Tag: Lake Champlain
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November Windsurfing
Watersports were one of the lifestyle passions that lured us to full time, year round Champlaining. And windsurfing, even late November windsurfing, was one of our favorites. We could… windsurf for half the year instead of just two or three months, starting in May with drysuits and finishing in the end of October. (Source: Almost…
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Thank You, Pam!
As we approach the fourth Thursday of November we’re provisioning for an indulgent holiday banquet with family. Thanksgiving is all about family and feasting, for sure. But it’s first and foremost a ritualized reminder to pause and reflect on everyone for whom we’re grateful and everything for which we’re grateful. In both cases, Pam Murphy…
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Happy Birthday, Susan!
Today I wish a very merry, happy, and healthy birthday to the wonder woman with whom I’m as besotted today as I was that first summer more than two decades ago when we happened onto each other waterskiing, dancing, hiking, and laughing on the Adirondack Coast of Lake Champlain. From wanderlust to houselust and houselust…
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Paint Maintenance
Rosslyn’s four historic buildings exude a quiet confidence as they preside over Merchants Row, Blood’s Bay, Lake Champlain, and the Green Mountains. Understated. Elegant. Sage. It’s her architecture, proportions, and siting. It’s the harmony of symmetry and asymmetry, buildings and grounds, landscape and hardscape. And it is the constant TLC that she invites, for which…
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Champlaining & ADK Surfing
Sometimes in September, we’re still wakesurfing. Once upon a time we actually continued watersports right until the end of October, breaking ice off of the boat cover, cocooning ourselves in layers of fleece, mittens, and hats… But that hasn’t happened for a few years. So today’s ADK surfing superhero snapshot is, in fact, an illusion…
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Last Boat Swim
During Carley’s last boat swim of the summer, Susan realized that she’d done such an efficient job of cleaning out the boat to prepare for hauling and winter storage that there were no longer any throw toys for our crestfallen Labrador retriever. Uh-oh. Nary a tennis ball or frisbee. Crisis? Hardly! Master of improvisation, Susan…
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After Rowing, Retrieving
After rowing, retrieving. A perfect pairing in the eyes of Carley, our Labrador retriever. Fall is upon us, but that’s no disincentive to man and beast from enjoying the still warmish waters of Lake Champlain. I find it challenging to capture in prose or images, but this autumn atmosphere and rhythm lend themselves to the…
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Sculling Into Autumn
Susan and I celebrated summer’s end by sculling into autumn on Saturday morning. Sculling. September 23, 2023. Summers end. Slightly alliterative autumn. The beginning of a new chapter. Crisper. More colorful. Susan, Carley, and I uncovered the dory and rowed out onto placid waters to better observe the beginning of fall foliage and to honor…
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Wakesurfy Test Drive
Caveat Lector: stream of conscious wakesurfy boat post ahead… Saturday we celebrated the end of summer with one final wakesurf. Or maybe the first wakesurf of autumn. First and last. So I suppose we were celebrating the end of one surfing season, and the prospect of an even better one next year. After it rained…
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Undocking 2023
Were back at that bittersweet bookend to summer: undocking. And it’s in especially poignant threshold this year. We pulled the docks, boatlift, and both powerboats on Friday, September 22, 2023. The last day of summer, literally and metaphorically. At Rosslyn we… use the term [undocking] to describe the annual autumn removal of docks (and boat…
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Horse Ferry
I’ve just returned to Essex via ferry from Charlotte, Vermont. This waterway commute is an integral component of our life in Essex, New York. 30 minutes from ferry dock to ferry dock. Sometimes a little less. Sometimes a little more. No longer a sail ferry or horse ferry, but in some ways virtually unchanged across…
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Gangway Gang
After another marathon day stonewalling with Tony, I headed down to Rosslyn’s boathouse to check on the gangway gang’s progress. Peter and Supi were just beginning to wind down for the day, taking extra steps to protect their materials and equipment from yet another round of incoming rain. I know, it hardly seem possible! This…