Remembering that Life is Good

Today we loaded our bikes and boats onto our cars, our clothes and gadgets, coolers and dry goods, and our two dogs Rosie and Folly into our cars, and bid good-bye to our cabin on the Clarion River for another year. 

The morning disappeared in a bustle of cleaning out the fridge, draining the water, loading the cars, packing away linens and anything else our winter tenants (chipmunks, mice, bats, and last year squirrels!) might want to eat or turn into nests.  

I snapped this photo of my copper earrings, purchased this summer at a funky little shop in Clarion, PA called Artfunkle. As I packed, I kept reminding myself that life is good; but I'll miss The Pinery and the many joys of summer.

I snapped this photo next to my bed where I keep some of the rocks that my daughter Kathe and her husband Jim painted to give as wedding favors two summers ago. I'd been meaning to use them in a photo all summer, but I kept forgetting. Picnics and paddling and wildflowers and hikes through the pines--The Pinery, the cabin that John built board by board with his own hands.

We finished packing, and drove away from our summer getaway. We bought this land 25 years ago when we lived in Brooklyn, NY and needed an acre to call our own. More that anywhere else, this acre is our home.

Now, I'm back home in Virginia, at a house I love. Life is good.