We recently reconnected with some dear old friends; Brandy and Doug. We have been friends since the 70's and despite our careers and families getting in the way of actually spending much time together for the last 15 or so, once we got together the time melted away and it was like not a thing had changed. I often think that is what is the best sign of a "true friend". I am blessed to have several people in my life for which I can say the same. Owning a small business makes vacation time difficult and then when you factor in desires to see one's own grown children when you do have that precious little time, it makes it even MORE difficult to see dear friends.
I put this reflection on this blog because as you see in the picture, they are the family we always came to the land where Oak Hill Lodge now stands to harvest our families' Christmas trees each year. Brandy would always make hot chocolate for the kids and a delicious buttered rum for we adults. What fun! I see this picture and it all comes back to me. As time went by and lives got more hectic as the children went to school and got involved in a host of other activites, we eventually abandonned our much loved tradition and went our separate ways for our trees. I got involved with The Festival of Trees, and made the donation to purchase my tree after the festival was over. Those trees were farm raised and put the ones we used to get at the field to shame, but looking back the loss of the fun of the hunt should have meant more.
Forgive me Edgar Allen Poe for my interpretation of your great work with this title but our late fall project has been to put a patio on the far side of the Lodge. After spending a couple years hauling rocks from as far away as Bowdoinham where we were able to get them from the old barn foundation of a good friend of my sister's, we had accumulated enough to build a retaining wall around the perimeter of the patio and to build it several rows higher around the fire pit area to provide seating for those marshmallow or weiner roasts. Knowing that it would be far more difficult to gather the large flat stones we needed for the floor of the patio, we opted to buy two pallets from N.C. Hunt Lumber at a cost of $250 each. That made me appreciate all the hard work of gathering even more! We will build a pergola against the building on which will grow our wisteria vine and will move the grill up onto the patio along with the stainless storage cupboard we have had for several years. We were able to buy a couple of large cement planters at end of year clearance at Lowe's allowing me to bring plants onto the patio without covering up the rocks. We opted for individual cushions along the stone wall allowing everyone to grab one and claim their spot around the fire. One of the best parts of it all is that the "plain side" of the Lodge finally has the pizzazz it deserves.
