I think I measure my quality-of-life by how much I enjoy the summers. We only have so many of them throughout our lives and some are good while some are not-so-good. This summer was, and will probably remain, one of the better ones in my life.
As I've mentioned on this blog, at the beginning of the season I bought a small sailboat which I named Aelena. I learned the ropes, quite literally, and after fixing her up, I sailed her 15 times between early July and early September in the Atlantic off the coast of New Hampshire and Maine. Because of her relatively high displacement, she handled wonderfully, even in heavy seas. Her only shortfall is in light airs, but I'd rather have a boat that can handle the tough stuff and plods along in light wind than one that can't take the big seas and 20kt winds that are common to my neck of the ocean.
I also spent three days on Star island. After sailing there frequently over the course of the summer, I signed up for a writer's conference that was held in early September. The place was magical and I met the most interesting people. I'm taking a stab at writing a fictional story based on life there. I look forward to visiting again next season.
Lori and I always hate to see the warm weather give way to frosty nights, but we're ready for autumn this year. I closed the pool this weekend, buttoned up the boat, split a bunch of firewood, hauled it up to the house and stacked it outside the family-room. I also took the first pass at the lawn picking up leaves, put down some grub-killer, stacked a bunch of brush for a bonfire, stowed away the patio furniture and cleaned out the garage. Lori changed all of the rugs from summer sisal to winter wool, put the flannel sheets on the bed, swapped out the curtains and washed the wood floors of their summer grit. It was all cathartic and now we're ready for the cold nights and roaring fires. Hope you are here for some of them!
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Good Morning Guiseppe. Sounds like your summer was filled with great experiences...as they should be. Your new ventures in sailing was adventurous. That's one of the things I most admire about you; you're not afraid to take on new things, and you do well at them. This is what creativity and growth is all about.
The writing seminar you propose to take will be a step forward in another creative process. I've been to several of them, and taught several courses on creative writing along the long, winding, diverse path of my lifetime. You have already been published, so many of the issues in writing you are most likely familiar with.
On another note, your preparation and yard/house work getting ready for the upcoming winter is admirable. Do you hire out? HAHA I have many of the same things to prepare for - all but the grub stuff on the lawn. With the price of propane this year, we'll be burning a lot of wood. I do need to order another cord or two. We have a cord and a half of well seasoned oak right now, but that will be nowhere enough, as I'm hearing it's going to be an early, very cold, and a long winter. The Farmer's Almanac predicts that the northeast will have another severe winter. All the old time Amish out here say the same thing.
Well nipote, I'm off to the kitchen to bake a few loaves of Italian bread, a cranberry/walnut loaf, and have to make a few additions to the blog.
Have a great week. Love to all
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