parent's house,  she came along too,

even though my family cat wasn't very pleased.

When I got married and went away on my honeymoon,  

my parents took Neko home to Vermont to babysit while I was gone.

Upon our return,  I was told that she had gotten run over by a car 

and she was gone.

I had never lost a pet before.

The grief I felt was overwhelming.

I remember going back to our apartment and crying the entire night.

Vance stayed up with me and helped me through it.

Neko was only two years old - way too young to die.

She was supposed to be with me for so many more years!

It was so unfair.

Two days ago,  my daughter Annie lost her cat, Jerome.

After adopting Jerome in May,  she discovered he had

a very bad case of ringworm.  She had been bathing and medicating him for the past month, attempting to rid him of it.

But Jerome had other serious health problems that she was unaware of.

She had to say good-bye to this adorable, loving friend 2 days ago.

Jerome, like Neko, eased the homesickness Annie felt 

and gave her a buddy to come home to.  From the moment she stepped into the cat room at the humane society,  he stuck to her like glue.

He chose her.

And the feeling was so very mutual.

It's wonderful how our hearts can love so quickly and completely.

But it's so painful when our time together is cut short.

I just got back from visiting Annie in Rochester.

I had to make sure she's ok because 

I really do know 

how she's feeling.

I've lost many other pets since that day back in 1984,

 but the first was the hardest.

Every one of them has left me with so many happy memories

and every one of them has made my life richer.

It All Began Eight Years Ago...

On June 7th, I received a special gift.  I've written about this before - back in 2011 -  Maid Marion Blog Post - but now the story has an ending.

Last month, I was presented a rose bush named for my mother, Marion.
It all began a week after my mother passed away in 2007 when I went to our local garden shop to get roses for a memorial rose garden.  I spent many hours with a wonderful, warm lady - Marci - who helped me that day in so many ways (with roses and a shoulder to cry on).  Before I left, I asked Marci if there was a rose named Marion.  My dad was grieving deeply at the time and I thought it would be a great gift for him.  But Marci couldn't think of any with my mom's name.

That simple question was the end of my involvement.  Marci, however,  did not let it go.  Over the next few years,  she had contacted England's largest breeder of roses, David Austin, and relayed my story along with the suggestion that they may want to do a "Sherwood Forest" series with roses named Robin Hood, Friar Tuck, and Maid Marion.

To sum it all up - David Austin took Marci's suggestion and the Maid Marion was available for the first time in the United States this year.

Marci presented my "Maid Marion" to me at the June 7th meeting of the CT Rose Society at Woodland Gardens - where the story began eight  long years ago.

It hadn't bloomed yet when I received it,

but it didn't take long.

It is sweetly scented with petals of so many shades of pink!

Quite a beauty - just like my mom!

So many thanks to Marci and David Austin Roses for making this happen!

“Life is an echo. What you send out, comes back. What you sow, you reap. What you give, you get. What you see in others, exists in you.”

—Zig Ziglar