WHERE HAVE I BEEN???
Not really been anywhere, just going along. August went by quickly without any significant events or drama. I spent time with Linda on her dock, that was always a treat. We watched the loons--the young loon now has a white breast and is diving along with the parents though they seem to still be feeding him the fish they catch.
I'm still walking with Carol, we walk outside in good weather. We have our favorite routes, either the bog boardwalk here by my house or the road near hers or old logging roads in both places. We try to take Bear and sometimes Treasure along but he is bad bad bad on a leash so when we walk roads with cars on them he stays home or in the car. One morning I left him in the car with Treasure and they both howled and screamed as Carol & I walked away. OMG they sounded like a pack of coyotes wailing away. Luckily we don't go places where there are other people. What a racket they made! We could hear them far far away.
My college friend Ted came to visit in August, that was a treat. He lives in Conn. and came last year. We laugh a lot and talked very little about the past so that was nice. Last year was his first visit to my house and mostly we only relived the past. We went to Lake Placid, he likes to go there, and we sat on the boat house porch, I like to sit there, and we went out for dinner one night and breakfast one morning. It was a nice time.
There are still summer friends here so I've been visiting. It was a fairly quiet summer as summers in Hawkeye go, not as much socializing as some years. That's OK, we know we all care about each other and are happy to be together. Duncan and Sue will arrive this week and stay through the month (I hope). Others have left or will leave soon but there will be friends here into October.
My big excitement is my trip to my Homeland--I'm going to the Midwest this week to visit with my Rockford friends. We'll stay in Lake Geneva, Wisc. and have a good time being old friends. I fly out from Burlington on Weds., return on Sunday. Some years there are 15 of us, some years more and some years fewer. I'm looking forward to being with these women, although our lives are very different and we've taken different paths into adulthood we care about each other and have fun together. These are friends from elementary school, junior high school and high school, all of us turning 65 this year. What a surprise I found in my mail the other day: my Medicare card! Boy did that make me feel old! Anyway, this group of women gets together every few years and it's a joy to be with them.
I'm boarding the dogs while I'm gone. It's Bear's first time at this kennel and I hope he does well. He's a sweet boy but does NOT like other male dogs, plus he barks some times. Treasure is a perfect lady and has been to the kennel several times so I know she'll be just fine. Bear is a good dog but I'm a little nervous about kenneling him. He's crate trained so should be fine. Oh yes, just fine.
The weather has been up and down, cold and warm (not really hot). We had temps in the 30's the other night, now it's 62 with some sun. The fall color is coming fast, whatever that means. We always try to guess how the color will be--will it be a brilliant year? Will there be much color? Any reds? Mostly yellows? We're not good at predicting and no matter what we hope for it's always beautiful. I do love this time of year.
