Making Memories with Friends

September 15-16, 2006

There was a family of swans on the lake, mom, dad and the two young ones. All were white except one that was gray; it reminded us of the ugly duckling story. Mary goes out when she sees them swimming close by and calls to them. Bob takes a loaf of sliced white bread and heads down to the dock. He hand feeds the little white one and tosses pieces to the others. When we were out on the boat we went near the swans and fed them trying to get them to follow us back to the dock. Sure enough they came and Kathy got to feed them. The little one would come up and hiss like it was saying please, then reach out for a slice of bread. Kathy held on to the little slice of bread until the little swan, about the size of its parents, took it.

Mary took Janet out to see the house she grew up in. It was still there and was recently remodeled. The breezeway still was a dining room just like when she was a little girl. Kathy suggested a picture of her in front of the house; a thing both she and Will would like to have- picture of themselves at each place they have lived.

We were all invited to Mary’s sister’s house for lunch. Mary drove; Bob and Will were going to come later. Kathy went on the boat with Lisa. Lisa’s boat is a fast water-ski boat. (Maria, you would have loved it!) Although scared, Kathy managed to get aboard and enjoyed the ride. Lisa was great; she didn’t go too fast! We did zip once to get over to the swans for a closer look. At Carol’s house the girls enjoyed talking, looking around the house and yard and more talking. We had lunch without the guys who decided to stay home and sipped tea. The teacups were each unique.

Will and Bob came over later and we all headed to the garage to see the sports cars. Carol’s husband has a professional garage with cabinet and shelves lining one wall. Everything is neat and orderly. He builds corvettes and has awards and trophies. He has two yellow ones and a red one right now. We saw pictures of the white and black ones he sold. Jack, you would be envious.

Next was off to the Penalty Box for some trivia. It was great to visit with Connie and have her competition in the game.

Denise stopped by with bags of corn and squash. Their veggies are fresh and so good! Corn picked that morning and cooked up just about melts in your mouth- all sweet and tasty.

Mary took us for a pontoon boat ride around the lake. We road with the banana boats, small one-sail boats, that were having a race around red floating balls. One boat tipped over and the club boat had to come and help them right it. It was neat to see the houses from the water. The smaller homes are slowly being bought up and new big mansions are being built. The two largest are very elegant castle like monstrosities.

Evelyn and Bud invited everyone for dinner. She has a neat farmhouse they are fixing. The new wrap around porch is cozy. Evelyn showed us her Airstream trailer from the 60’s that she is going to put out at a farm and live in for the summers. Back by the Airstream we realized there was a train track and we could hear the whistle! Nothing like trains! Bud told us that the town was the center for railroads in MI. Kathy, Bud’s daughter, and her husband were also there. They own a forty-two acre farm not far away that is on the centennial list. Dinner was scrumptious! We had chicken, pork and beef, potatoes and veggies. The fried zucchini were unique and so good. Check for the recipe in the new gallery to come: Recipes. Her desert will be in there too: Cherry bars- easy to make and incredibly good. After dinner Evelyn brought out a suitcase of old letters and documents. They took turn reading family letters dating back to the early 1800s! she said she still had another suitcase. Janet and Kathy, both in to genealogy loved discussing old pictures and who was who. Kathy was reminded of the suitcase she has of her dad’s “stuff” and the box Maria keeps of their dad’s love letter to their Mother, and the framed pictures Sueann keeps of parents, grandparents and great-grandparents.

Back at Mary’s we looked at the Alaska picture book she had made after their bus/cruise trip. While in Alaska Mary, Connie and a friend took a rafting trip down a river. Mary described the experience from putting on the rubber suit to arriving safely back on shore. Janet and Kathy laughed so hard they were in tears. Imagine the Pillsbury Dough-Boy. That is how Mary felt in the rubber suit before a fellow rafter burped the suit for her filling her nostrils with stale old rubber smell. Think of having on rubber boots and walking down a muddy hill on a misty day to get to the raft. You can understand our laughter.

As we travel we are so lucky to meet a few treasured friends. Mary and Bob are indeed treasured friends. We filled our hearts with golden memories and thank them for sharing not only themselves with us, but also their family. We love you guys.