Closing Weekend

Looking out over Cassadaga Lake from in front of the Maplewood

My friend Karen and I went out to the Dale and closed up the house for the season--already. This is always a bittersweet time for me. Once again, as you can see, the Dale was gorgeous in its Fall finery and I so love to see it like this...but then...this is my last trip of the season and there is always some sadness attached to this for me; this year has gone by so quickly.

I swear it is getting harder and harder for me to leave this place and I am thinking seriously about what will happen years and years from now when I'm ready to retire. I don't like the snow, eh? But if I didn't have to be out in it everyday, that might not be so unbearable, would it?

I got a message at church on Sunday to the effect that I *will* be taking a trip that I've been thinking about and that travel would be safe and there was something to do with a casino attached to it and I would come in to a little money because of it and there would be an extra person going along. This made me laugh because I was thinking just last week about whether Da and I could swing a cruise for our anniversary next year and one of his concerns is whether it would be safe to travel and one of Sean's concerns is whether he could go with us. So, if there is a casino onboard the ship, it looks like this might be the trip to take!