Bon Voyage

A lovely picture of our neighbor's home during a recent storm- it looks as if it is saying

"Please, do come in!"

I live very close to a rather large lake. I mean, we're not talking like Great Lakes big, but I would guess it's at least Tahoe sized. We live near enough to it that I have a pretty nice view of the lake out of my big kitchen window. It's very comforting to stand in front of it drinking my morning tea (herbal raspberry... yum!) or smoothie (strawberry-vanilla... double yum!), which ever season it may be. I feel a very close bond with the lake, and if we should ever leave this home it will be one of three things that I truly, truly miss (the other 2 being my garden and the proximity to an AWESOME park).

Living as close to the lake as I do, I enjoy the benefits of being smack-dab in the middle of a micro-climate. That's right, the weather on my side of Geneva road is drastically different from the weather in town. Some notable differences include but are not limited to: double the average city snowfall, random patches of HEAVY fog all winter, hail, and gusty winds. I LOVE IT! The only real down side is that it takes literally 2-3 weeks longer for my flowers to bloom than it doesn in P-Town proper because we're so much cooler out here on the west side.

Right now as we speak it is very, very windy. We always have wild seasonal storms in May and June, and then again in September and October. It's like the winds are blowing out the cool weather before the calm of summer, and then blowing in the chaos of fall. I love the windy season for many reasons: a. it is truly the best kite flying weather of all time b. I can open my windows and the whole house gets instantly filled with "fresh, good air" (that's a phrase Andy made up) and c. when it is windy my house creaks and groans like a big wooden ship.

That last reason is my personal favorite. Our house is solid, sound, and fairly well built (except for the shoddy craftsmanship with the wood floors in the hallway and 2 poorly seamed drywall joints in the kitchen). I am confident that it can withstand any storm that beats upon it, so instead of being concerned by the creaking and sighing of my little, windy home, I rather enjoy it.

Often during the windy season I lie in bed at night, close my eyes, and pretend that I am sailing accross the Atlantic like my ancestors did from Great Britain hundreds of years ago, ready to embark on an adventure in the New World. Sometimes I pretend that I am on a long ocean voyage to an exotic tropical locale. Occasionally I'll pretend I'm on a houseboat in New England, Mexico, the Pacific Northwest, or in South East Asia. It's always tremendously soothing and very comforting to feel like I'm literally being rocked to sleep by the sweet sighs of my cozy home.

It's so soothing, in fact, that I am about to drift off any second now. How lovely.

Bon Voyage!