Life has been slow and some of the most relaxing time I’ve had since we launched into this new phase of life. Last year when we returned to the US from our first time crossing the Atlantic by ship we deliberately squeezed in a week at a cabin in the woods to enjoy some fall color. It was in Georgia during the first week in November, if I remember correctly. Since we were so far south that was the perfect time for colorful foliage. This time we were arriving in the US in the second half of September — if we wanted some fall, it needed to be north. So north we went.
We’ve spent the last month here on lovely Lac Louise, in Saint-Adolphe-d’Howard. The town is a little over an hour north of downtown Montreal in french-speaking Quebec. The timing of our arrival was just about as good as it can get. The town is a few hundred kilometers higher than Montreal and the fall colors were about a week ahead of peak. To top that off we had like eight perfectly sunny days in a row to explore. It was fantastic.
As the weeks progressed we went from pre-peak, to peak, to a little past peak, to where we are now… which is probably the last week of meaningful color here.
We’ve learned some interesting things living in this place that gets significant snow fall. The most interesting thing has been watching the other residents who live here on the lake preparing for winter. They have been setting up what I can only describe as tents over their walking paths (and sometimes over their driveways!) to keep them snow-free when old man winter arrives. It’s October 18th and we already had our first snowfall two days ago!
The other interesting thing about being here has been that it was sort of a test of a life situation that we had considered years ago when we were in the early phases of designing our retirement. One thing that we used to love to do was to rent a cabin in the spring or fall on a river or a lake. We chose weekends long before it was warm enough, (or after it was cold enough) for folks who wanted to be in the water to be around. I loved, *loved* those shoulder-season visits. We’d have places almost to ourselves. We considered buying a place like that for our retirement and renting it out during the “on” season (summer) and then using it ourselves on the shoulders. We eventually decided against it because we didn’t want the obligation of owning and sustaining a property. But we also didn’t know what it would be like to spend more than a few days at a time in such a rural place. This stay in Saint-Adolphe-d’Howard has been that very experience.
So how’s it been? Well, I’ve… loved it. We’ve got an indoor wood-burning fireplace. More squirrels, chipmunks, blue jays and black-capped chickadees than I can count. It’s been glorious. I’ve tried to catch every sunset. It’s been like a dream, a really great dream.
That said, we’ve probably stayed for too long. I think that Chrissy wore out of the slow, quiet pace by week two. And, full disclosure, this stay happened to be at a time when I finally found a new project that has fully engaged my passion for building software, but in a brand new way. So I’ve not been this blissfully happy in a long time. Slow mornings, deeply engaged development flow in the afternoons. Lovely walks with my favorite person in “pinch me” levels of maple color in full bloom. It’s just been fantastic.
It’s not been perfect, I hurt my leg hiking and have been taking it easy for two weeks. Chrissy pulled a muscle in her side which has been bothering her almost since we arrived. But even with those setbacks, I’ve been on cloud nine.
All of that said, you’re probably thinking, “he’s gonna buy a house on a lake and veg out there for ever,” but… no.
As much as this has been great, it’s definitely better as a sometimes thing. If I didn’t have my software project I’d probably be getting bored. We haven’t gone to the city to dance even once. It being over an hour away, and us not already being connected with any of their dancing scenes didn’t really motivate me to drive down there late in the evenings. And since hurting my leg, that wouldn’t have made sense recently. I think that a part of what makes an experience like this special is it being kind of rare. If I owned a place like this, I’d feel obligated to return and spend substantial time in it which I think would become a chore.
We’ve got plans in the making for next fall already. We’re definitely heading to a place that will hopefully have some great color. But probably not so rural, since it’ll also be about a month. The next time we do a long-ish stay in a rural place I’ll probably try to keep it under three weeks. Which might be a negotiation with Chrissy since she might want even less.
Tomorrow is our last full day here on Lac Louise. The sun just went below the ridge across the lake. The trees which absolutely exploded with color a couple of weeks ago have lost most of their gleam. But I’ve got lovely rye bourbon old fashion sweetened with 100% maple syrup. And life is grand.
