The wind has been blowing all night, stripping the last of the leaves from the trees … raising whitecaps which slide across the deep blue surface of the lake in sharp, but flowing contrast. Fall is over in our little part of Maine. As we slip into the raw New England winter, I wanted to share these thoughts with you …

	The sun creeps over the barren hillsides and leafless trees, peeking between the gnarly arms which are raised heavenward in empty supplication for a return to the glory they’ve so recently lost … and the rays of thin, almost bleached out, warmth hit the surface of the lake - raising billows of mist into the crisp morning air. Such dismal beauty …
The chill dawns into a clear stillness … the earth and the waters seem to be holding their breath, in wait for the colors to be completely absorbed … hues drained from the sky, the trees, the depths … like the lifeblood of nature dripping endlessly into the void of winter dreams.
	As the last of the warmth slips slowly behind the trees, shades of vermilion tinge the skies with the inexorable passage of time, stealing yet another year’s carefree greens and golds. It’s useless to rage against the silent beauty … we are powerless against the encroaching bleakness … herald of a silent cold.
Soon, another morning will dawn … shades of gray and white will mute the sounds of warmth and life. Such an empty tranquility … such sterile life. And yet, beneath the pale misery …
	… will lay the hope of life and warmth, of soft greens and flowing streams, of carefree thoughts and peaceful summer dreams.

I don’t have time for a real post, because I’m only about 1/3 of the way through my blogrun before I get caught up on all of my friends’ blogs. I was over on Dr. Emer’s blog … his beautiful photo blog … and I saw a breathtaking fall picture. It made me realize that although I’ve been taking a lot of pictures while I’m up at our camp, I only posted a few in the very beginning. So - here are a few photos taken from our camp area. They were all taken only a few feet away from the camp.

This was taken from the front of the camp. The morning mist is still on the lake. The NH line is just a few feet from the other side of the lake.

Looking over the trees and blueberry bushes toward the misty lake.

This was taken from the side of the camp. We have water on two sides.

This is a detail of the previous picture … notice the foliage reflected in the water. There was still a bit of morning mist lingering above the water.

A trail of diamonds across the water … taken from the dock in front of the camp.

A placid fall afternoon … looking toward New Hampshire.

Still waters obscured by fall colors …

Yesterday was our first full day up here on the lake, and I was washed out from moving, (pun intended! ;o) so I spent the day resting and doing quiet stuff, like school work. We’re coming out of 90° temperatures which lasted for quite a long while - especially for us Mainers … and although it was in the 80’s on Monday as we were moving all of our goodies up here, it was in the 60’s on Tuesday, with a stiff breeze.

We’re on the windy side of the lake, and it’s quite often 10 degrees colder here than it is in town. It’s nice if you want to cool off, but it’s not so nice if you’re a chilly old lady like me - who loves to swim, and has to wait for an 80° + day to do it … I don’t get much swimming in anymore.

This morning was quite chilly, so I’m wearing a nice warm sweat suit, but the wind had died down, and the sun is getting higher in the sky … the cicadas are singing … and I think it’s going to warm up a bit today.

I have both of the windows in my bedroom open … I like the sounds of loons, the deep rumbling of the great-grand-daddy frog that lives in the shallow water of the tiny inlet, just under the blueberry bushes - a few feet away from me, and the soft cooing of the doves off in some of the trees in the nearby woods. Last night, I turned off the light and lay in the darkness for a long time … listening the sounds I’ve missed so much over the long winter. The loons were calling, and being answered by, the loons on another small lake just over the hill.

Some of you have heard loons before, and recognize the sound right away … while some of you have heard them, but have no idea of what exactly you were listening to - they’re often used in really tacky movies, because the sound is so plaintive and evocative. Doug and I always laugh ourselves silly when we’re watching a movie of someone in the desert, and suddenly we hear the eerie call of a loon.

I will try to do a podcast, if my son will show me how … and my microphone will pick up the sound of loons calling to each other at night, from our tiny lake, to all of the other little lakes all around us.

There have been so many really nice comments about the photos that I’m going to post a few more pictures today.

This was taken yesterday morning, from my the window at the foot of my bed. Sometimes when I go to bed at night, I lay with my head at the foot of the bed, and look out of the window at the lights across the lake as they make their sparkling trail across the water. It’s unimaginably peaceful … the magic of it seeps deeply into your soul.

That one was taken less than an hour ago. I went out to piddle my little doggie, and it was so pretty out there that I had to take a few pictures. That’s the camp with the morning sun coming over the trees. The front of the camp is lined with blueberry bushes. That picture was taken from the dock.

This morning again … still from the dock. This is looking out across the lake. This morning, the lake is calm, with only gentle ripples across its unbroken surface. If it warms up enough today, I’m going to get into there and add a few ripples … :o)

Taken from the dock, looking back at the camp, and the beat up old steps leading up to it. That humble little place is my favorite spot on earth.

When we pulled up to the camp late this afternoon, this is what we saw …

Turning ever so slightly to the right, I snapped another photo …

My son Dougie … a pensive moment on the camp porch …

Tomorrow I will finish unpacking, and probably have a lot more to say. When I was up here last year, I was getting ready to start college again, but I hadn’t really begun blogging. The real blogging started on November 1. I’d been home for almost a month by then.

We’ll be here until at least until the beginning of October … and if the temperatures hold up, we’ll stay even later. This is my place of refuge. The last several years have been very busy socially during our stay up here … we’re still going to have a bit of company this year, but I think I’m going to have a reason to cut back drastically on my guests. I’ll let you all know what that reason is when I find out for sure if it’s going to happen or not …

Don’t you just love mysteries? >;o)

Okies … just wanted to let all of my friends know that I will be “AFB” (away from blog) for at least today. I’m going to pack up, and head up to camp. There’s an internet connection waiting for me up there, since we had one put in so that we stay connected during the months we spend up there. I’ll be connecting up to it as soon as I arrive.

I’ll be taking lots and lots of pics while I’m up there … it’s a little piece of heaven.

Just in case it takes me longer to get up and running once we move up there than I expected, I wanted to write a short post. Don’t want to worry anyone.

I’ll post again as soon as I’m settled!