Farley's Denouement

Sitting here in the cozy light of the cottage at the end of our last, "stolen" day at the Point...  It seems we are entirely predictable in our "spontaneous" decisions to stay just one more day.  We were supposed to head home yesterday but everyone knew we'd push it off a little longer.  We are sticking to our guns now, though!  No amount of perfect sunshine and glittering blue water will hold us back tomorrow!  Maybe make us wait til 10 or 11 to leave, but...

It's just that it's hard to say goodbye to all this.

The past few days I've had the usual "end of Farley's melancholy."  Not a welcome feeling, but no more a surprise than our extra day.  I always struggle with the ending of  our trip, wanting our last few days to be utterly perfect, rueing all the things we did not manage to fit in, wishing for more more more... The weather on Tuesday and Wednesday was not helpful in lifting my spirits, either, with rain and cold and a crazy north wind that blew for over 20 hours straight.  Hence the extra day.  Can't leave on a sour note, can we?

Yesterday afternoon, as we went out for a kayak, leaving the kids to practically fend for themselves (Jack was playing video games, Ivy was with a friend next door), the *finally* sunny afternoon stretching out in that magical Farley's way, Nat and I noted that it does not matter how long we stay-- we only really master the art of lake living in our last few days on the Point.

Today in brief:  Sleeping in, a 4 mile run, off to swim lessons, home for lunch and  a boat ride and a little quiet time in the cottage.  Then Ivy and her little neighbor friend spent 2 hours at the playground, with the full attention of  a group of pre-teen girls from around the point (oh!she was in heaven!).  Jack (very independently) swam with his cousins, played video games with another cousin, and curled up to read in a corner of the cottage.  He is getting too grown up to handle... Nat and I had time to pack, drink iced coffee, go for a drive and a walk in Great Gully, kayak around the point, and sit around with family for cocktail hour.  All before dinner.  All in 75 degree sunshine with a hint of breeze.  

So you see why we had to steal just one more?  Just one more day of time-free living, of blue sky and blue water, docks and boats, all day swimsuits and free range kids, cocktail hour and s'mores parties and relaxed family meals... one more day in a place so magical it even makes doing dishes a joy.  

Seriously.  I love doing dishes here.

Sigh.

Tomorrow we pack the van and drive  home and hope that the constant Cleveland rain of 2015 will have abated.  We are making plans to fit in a great deal of Cleveland Summer Fun before we head off to the Outer Banks in just about a week (!), and I know it will be good to be home, to nestle back in to our house and our real lives. I'll try, as I do every year, to find a way to bring a bit of lake life, a bit of the simplicity and joy of it, into our daily routine.  A way to fill a little bit of the Farley's shaped hole in my heart without having to wait a whole year. 

In the meantime, a few final memories from the past few days.

Swim lessons at Harris Park Beach.

Jack's diving is really coming along.

Snuggly sweeties.  I think Farley's is wearing them out..

Great Gully.  A magical stream-walk from one waterfall-pool to another.  Minnows and rocks to find, beautiful primordial forests to walk through, bedrock formations and shale and fossils and magical secret swimming holes.  The kids were in heaven.

An evening at Long Point.  Lucky stones and brownies and swimming and playing catch and a great playground and of course, this lake!

We made the most of a windy, cold morning with a trip to Montezuma Wildlife Refuge.  Didn't see much wildlife, which might have been because of the 5 terrifically excited children we had with us.  Seriously.  They had SO much fun here.  Kids are pretty awesome.  It doesn't take much to make a great day for them...

 Case in point-- we returned to Farleys and took refuge from the wind on our tiny porch where old slides garnered rapt attention. This sweet little group read books, played games, drew pictures and looked at slides for the better part of 2 hours...

 Then, we discovered that north wind had spared our south cove and while one side of the point was experiencing October weather, it was a pleasant summer afternoon on the other.  The rest of the cousins arrived and all 9 of them were out swimming for a while.

 We ended the day (which was supposed to be our last one here) with family dinner at Claire's house.

But wait! There's more!  Today!  Glorious weather from start to finish! Didn't seem to take many pictures, so I am holding  in my heart the blue of the water, the backlit form of my kayaking son on the sunset-lake, cottage-bedroom snuggles with my little-big girl, and soft lake breezes on my skin with warm, south-cove water on my feet.  A gift of a day.

We did our best to try to get  the Morehouse boat in the water.  It's been soaking and seemed ready to go but we were foiled by a dead battery. Le Sigh.  We may just have to come back at the end of the season, to take a ride in our favorite boat...

But a ride in Uncle Peter's boat was a good consolation prize.  These two kids decided to lay down on their tummies in the open bow while we bounced over the waves.  When we pulled into the cove, they sat up with these dazed, happy expressions, like "Whoa." it was so cute. 

The friendship-- and the dressup!-- has continued unabated.  These two have been flexibly living in one another's cottages and wandering the point like big girls, practically inseparable, and with only a few fights.  Amazing.  Ivy is going to be is severe Reese withdrawal when we get home...

The scene at the park this afternoon.  Ivy with the big girls.  All on her own, soaking up the attention from these sweet girls who she just met today.  She even got to play a bit of the infamous "Five Fingers" with them tonight.  For a moment I was sad that she did not discover these friends until the last night here.  Then, I realized that it is a good thing because I don't think I am ready for my baby to be running all over the point with the big girls, sweet as they are.  SHE certainly thinks she is ready. But I just can't handle time moving that fast, thank you very much.

Nat's sculpture in Great Gully.  A quick little walk here with my honey as consolation for a too-long line at the MacKenzie Childs Barn Sale.  I get greedy for more time alone with Nat while we are here.  I love spending time with him in these places that are part of "his" world, hearing stories from when he was young.  Family time, kid time-- I love every bit of it-- but I do so treasure these moments alone with my best friend of all.

Post-swim Ivy. She pretty much sums up life at the Lake in this picture.  Red chairs, lake-light, swimsuit, wet hair, giant grim plastered on face.  Yep.

S'mores party next door with all the kids on the Point. 

See you soon, dear lake.