Our Final Weekend At The Lake

Our weekend at the lake was very pleasant. It was our last weekend at the lake this year.

We did not do much. We did some reading, and we walked through the woods with the dog, and Andrew and I went swimming. Otherwise, we just enjoyed the quiet, and played with the dog, and talked. Yesterday we stayed in much of the day because it was dark and overcast and rained seemed imminent. It was eerily quiet, and lovely.

This afternoon we closed the lake house for the year. There truly was not much for us to do.

We turned off the water supply and drained all faucets. We moved all deck furniture and all lawn furniture into the garage. We removed everything from the refrigerator (not that there was much there anyway) and we turned off the electricity. (It is an all-electric house, so we do not have to worry about turning off the gas.) Our final measure was to close and lock the window shutters, which were built inside the house so as to protect the house in the event of window breakage during a winter storm. And that is really all we had to do.

Leaving the lake house sort of made me sad, because I have always found happiness there. When I am at the lake, I am free from all cares and worries and concerns. It is beautiful there, and peaceful, and still. I can hardly wait until next summer, when we will get to go to the lake again.

Andrew and his father work this week until Noon on Thursday. Since I am off those days, I think I will join Andrew’s mother. I will help her get things ready for London, and I think she will find a second pair of hands to be useful. I also think that Andrew and I will have dinner over at his parents’ house this week, since I will already be there.

We are all getting very excited about our trip.

Andrew is starting to get positively giddy, just like a little kid at Christmastime. London is his favorite city in the entire world, because there is so much to do there, more than any other city anywhere. Andrew’s excitement is starting to rub off on me.

I have only been to London once, when I went on a European trip with my Dad. We saw the absolute essentials of London—The Tower Of London, Westminster Abbey, Saint Paul’s Cathedral, The British Museum—but my Dad and I did not have enough time to make a leisurely exploration of the city. We gave London a quick once-over before we moved on to the continent to see the highlights of Holland, Belgium, France, Germany, Austria and Italy, part of a whirlwind tour.

Andrew has been to London countless times, and he knows the city very, very well. He knows London better than Minneapolis, because he has spent a lot more time walking around central London than walking around downtown Minneapolis.

Andrew says that this trip will be a perfect mixture of culture, history, architecture, art and pleasure. I think he is right. This trip will be only the first of many leisurely explorations of London that Andrew and I plan to make.

I have our itinerary practically memorized. I think we have planned an incredibly rich and varied schedule of things to see and do. I don’t think we will be bored for one minute.

Rule Britannia!