The 12 Days of Christmas … a la Torch Lake

Posted on December 4, 2013 by Diane

On the first day of Christmas, my true love gave to me

a wave runner with a red key!

Photo courtesy of Motoropia.com

Photo courtesy of Motoropia.com

On the second day of Christmas my true love gave to me

  •           2 inner tubes
  •           & a wave runner with a red key!

On the third day of Christmas my true love gave to me

  •           3 slalom skies
  •           2 inner tubes
  •           & a wave runner with a red key

On the fourth day of Christmas my true love gave to me

  •          4 flopping fish

flopping fish

  •          3 slalom skies
  •          2 inner tubes
  •          & a wave runner with a red key

On the 5th day of Christmas my true love gave to me

  •           5 Petoskey Stones!!!
Photo courtesy of deniseworddesigns.com

Photo courtesy of deniseworddesigns.com

On the 6th day of Christmas my true love gave to me

  •           6 kayaks paddling 
  •           5 Petoskey Stones
  •           4 flopping fish
  •           3 slalom skies
  •           2 inner tubes
  •           & a wave runner with a red key!!!

On the 7th day of Christmas my true love gave to me

  •           7 Shades of blue 

Torch_Lake_Eastport_2-1

  •           6 kayaks paddling 
  •           5 Petoskey Stones
  •           4 flopping fish
  •           3 slalom skies
  •           2 inner tubes
  •           & a wave runner with a red key!!!

On the 8th day of Christmas my true love gave to me

  •           8 margaritas

untitled

  •           7 Shades of blue 
  •           6 kayaks paddling 
  •           5 Petoskey Stones
  •           4 flopping fish
  •           3 slalom skies
  •           2 inner tubes
  •           & a wave runner with a red key!!!

On the 9th day of Christmas my true love gave to me

  •           9 skinny dippers  

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  •           8 margaritas
  •           7 Shades of blue 
  •           6 kayaks paddling 
  •           5 Petoskey Stones
  •           4 flopping fish
  •           3 slalom skies
  •           2 inner tubes
  •           & a wave runner with a red key!!!

On the 10th day of Christmas my true love gave to me

  •           10 loons a laughing 

a-loon

  •           9 skinny dippers  
  •           8 margaritas
  •           7 Shades of blue 
  •           6 kayaks paddling 
  •           5 Petoskey Stones
  •           4 flopping fish
  •           3 slalom skies
  •           2 inner tubes
  •           & a wave runner with a red key!!!

On the 11th day of Christmas my true love gave to me

  •           11 boats a racing 
  •           10 loons a laughing 
  •           9 skinny dippers  
  •           8 margaritas
  •           7 Shades of blue 
  •           6 kayaks paddling 
  •           5 Petoskey Stones
  •           4 flopping fish
  •           3 slalom skies
  •           2 inner tubes
  •           & a wave runner with a red key!!!

On the 12th day of Christmas my true love gave to me

  •           12 stunning sunsets

DSCN2797

  •           11 boats a racing 
  •           10 loons a laughing 
  •           9 skinny dippers  
  •           8 margaritas
  •           7 Shades of blue 
  •           6 kayaks paddling 
  •           5 Petoskey Stones
  •           4 flopping fish
  •           3 slalom skies
  •           2 inner tubes

  •      & a wave runner with a red key!!!

Whew!!!

Me…I’m off to do some more caroling!!!

and a one and a two...

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Letter from the Lakes

Posted on December 1, 2013 by Diane

The docks are out, the lifts are up, & the boats are gone…

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The jet skis are quiet, the shutters latched, &  the sandbar silent.

Listen carefully… you’ll hear the sound of a sigh weaving through the wind.

It’s my sigh. These last few months were yours.  I held you all while you splashed, zipped, & glided your way through my waves. I listened to your laughter & songs & engines.

DSCN0814

But now it’s my turn. I’ll miss you these next months but I’ll gather the quiet of your absence around me. From the first touch of frost, even before, I anticipated this resting, this waiting, this patient renewal through the longer darkness. I feel the sun slipping along the horizon on it’s journey south, taking the light & stealing the warmth & know it’s my turn…to revitalize & cleanse the waters that flow through me. I’ll draw light from the skies & air above me, breathing to the ancient rhythms taught to me. Feeling the earth deep beneath me, I’ll connect to the others of my kind.

2010March 060

The waters around me flow in a dance, choreographed to replenish us. There are 14 of us who move together as we have through the millennium: Beals, Scotts, Six Mile, St. Clair, Ellsworth, Wilson, Benway, Hanley, Intermediate, Bellaire, Clam, Skegemog , Elk, & me. We are old, but made forever young in this unique place.

Before, there were few of your kind who knew us & we welcomed you. We shared our waters, our beauty, our fish & our abundance with you. We danced, with you being grateful & graceful partners.

We welcome you still but we have felt a change. There are more of you, so the dance becomes more frenzied. Some come to dance, but they don’t hear the music, some have lost their gracefulness & gratefulness. Some are careless & the dance is frenetic. We mourn the loss of this part of our beautiful partnership.

But for now, it’s our turn. The months ahead will restore us. We’ll welcome you again in spring. It’s our hope that you’ll spend this time in the same way, renewing, restoring & reflecting on your part in our next dance.

DSCN1746

With Love from,

The Lakes

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The ABC’s of Thanksgiving

Posted on November 27, 2013 by Diane

Here are some Thanksgiving riddles for you to solve…

untitled

What always smells the best at a Thanksgiving dinner?

                    your nose
 

What key will never open a lock?

                     a turkey
 

Why do turkeys gobble?

                    they don’t have any manners (here’s where you groan out loud)
 

What happened when the turkey got into a fight?

                    He got the stuffing knocked out of him
 

& the last one….

What do all these languages have in common with our American Thanksgiving?

  •  Afrikaans – dankbaarheid

  •  Bulgaria – благодарносÑ

  •  Chinese – 感謝

  •  Dutch – dankbaarheid

  •  Estonian – tänulikkus

  •  Finnish – kiitollisuus

  •  German – Dankbarkeit

  •  Haitian – rekonesans

  •  Icelandic – þakklæti

  •  Japanese – 感謝

  •  Korean – 감사

  •  Latvian – pateicÄ«ba

  •  Malay – terima kasih

  •  Norwegian – takknemlighet

  •  Portugese – gratidão

  •  Romanian – recunoÅŸtinţă

  •  Swahili – shukrani

  •  Thai – กตเวทิตา

  •  Urdu – شکر

  •  Vietnamese – lòng biết ơn

  •  Welsh – ddiolch

  •  Yiddish – דאנקבארקייט

No Virginia… the answer is NOT turkey!

Give up???

Here’s a hint…your friends’ faces, the people you love, the things that make you happy, your favorite food or book or song.

Got it???

The answer is “Gratitude“.  All the countries above, & many more, have a word for gratitude.

Wikipedia defines gratitude as… thankfulness, gratefulness, or appreciation, a feeling or attitude in acknowledgment of a benefit that one has received or will receive.

How cool is it that, even though every country & culture has a way to express gratitude, Americans have an entire day devoted to its celebration? I’m going to suggest you start a list so that when you’re carving that turkey or that hotdog, watching those Lions & Packers or Duck Dynasty, or the Macy’s Parade or even planning that Friday morning shopping extravaganza, you won’t forget to find a moment to express your gratitude…”an acknowledgement of a benefit you have or will receive”.

Me…I’m off to find that list I started yesterday!!!

I nevr did get the knack of putting my clothes away...

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