Spring has arrived early in Lily Dale!
The crocuses and snowdrops are in full bloom. Last week, we had three days of temperatures in the 60s and 70s. The sunshine has been beautiful and the spring showers have been a welcome change from snowflakes.
This winter has been a cakewalk compared to the prior years. Not to sound dramatic, but Winter in Lily Dale is usually pretty brutal with DEEP snows, frigid temperatures, and almost unrelenting shoveling. (It is not officially the Artic circle, but many days during the last two winters felt like it! *smile*)
It feels glorious to be outside walking the streets of Lily Dale, taking my children to the playground, and seeing geese and swans swimming on Cassadaga Lake again.
Today, after raking our yard, my sons wanted to take a walk down to the lake to wade in the water and pick up litter (one of our 'good deeds' for the day). Equipped with rainboots, long sticks, and a few small trash bags, we ventured down to the lake.
We had fun fishing out an assortment of items: a baseball-style hat made for an outdoorman, a foot long orange plastic toy boat, a faded Frisbee, an empty plastic bag for grass seed, some very nice sports bottles, soda cans, and an assortment of plastic bags for food. These are things that have washed ashore during storms and been forgotten by someone.
All of these items have stories. My mind tends to have fun writing snippets of small stories, so with each new item I imagine....
The crocuses and snowdrops are in full bloom. Last week, we had three days of temperatures in the 60s and 70s. The sunshine has been beautiful and the spring showers have been a welcome change from snowflakes.
This winter has been a cakewalk compared to the prior years. Not to sound dramatic, but Winter in Lily Dale is usually pretty brutal with DEEP snows, frigid temperatures, and almost unrelenting shoveling. (It is not officially the Artic circle, but many days during the last two winters felt like it! *smile*)
It feels glorious to be outside walking the streets of Lily Dale, taking my children to the playground, and seeing geese and swans swimming on Cassadaga Lake again.
Today, after raking our yard, my sons wanted to take a walk down to the lake to wade in the water and pick up litter (one of our 'good deeds' for the day). Equipped with rainboots, long sticks, and a few small trash bags, we ventured down to the lake.
We had fun fishing out an assortment of items: a baseball-style hat made for an outdoorman, a foot long orange plastic toy boat, a faded Frisbee, an empty plastic bag for grass seed, some very nice sports bottles, soda cans, and an assortment of plastic bags for food. These are things that have washed ashore during storms and been forgotten by someone.
All of these items have stories. My mind tends to have fun writing snippets of small stories, so with each new item I imagine....
- a fisherman losing his hat to the lake while hauling in a huge walleye
- a kayaker taking a swig of cool water on a hot summer paddle and losing the fancy water bottle to the 'drink' (pun intended)
- a Frisbee player jumping to catch the flying saucer and missing as the Frisbee skipped like a stone across the surface of the water before sinking several feet from shore
- a little boy playing with the the plastic toy boat until it catches a wave out of his reach and boldly steers its' small self out to the open water with the confidence of an ocean liner
- a homeowner seeding a section of his lawn and the plastic bag flies away with a sneaky gust of wind
- some boaters out for a pleasure cruise with soda and various snack foods, enjoying the sun, water, and laughter
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