‎63 Years of Memories....

‎63 Years of Memories....
that's what I have now. The photo below shows the chair on the point which for so many years was my father's favorite after-supper place to contemplate and cast for walleye. As much as I feel guilty about what's happened, I know he would understand and even say there's nothing to forgive. He lived life fully and moved on many times. I'm the one with the unique experience of being attached to a beautiful place for my whole life. And despite all my best efforts, yesterday the 'cabin' was sold. I signed the papers and, truth be told, a weight was lifted. A new life lies ahead without the obligations, but with all of the wonderful memories. My unrelentingly positive attitude says this is truly how it is, but my heart is still sad.

There are some things in life for which the balance between the obligation and the joy of ownership often cannot be sustained forever. It became clear that I was no longer up to the task of taking care of the place quite a while back. However, knowing what needs to be done and doing it are often far apart. Finally, no choice was left. It had to be sold.

Now it's gone. No more worrying about how long the grass or how deep the snow is up there. No more sublimely pleasurable early morning cups of coffee sitting on the dock when the color of the lake is like pale blue glass and the air is completely still. No more endless repairs, high taxes, and utility bills. No more late nights around the fire pit with friends and family - warm from both fire and friendship. No more frozen pipes or emergency calls to the furnace guys. No more saunas and midnight skinny dipping that make you feel like you'll live forever while your connection with nature is confirmed by the gazillion stars of the milky way and the loons calling out in the dark. No more concerns with low well water levels or water so hard and full of iron the clothes turn yellow and your newly washed hair feels like brillo. No more finding the way home by boat in the dark after a long day on the lake feeling like this is the only place you really, really belong. No more praying that the boathouse will make it another year without collapsing. And ultimately, no more making new memories with friends, family and loved ones. No new memories, that is, at Half Bay, Lake Vermilion, Tower, MN. New life... here we come!

How do you thank a place for memories?

Wednesday, August 09, 2006

A Trip to Scandinavia Began...

Greetings! We're back!

We are finally feeling like our feet are back on the ground. What a wonderful whirlwind trip through Sweden, Norway (and a small piece of Iceland)! First, a big hug and thanks to everyone we visited. And, we're sorry to have missed some people we would have loved to see. Next time, I promise! How lucky I am to have such a great big wonderful family! Bill enjoyed himself too!

Now, I will try to recapture a few of the highlights of the trip for the faithful blog-readers. Sorry it has taken so long for me to get going, but somehow I just couldn’t write this when we first got back. I missed everyone so much!

When we arrived in Stockholm at Arlanda Airport, we were met by Edit and Tord Jonsson. Edit is my first cousin – my dad’s brother’s daughter, born the same year I was. We struggled to fit all our luggage in their spacious Ford Explorer and struck out for parts West – Norway.



Our chariot for 3 weeks! Tord was our excellent driver over hill and mountain!





Our first stop on the way was to visit a long-time friend and her husband, Ulla-Britt and Erik Mogren, who live in Munkfors, Sweden. They welcomed us warmly and fed us a delicious meal. We would have loved to have stayed longer, but a tight schedule meant we had to drive on.


L to R: Edit, Karen, Ulla-Britt, Erik, Tord and the empty chair is Bill's. A lovely meal in a beautiful setting.



Karen, Erik, Ulla-Britt, Tord and Edit in the garden.












My parents visited the Mogrens a number of years ago and my Dad liked their sundial so well he brought one home for the cabin.



We went on to Karlstad where we stayed our first night. Karlstad is a beautiful city.




A lovely morning scene in downtown Karlstad.




In the morning, we hurried on to Stromstad as we had reservations on the car ferry there to Norway - where we will pick up this narrative in the next posting.

~ Stay tuned. Karen

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