I’ve spent this past weekend with friends I’ve known for almost 40 years.  It was an easy re-awakening of old relationships.

Before I flew to Palm Springs, I snapped this photo of a picture of many of us at a pool party 26 years ago.

At that time, we were in the full bloom of our careers and lives…exuberantly hopeful for the future.

We lifted these giant rocks from the base of the hill from where they had fallen, some quite beautiful with rough quartz edges and brought them back to his place. There, he and Jeremy jockeyed them into position, impossible groupings made to look like they had fallen there naturally.

The paintings are a diptych by Jim Morphesis. They are mixed media…and close up they look like a piled on amalgamation of paint and cardboard and scraps of wood

I was making a cup of tea, thinking about umbrellas and raincoats and a wet trip from Comfort to Keewaydin, when a rainbow appeared above Keewaydin.

And then another. And finally a third just beyond Boldt Castle.

Paddling a canoe solo takes practice. The J stroke from the stern keeps the canoe on a straight path. Executing it is a process of sense memory,  learned 50 years ago.  The arms and wrists know the pull and flick of the paddle and you let them do their work without overthinking it. It’s a pleasant experience- alone on the river.

There are so many homes up here that, from a distance, look beautiful, until you get closer and see the rot and the decay and the flaking paint. They are like grand Impressionist paintings.

The city is like candy, a little bit for me, goes a long way. 

There is a romance to fly fishing that I admire, hip deep in the water, completely connected with the water and the rhythm of its flow. Casting, waiting, casting again.

We drove BUZZ over because it was one of those perfect afternoons that happen in October. BUZZ is the 1910 boat that belonged to the family at Comfort. She’s narrow, very tippy and ridiculously long, which makes her difficult to maneuver. The engine is modern, but that’s about it.

But she’s stunning.

Sometimes simple things…like a sunset, are the best

Had I known this house was featured on CNBCs Scary Homes for Sale, would I have still bought it?

We’ve replaced the summer flowers with mums. I’m not quite ready to give into a grey, empty bleakness…

Tonight Conor and I went to have dinner with my sister, her daughter and granddaughter. A generational dinner.

We had an impromptu dinner here with the Hefrons from River Oaks just across the channel from Comfort.

The wind is still blowing like heck up here. And the temperature has dropped. The other night I woke up and had to tether down the hanging lamps on the porch with bungie cords.

Jeff has left his mark on Comfort quite literally. One of his sculptures hangs from the back porch, catching the afternoon light.