Getting Ready for Another Winter

Gary rowing us back to the island after a concert
on Sunday afternoon, November 17, 2013

We have the island buttoned up now, in preparation for winter: all of the docks are up on shore, the pontoon boat is on its trailer in the woods, and the fishing poles and lawn chairs are stored away.

These days we use the fishing boat, rather than the stable pontoon, to get back and forth from the "mainland." We'll continue to do this until the ice makes it impossible -- which we hope will be later this week -- and then we'll once again be "stuck" until the ice is thick enough to walk on.

We love being "stranded" twice a year, but we also are increasingly feeling the isolation of these in-between times, now that we've been doing this for seven years. We don't know how much longer we'll want to do this -- or can do this, physically -- so we'll savor this freeze-up, just in case it's the last time we opt to stay on the island for it. But I suspect we'll do it as long as we possibly can.