Hello and Good-Bye

This week we have said Hello to 2007 and Good-Bye to 2006. This past Monday, the 1st, we said Good-Bye to Hukilau, our family cottage in Michigan. On Sunday, in two more days, Donica and I will fly to Germany and say Hello to Hannover.

But first, let's say Good-Bye again to Hukilau since we won't see her now until July.

On the one sunny day we had, I'm standing on the beachfront with my back to the lake, looking up at the cottage, with the deck on the left. My sister, Nancy, donated the money to build that deck a few years ago when a dear friend of the family, Esther, died from breast cancer. The cottage, BTW, is deceptive from this view. When you drive in from the back, it seems huge with its 2 stories. In the summertime, of course, those glass windows are replaced with screens, making the porch our favorite room of all.

During the winter the chairs on the deck are sparce because they're used only at night if/when a fire is lit. One night I sat out there with Dennis and Amy (their feet in the pic below) and my brother and SIL. Cozy conversations happen in that setting!

The boats and dock hibernate on the beachfront during the winter months because usually the lake freezes. Hmmm. Is it possible the lake will NOT freeze at all this winter? If so, my heart is saddened. That means global warming is really taking its toll.

Good-Bye, Hukilau. And now, Hannover, here we come. Hello, Uschi and Wolfgang (our landlords). Hello, Christina. Hello, horses (from the horse pastures). October seems a long time ago since we were last there. But surely we will simply pick up from where we last left off.

Since we're just barely one week in, Happy New Year, again!