A Weekend at Lake Palmer

You say, "where the heck is Lake Palmer"? It is near the little village of Colon. Does that help?

Anyway, it was the second annual sibling weekend for the husband and his 4 siblings.

We all brought food, picked a bedroom on one of three levels of the lovely new (or completely renovated) VRBO lakeside home and made ourselves comfortable. The short weekend commenced at 4:00 on Friday and ended at noon Sunday. After everyone packed up their coolers and luggage it took only minutes to get the place back to almost perfect. We would have been charged extra if any of the furniture was moved. For my part, I wiped the main bathroom sinks clean and dry with a washcloth before tossing it on the bathroom floor, as per instruction. It looked perfect. I did not scrub the toilet. We pay a hefty fee for cleaning, after all. I also loaded a last load of dishes and wiped down the refrigerator. Someone swept the leaves up in the entry.

There was a lot of talking, reminiscing and looking at old photos and videos. There will probably be less of that as P. runs out of old photos and movie clips to archive and digitize ... or if memories fade so much that nobody cares!

K. and I managed to stave off a session of old camp songs. We said just let us know, and we will go for a walk. That kind of stifled it, I think. Those old trite, insipid and repetitive songs from the 50's grate on my ears. They must conjure up good memories of family times or car trips or something. I have heard them all. Many times. I am just old enough and grouchy enough now to leave the room when they happen to erupt!

Grandma (from 1988) on video!

I brought some snacks for arrival time, as did others. We had meat and cheese and grapes and olives, but a fancy charcuterie presentation never materialized! Everyone brought cookies, and someone even made rice krispie bars. And adult beverages. It was too much.

But the pizza from Five Star Pizza in Colon was a hit, and not that expensive. Two large and loaded pizzas seemed to satisfy. (That was our offering--so easy that I almost felt guilty). Some had ice cream later--3 flavor choices of Hudsonville. I was going to buy some, but Ruth beat me to it!

A trip of 20 miles or so to an old cottage owned by the parents near Nottawa for three years, back in the day was the only excursion. It looked very much the same. The back porch had been improved with sliders. We knocked and peeked through the windows. A sibling photo was taken by Sand Lake. No one expressed regret for not keeping the tiny cottage in the family.

The husband's older brother gave him an early birthday gift--a framed poster of a challenging golf hole.

We did a re-creation of an old photo from the 50's of the three eldest siblings on the sofa in an oddly posed Sunday-best photo. P. showed old movies and RM showed slides of a recent trip to Amsterdam.

Ruth made a huge Saturday night meal: seven layer salad, beef stroganoff, steamed broccoli, homemade rolls, apple pie and ice cream. And the wine flowed freely.

Also, we roasted marshmallows for s'mores by the fire pit. I enjoyed wine and music rather than more food. P. played "Sittin' on the Dock of the Bay" for me on his Bose speaker and I requested "The Most Beautiful Girl" by Charlie Rich." P. is into Andrea Bocelli and played his popular duet with Ed Sheeran. Check it out on YouTube!

It was a successful weekend. A little sunshine would have made it more cheery, but we had a (gas) fire going and a fall-scented candle flickering at all times (and plenty of wine). The place has already been booked for next year!