It's Time to Go "Home"

The signs are all around me that is is time to head back south.  Yesterday we played our last round of golf at the course up here.  The skies were gray and it wasn't too warm...or too cold, but it was very wet.  We played anyway and enjoyed the last "air conditioned" golf for about another month.  I always pay attention to the trees on the course, from afar, because I never hit into the trees!  When we first arrived they were all light green with brand new leaves.  Yesterday the apple trees had apples on them and there were bright red berries on other trees, just waiting for the deer and bears to eat them and fatten up for the impending winter.  Fall is in the air and it makes me think it's time to fly...or drive...south.

Fall berries

As we drove home from the golf course I saw the first display of fall colored leaves.  I sometimes wish we could stay here long enough to enjoy the full display of leaf color.  I'm sure one day we will, but that day is not this year.

I can only imagine what it all looks like in full color!

Another sign that it is time to go back is when I start hearing from my friends "back home".  Real life starts knocking on my door or texting me or emailing me, coercing me to reengage.  It seems that everyone else has returned to their real lives and are ready to get together.  Summer in the south really is hibernation season.  All of us either leave town or stay inside and try not to exert too much energy lest we pass out from heat exhaustion.  Fall arrives and everyone gets a little more lively and the schedule seems to fill right up.  I find myself feeling like I am missing out on things back home and this can only be seen as a sign....that it's time to head south.

When everyone else has left the shore...it's time for us to go home.  This year a few of us have stayed on a bit longer than usual and it has been a lot of fun!  We really have had a lovely last month here and I look forward to a time when more and more of my friends and family stay longer and longer.  This also means that we will all be older and older which may or may not be a positive.  I guess it beats the alternative, to quote TJ.  I still haven't quite become a local, so as a summer person, when summer goes, so must I.

The garden is just about tapped out!  This may be one of the first times in history that we have consumed most of the garden.  We have done an admirable job of using our resources this year.  We have actually eaten or preserved most of our tomatoes.  Some years we leave before we even have ripe tomatoes.  This year we had a bumper crop and totally enjoyed them!  The garden is starting to look a bit tired and trampled and we have been less than diligent with the weeding.  Must be time to go.

I feel like one of the Von Trapp family singing, "the sun has gone to bed and so must I..." because when the days get shorter and the sun sets farther and farther along the horizon it can only mean it's time to go "home".   So on this final night of yet another wonderful summer, I reluctantly say goodbye to the best place on earth.  It really was a great summer....but aren't they all?

June 2015

Sunset September 2015
When the sun sets over the trees it's time to say goodbye.

Left Behind

I know everyone thinks "staying on" is all dinner parties, sunny days, beautiful sunsets, quiet walks on the sandbars and easy living.  I guess you are right to a certain extent.  What you don't know is the sad, ugly truth behind being the last ones to leave.  There are a few things the ones who stay a few weeks or simply rent a cottage and move on don't know.  The price we pay to "stay on" is.....the final refrigerator cleaning!  There are many jobs that need to get done before you can close up the cottage or the house for the winter.  But the worst, by far, if you ask me....is the refrigerator!

We get to turn this...

into this!

This transformation is not without it's hurdles.  Take for instance, the trash rules around here!  Add to those rules the fact that we have a septic system and no garbage disposal.  What does one do with 4 bottles of mustard, 6 bottles of half used salad dressing, 3 huge bottles of ketchup (I personally think no one should buy a huge bottle of ketchup for a 1-3 week vacation, no matter how much cheaper it is than the small one) and numerous other condiments that have been bestowed on you by those who came and went a long time ago?  You see, everyone hates to waste all those condiments when they leave so they "give" them to the ones who are "staying on".  It then becomes our job to use or get rid of the orphaned condiments.  I personally do not use one bottle of ketchup in a calendar year much less 3 in two weeks!  What to do?

I have decided I cannot let the great condiment invasion ruin my last few precious weeks.  I must detach myself from those bottles and allow myself to throw out their contents...guilt free.  I have the bin of joy to thank for making this part of "staying on" easier for me.  I threw away more stuff today than I have consumed all summer long.  I was shameless.  My green bin now has enough mayo, mustard, relish and salad dressing to last it about a year.  I hope it ultimately turns into some wonderful soil that will help someone grow a beautiful garden, full of tomatoes and cucumbers, to make more ketchup and relish!  I have chosen not to feel guilty about this...and you shouldn't either.

But seriously people... next year when you come for your vacation, splurge and buy the mini size condiments or just borrow from a neighbor who bought the ginormous bottle of ketchup and throw the leftovers away yourself, it's a very liberating feeling.  However, if you have any leftover wine...I will be more than happy to adopt it and dispose of it properly.

Dear Nova Scotia

Dear Nova Scotia,
How do I love thee?  Let me count the ways.  I love thee from shore to shore, sunrise to sunset and everything in between.

I love your rocky shores and extreme tides.  They are unlike anything I've ever seen before.

When high tide looks  like this.....

and low tide looks like this!

 I love that there are shores you can sit on and enjoy a day at the beach and shores that are so rocky they can only be enjoyed from afar.

Definitely enjoying this view!

I love that some days can be hopelessly dreary and cloudy and leave me feeling a little sluggish until evening comes and suddenly, as if Moses parted the clouds, a beautiful sky appears just in time for the sun to set and I forget all about the dreary day.

A cloudy day that ended well.  

I love the fact that I come here with my "real life" baggage and in a matter of days I am reset to a healthier, simpler life.  Not everyone has the opportunity to get back to what is really important and let go of all the clutter in their mind and their life.  I feel very lucky to have this place as my reset button every year.

I love your miles and miles of rugged coastline, green fields, forests and farms.  I love that there are cities to explore and enjoy the finer things in life and charming rural villages to appreciate the simple things in life.  I've had the pleasure to see both sides.

Enjoying the good life in Halifax!

Tatamagouche, one of the quaint towns in the area. 

I've said it before and I'll say it again, people in Nova Scotia are creative!  There are arts and crafts all around the province.  Aside from all of the Scotia Women I know, who inspire me with their craftiness, there are some very good artists in the province.  I love visiting Bass River to see this lovely artist, even though all I can afford to do is look at her paintings and maybe buy a postcard or note card.  The drive is scenic and the gallery is lovely.  Not a year goes by without a visit to Sara Bonnyman , where I have purchased all of my favorite pottery.  I use it every day up here!  I find myself wondering why I don't have any of it in my real life in Houston.  Someday.....

I love your music!  My life would be very different if I had never heard The Rankin Family.  I can thank them for some of my favorite experiences ever!  One in particular reoccurs every year during the games.  It has also happened at each of the weddings of my three married children.  There is something joyous and overwhelming that happens when all of your favorite people circle around on the dance floor and The Mull River Shuffle begins with it's infectious piano banging and reeling fiddle!
Here is an ode to The Mull River Shuffle.....Amherst Shore version.

 "Picture this ladies and gentlemen..."
It's the first weekend in August in a small seaside community
At Lesley Brown's "barn".
It's Sunday night...
You've just finished a weekend of back breaking games
And you left it all on the field.... and on the sandbars.
You're standing around on the the dance floor
under the dim light of the "barn".
Everyone is laughing and joking and telling stories...
about their athletic prowess.
You're halfway through a case of......Kieth's IPA....
And you're getting aaaalllll fired up.....for the dance!

Finally, Nova Scotia, I love exploring your many shores.  I've been to the Annapolis Valley and seen the rolling hills and vineyards.  I've seen the Fundy Shore, Five Islands and Cape d'Or.  I've driven many of the miles along the Northumberland Shore.  But possibly my favorite drive is the Cabot Trail.  I am transported to another country when I visit Cape Breton.  Our visit last weekend only confirmed that it truly is a magnificent drive.

Where the golf courses look like this....

The scenery looks like this...

The highways never cease to amaze...

And sunset is worth the wait.

Nova Scotia, I look forward to discovering more reasons to fall in love with you!  Thanks for the rainy day to spend writing and the sunshine that followed.
Love,
Lisa

Local Goodness

One of the great things, and there are many, about being at the farmhouse all summer is the fact that I can eat an entire meal that has come from a person or place I know.  This place makes eating local easy.  I read the book Animal, Vegetable, Miracle by Barbara Kingsolver a few years ago and marveled at her family's discipline while living an entire year eating only food they grew or that was grown or raised within 100 miles.  ( a rough synopsis, sorry Mrs. Kingsolver).  It was such a great book that my husband and several of my children also read it. We all related to our wonderful summers here in rural Nova Scotia and the fresh foods we are lucky enough to eat while we are here.  It's a great book, I highly recommend  it!

I'll be one of the first people to admit that my diet could use a little tweeking.  I enjoy my share of sugar, fat,  processed foods and wine.   Up here I'm able to change to a healthier one, in spite of my attraction to Cheetos and cookies.  I try most of the time to eat a balanced diet, but am by no means fanatical about it, I'm not fanatical about much....except maybe sunsets.

All natural, locally produced, gluten free, dairy free... sunset!

My sister (the one I share a brain with) and I took a little road trip last weekend and somewhere between the farmer's market, the brewery, the winery and the oyster farm it hit me that we are able to eat locally for much of the summer.   The bacon and eggs we ate for breakfast were bought from someone down the road and the lobster is from the guy up the road who has his own lobster boat and caught them that day.  The lettuce in the salad was harvested in the backyard along with the carrots, beets, potatoes, zucchini, onions, beans, peas, and all the herbs we enjoy most of the summer.  Cooking dinner involves finding some protein, which I'll admit, much of it has been bought at the store, and going into the garden to see what needs to be picked.  Although, there are some occasions that the protein has been bought from the farmer up the road or a local fisherman or oyster farmer nearby.  It just has to be healthier, right?

The road between oysters and wine.

On our little field trip we went to the farmer's market where my sister bought some vegetables and  I bought farm fresh eggs.  We tasted maple cream, a delicious fudge-like substance that is pure goodness!  I refrained from buying any though, just what I don't need...pure, temptingly delicious sugar to snack on all day.  We bought some pottery from a local woman.  I also bought a meringue baked by another local person... I'm not a saint.  This market is something I wish we had where I live.  Yes, we have a farmer's market, but the produce is no where near the caliber of the produce grown up here in heaven!

This just makes me want to cook....and eat!

This is where the oysters grew up.....

Speaking of oysters.....one of our, now traditional,  evenings involves oysters and croquet.  We have found a new place, very nearby, to buy oysters.  You know they are fresh when you call in the morning, place your order, and the lady on the phone says, "Thanks, I'll go out in the boat and get them!".  We had our oysters with freshly processed horseradish from a neighbor's garden.  Super delicious!  We played croquet, ate oysters, drank beer from a nearby brewery and wine from the winery near the oyster farm.  Can't get any more local than that!

Playing croquet in the yard!  A new family tradition.

This is where we ate the delicious oysters!

One cute couple in the croquet photo booth!

The local brewery where we bought our beer!
Pure Tatamagoodness!

The grapes at Jost Winery where we bought
several bottles of wine!

We also enjoyed a couple glasses of Sangria.....
because it was hot and there was live music...and
the sun was shining!

One more example of a totally local meal.  Last night, we were having lobster for dinner with the same sister and her boys.  She picked the lobster up at the dock, right out of the fisherman's boat!  They were a bargain too, if you ask me.  We served the lobster with the best butter in the world, made in Nova Scotia.  The side dishes were carrots and beans from the local farmer's market.  Can't get any more local than that!  Delicious....you bet!

Dinner...before

Dinner.....after.
He can't wait to jump into that Tatamagouche butter bath!

Breakfast, lunch and dinner.....the best butter ever!
Cholesterol?  What cholesterol?

Since there are very few options, as far as dining out around here, I am very thankful for the bounty mother nature has provided for us in the summers up here.  Grocery shopping is very different when you virtually pass the produce department.  It feels very strange to pass up so many of my weekly purchases.  I still buy a few items though, because try as we may, we can't grow avocados and bananas up here!

Going Back

The Reunion
A couple few weeks ago, I spent a week at my parents house, sleeping in my old bedroom and roaming the same streets I did 40 years ago.  If you want to feel old and young all at the same time try it someday.  I was there all by myself, no husband, no kids and no dog.  Just like back in high school... just a lot older.  I was home to help my parents through a transition after my Dad fell and broke his hip and fractured his neck.  (You will just have to read all about that in my book, I'll just say he and George Bush have something in common now.).  My 40th high school reunion happened to be on the weekend during my visit.  Months ago when the event was planned and Dad was much healthier, I resigned myself to not being able to attend since the dates were during concentrated family time in Nova Scotia.  We plan and God laughs.

It didn't take me long to decide I would attend the reunion once I realized I would actually be in town!  It turned out to be a huge bright spot in an otherwise challenging week.  When my husband had his 40th reunion I was so impressed and inspired, after reluctantly attending, that I wrote about it here.  Everything I said about his reunion held true for mine, go ahead....read about it, I'll wait.  I vowed to attend my own when the time came and through some unfortunate circumstances in spite of my best laid plans, I was able to attend.

My class reunion was just as great as I had hoped, it was so much fun to see so many old friends and to catch up on everyone's lives.  I only wish I could have caught up even more with some people.  Let me just say, it's hard to dress to impress people you haven't seen for 40 years with beads of sweat dripping down your face and wet hair glued to your forehead and neck.  July is not the ideal time to be in southern Louisiana! There is no amount of air conditioning  that can over come temperatures in the high 90's down here!  At least we were all in the same hot sweaty boat!

So much fun hanging out with these ladies!

 This was the first time that I have gone away during my summer months at the shore for more than a weekend.  As much fun as the reunion was, I sure do appreciate this place even more after a very hot week in Baton Rouge.

Thanks for the memories class of '75!

How Long is a Generation?

According to Ancestry.com...
In general we think of a generation being about 25 years - from the birth of a parent to the birth of a child. We also generally accept that the length of a generation in earlier periods of history was closer to 20 years when humans mated younger and life expectancies were shorter.

I remember the summer I realized I had crossed over to the next "generation" here at the shore.  I went from being one of the kids to being one of the adults.  This may not have exactly coincided with my actual crossover into adulthood and it did not go smoothly, just ask my husband.  It happened here at the shore when I had kids of my own and there were enough little kids to fill in that kid generation which pushed me into the next generation.  Once I accepted my new reality I was happy enough being one of the "young adults".  The young adults still look good in a bathing suit, have plenty of energy, have parts that don't sag, are able to stay up and party all night long if the occasion calls for it and spend their days on the beach watching the younger generation of kids work through the dynamics of shore life.  The young adults are some of the busiest people here at the shore!

Back when I was one of those young busy people.

Somewhere around the time our kids start high school and then graduate from college and eventually get married and have children of their own, we move into yet another level of shore adulthood.  We no longer have to be on the beach to watch our children but we are not grandparents yet either.  These are some of the best years of life up here at the shore, if you ask me!  We are still young enough to party till...after midnight...  and our kids are pretty self reliant.  Sometimes our kids actually party until after midnight themselves!  We don't look as good as we used to in that bathing suit, but we still look pretty good....enjoy it while it lasts.  Life is a little less hectic but still busy.  We are in the middle with childhood and young adulthood behind us and grandparent-hood and great-grandparent-hood ahead of us.  We have more perspective and the energy to enjoy the fruits of this life.

Somewhere between young parents and grandparents...
we had plenty of energy and time to party!

Grandparent-hood is the next frontier.  Back to spending time on the beach watching the kids work their way through shore dynamics, this time not because you have to but because you want to.  You realize that shore dynamics haven't changed since you and your own children worked through them!  There are little ones who still need to learn not to throw sand.  There are still times when one child or another gets left out.  There are still those days that the children are just so tired they don't know which way to turn but still won't hear of going up from the beach for a rest.  There are also those perfect days when everyone gets along, the sun shines, the sandbars are perfect for building a castle or a giant tub and everyone sits on the beach until the last possible moment.  Being a grandparent has it's benefits.  As the grandparent, you don't really stress out about the child who was left out or the tired cranky one who can't be consoled.  It is perfectly fine for you to sit back and observe it all from the comfort of your own beach chair while those young parents in their tiny bathing suits and the perky bodies take care of everything.  Unfortunately, the grandparent does not look quite as good in their bathing suit which is now much bigger and covers a lot more surface area (speaking for myself here) than before.  We can still party until after midnight (speaking for myself again) but may need a few more days off to recover afterwards.  Mealtime at the shore can reach epic proportions for grandparents if you feed your children, your grandchildren, your children's friends, your parents and your friends.  Grand parents here at the shore are also very busy people, especially at meal time.  I guess it is all those years of practice that makes us experts at feeding the masses.  There have been meals that take a week to recover from....(just me again?).

Multiple generations at the same table....even at Christmas!
This dinner was definitely epic!

Just a regular evening dinner again with multiple generations.

Some people even make it to the great grandparent level.  They are the lucky ones.  They have more perspective than any of the rest of us, I'm assuming.  They have earned the privilege of taking it easy, although there are a few who still refuse to take it easy.  They are a rarity, not everyone reaches great grandparent-hood.  It is a special thing for kids to know their great-grandparents and vice versa.  I knew one of my great grandparents.  My husband never knew his great grandparents.  Think about it, how many of us ever knew our great grandparents?  No one cares what you look like in a bathing suit and no one expects you to feed them when you are a great grandparent.  Everyone just wants to spend time with you because time is precious.

Enjoying their great grandparent-hood.

This summer it has become more apparent to me, and maybe all of us here at the shore, that things are changing.  The view from my eyes is different this year.  The inevitable is happening.  There are more and more of my generation's parents who are no longer with us or are unable to be here for one reason or another.  There are cottages that were full of life and now sit quietly waiting.  There have been several people who have gone back and forth from the shore to care for loved ones.  This has probably happened for generations but I just never paid much attention until it affected me directly.  I'm selfish like that.  It's just all part of life.  I have to hope that just like I struggled when I had to move on from being one of the kids and become one of the "adults",  I will be able to struggle through this next phase and eventually reach a new normal and even enjoy the next phase.  One thing I will say in closing, we all need to embrace where we are and make the best of every phase of life, especially here at the shore, because before you know it... things will change!

Moments to Memories

Are there specific moments in time that you remember as if they happened yesterday? Some of these memories are clearer than anything that actually happened yesterday.  Are there times you can recall so vividly they will never be forgotten?  Tonight I was reminded of one of those moments, or in this case maybe it was hours, that I will never forget.  All it took was a song and the memory flooded back. It made me think there are some moments, they may have lasted only minutes, maybe hours, but they are such a part of your memory that they will never be forgotten.  Lord willing.

I found this little quote after I wrote this entire post....
Dr. Seuss and I have a lot in common....I always did like him!

You never know "in the moment" that it will be forever remembered.  There was that starry night in Asheville, North Carolina when we celebrated our 20th anniversary with another special couple. We laid out on the driveway in the dark to look at the millions of stars, meanwhile  TJ  snuck up on us and scared us to death.  There was that trip to Crested Butte, Co with another friend and her daughter when our girls sang a song by the Dixie Chicks for the entire drive to the wrong airport.  The song Goodbye Earl will always have a special place in my heart because I will remember two young teenage girls giggling and singing in the back seat while we two moms navigated our way through most of Colorado without the help of smart phones or GPS devices.

The sky did not look like this!

I will never forget those 10 minutes I spent sitting in a car in front of a dormitory at the University of Notre Dame. I had just dropped off my oldest daughter for her overnight dormitory stay during our visit to the campus.  It was her senior year in high school and we were doing the college campus tour thing.  She had not been accepted anywhere yet, it was only November.   The weather was lousy... cold, drizzly and grey.  Not weather that says, "This is heaven on earth and you want to spend the next four years here."!  But I dropped her off, watched her go inside the dorm and uncontrollably broke down in tears because it was at that moment I knew she was gone.  This was "her place", the place she belonged.... and I cried like a baby.  This 10 minutes is as vivid as if it happened yesterday.

I have childhood memories in little snapshots.  Pictures in my mind.  They are all there as bright as day.  Who knows why those particular pictures have stayed in my memory.  Some of them are pivotal points in my life, others are just regular days that take you by surprise when they become memories.

Tell me about one of your moments that has become a vivid memory!