Last Days

Summer at the shore is rapidly coming to an end.  I have said more "goodbyes" than "hellos" over the last couple of weeks.  Soon I will be saying my final goodbye and another summer will be in the books.  Well, I wish it were in a book...somewhere... but I never seemed to find/make the time to put it down in that book.  Maybe on the plane ride home I can recreate reality!  All I have to do is look through my photos of the summer and it will all come flooding back to me, only better, because who takes photos of the bad days?  There are no bad days here!

Not a bad day, right?!

I observed two of my favorite people go through their last days over the past week and it made it all too real for me.  Those last days are brutal.  The cottage closing and packing is mentally and physically draining.  Cleaning up the remnants of weeks or months of life at the shore may be the best way to make a person want to be home already.  By the time you have washed the red sand from the beach towels, put away the beach chairs, rafts, boats, kayaks, sand toys, and patio furniture you are ready for a break.  Not to mention emptying and cleaning the refrigerator...don't even get me started!  Nothing is simple around here.

The raft had another good summer...
but it must be put up for the season.

Raft removal team on the way!

It takes a village!

Even the younger members of the village helped!

And his mom makes this barrel look as light as a marshmallow!

Later that same day the children played like there was no tomorrow!  And if you think about it...there was no tomorrow, at least at the shore.  This day is a sad day for me.  Their last day always feels like it arrives too soon.  We were just getting into a routine, everyone was in their groove and it's time to leave?  The boys had another great summer full of playing outdoors, running on the beach, swimming, eating ice cream and chips, rekindling friendships (that hopefully will last a lifetime), reading Archie comic books and growing.   I think kids grow inches up here.  My theory is that all the fresh air, freedom and "fret free" living lets their bodies grow.

Boys being boys in a land they made their own.

I love that the dog is standing guard waiting for one of them
to throw him a rock!

We said goodbye to my daughter's family and my sister and her son and now it seems too quiet.  It felt so quiet that the other night while eating dinner with friends we decided to throw one last shindig.  We may have had some liquid motivation that made having a dinner party for 25 people seem like a great idea.  We gave everyone about 10 hours notice to come pick their produce from the garden and prepare a dish for the Annual Garden Party.  This time we opened it up to include spouses, because why feed 12 people when you can feed 25?!  Sometimes being spontaneous works, this was one of them.

The man can grow some vegetables!

We all ate our veggies today!

As my last week turns into my last days I find myself trying to pack as much into them as possible.  I want to see another perfect sunset, go on one more evening walk on the sandbars, take that photo drive I've been thinking about taking all summer, eat mussels and lobster one more time,  play one last round of golf, and stop by to visit (fill in the blank) one last time.  There is never enough time up here, even when you stay for three months!

Alas, it is time to move on to the next step...packing, cleaning and throwing away half  used bottles of ketchup.