Empty Nest, Once Again, As Fall Looms

Final Swim With Girls

6:20

Up at 6:10, to a cool, fall like morning of 52º, with a sunrise so brilliant over the steam rising on the lake that it chased me inside, to my couch, to sit and talk with Beth on her last morning here.  I love to watch the fog rise, slowly move across the shiny lake.  A few boats out this early, in fact, a kayak just paddled by, a great morning to be on the lake.

Yesterday was Part I of the great Exodus, as two families, the Bissell's and Davis's had to head on home, alas.  The girls were up early, for them, a bit sad but still in great spirits as always, enjoying each other's company.  A good part of the morning was spent packing the cars, which always takes longer than you think.  The hardest part, taking apart our bedroom, to look for anything that the girls forgot in our bedroom.  Evie found all kinds of things,  books, chargers, necklaces, clothes, all hidden beneath mattresses and blankets.  To make sure everyone had what they brought, we had to literally take apart the living room and TV rooms, so  I ended up vacuuming both, to start getting things back in order. Evie made a final grand breakfast, of pea meal bacon, now an all family favorite, and we went through close to two dozen eggs, as everyone was starved.  Evie, the girls and guys took one last swim, just as the heavy algae was coming in, so it was perfect timing for all.

Lull Before The Exodus

Halle Chilling

Tom and His Girl

Both families left around 12:30 and it was very hard for all of us to day good bye since we had had such a fun week together, and we knew it would not happen again for a year.  The girls were all hugging and kissing each other, promising to keep in touch by text, email, or Facetime.  After many good byes, they were off and it was a quiet house, with just Evie and I and the Albarrans for the day, like not going 'cold turkey' but having an extra day with some of the family around to make up for the loss.

Tyler's Peanut Butter and Whipped Cream Pie

We did not do much the rest of the day.   Beth enjoyed sunning out on the dock while the boys and Marisa hung out inside with Evie and me.   Tyler talked Evie into making one more pie, this time a peanut butter and whipped cream pie.  They first had to make a pie crust, bake it, then out together the filling, a custard with peanut butter, then put it together and let it get cold.  Mid afternoon, Beth went to the Artist's Loft with Mitch and Evie and Tyler put together the Turkish meatballs or spicy koftes, for another one of our favorite meals, what they call Iskender Kebab in Turkey.

Tyler and Granny Making Turkish Koftes

Last Supper

When Beth returned, we all sat outside on a splendid Chautauqua afternoon, at the picnic table, and painted more rocks.  We spent close to two hours painting, until it started to cool and dusk approached. Tyler and I then grilled the egg shaped koftes outside and Evie got things ready inside for our final meal as a family.  To make the Iskender kebab, first Evie browned pieces of pita bread; we then put some on a plate, added two or three koftes, covered both with tomato sauce, then added yogurt, and you have an extraordinaire meal, a little like a meatball sub I suppose except the kofte's are heavily spiced.  For dessert, we had Tyler's peanut butter pie, light and creamy, definitely worth making again.  The boys then packed most of the car before we finished the night playing Telefunky, having taught Marisa to play and she caught on quickly.  We stayed up later than we thought playing so Marisa did not get to bed till 11:00.  The end of another good day.

As I finish this blog entry, the Albarrans are on the road, the house is empty, sadly so,  and Evie has started the long day of getting the house back in order, a psychologically comforting task, keeping our minds off the departure of our family. Work, the great anti depressant!  What a grand two weeks we have had!