turkey bowl

Cottagers' "Turkey Bowl" teams, from the north (green
shirts) and south (red shirts) ends of the lake.


Jeff's brother's family have left, leaving JBR, Ginny, Jeff and me. We are gradually packing up, moving a bit slower because of yesterday's Thanksgiving feasting. The sky is a brilliant blue, and there is a frosty hint in the breeze, a promise of winter.

Yesterday was the annual Turkey Bowl, where cottagers from the north and south ends of the lake meet to play touch football. Those not involved in the game (most of us) mill about on the sidelines, renewing old acquaintances and catching up on gossip. Children are admired, anecdotes exchanged.



Boat ride from the cottage to the Turkey Bowl site
at the end of the lake. I took this photo by holding the
camera above my head.


When I first began attending the Turkey Bowl with Jeff, I hardly knew anyone, pretended to be more interested in the game than I was so I wouldn't have to worry about talking with anyone. Now many of the faces are familiar; I watched their babies grow into young adults, attended leaseholder meetings and barbecues. Several tell me they enjoyed the article I wrote for an issue of the leaseholder newsletter.

I just spent an hour sitting on a deck chair in the sun with a blanket over my lap, reading a book. The sun was warm enough that I found myself dozing off a few times, waking again when a cloud passing overhead blocked the sunlight, chilling the air.





Took a sauna earlier today, then jumped in the lake. It felt like I was leaping into a vat of ice water; despite my initial toying with the idea of swimming a bit, I found my limbs start to pinwheel madly within a split second of hitting the water...my brain was obviously yelling, "what, are you crazy? get outta here NOW!!" I did it about four times in a row. :-)

Home tomorrow.

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