Season's Fleetings

I'm here at the northern compound tonight, just arriving this afternoon, and it's that time of year again: closing time. Sigh! What a nice season we had this year. (I'm pretty sure I say that every year)

I hate it. I mean I love this time of year, autumn is actually my favorite season I think. I just hate having to put away the camp for 7+ months. That's a long stretch. The 5 months we have here go sooo quickly. But that is the way of all things in life that we relish, isn't it? They fly by. Truth is, once you're old enough to have your AARP card, ALL segments of life seem to fly by: those you like and those you don't like as much. Doesn't matter. Every month is running me over it seems.

Tonight is a starry sky with a waxing 3/4 moon. It's a gorgeous sky, with the kind of clear that sucks the day's heat from the earth very quickly. There are frost and freeze warnings throughout northern Michigan tonight and that's a little early. But since we had no real heat this summer, it seems to be fitting.

All summer, there is a non-stop din of activity around here. Kids everywhere. Non-stop fun. Fairs, food, fireworks and festivals. Late nights, every night, because everyone's vacationing and the sun doesn't set until 10:30. Such a contrast to October. The natural solitude of the area just reclaims the camp at this time, and that's not all a bad thing, just a very different feeling. I'd like to explore it more, but we will have a daughter in school for many years yet, and that whisks us away every September. So for now, our vacation weeks are all taken in the summer. I would love having a few weeks up here, starting about October 1st. Some day we'll do it.

Over the next few days, I'll be winterizing the boat and the RV, storing bikes, kayaks and lawn chairs, cleaning out the larder, and thinking about next May. The good thing is, that it will be here before you know it. The bad thing is, that it will be here before you know it! Such is life.

Wise people say that the time away is exactly why we appreciate it so much. I'll have to accept that as I point the car south with the memories packed away.