I'm not usually a bird person at all, but the ducks and loons at Georges Pond last week were particularly endearing. I've always loved listening to the loons call to each other across the pond and every summer that we come to Georges Pond, we always try to figure out how many loons there are that summer. I can't remember a summer when there hasn't been at least one loon on the lake. This week we saw three, but only saw all three of them together once. We were able to get pretty close to them in the kayaks and they even came right in front of our house a couple of times. This guy appeared in front of us as we turned the corner of the island, heading home in the kayaks. They are such beautiful animals!
For the last few years, we've also had ducks on the pond. They were quite friendly last year and we spent lots of time on the beach feeding them bread. This year we decided to see if they would come up on the lawn to the house. We found that they are HUGE fans of Cheerios! Anytime they heard our voices on the porch, they would come running up onto the lawn and look up at us, waiting for Cheerios. Needless to say, we bought lots of boxes of Cheerios over the course of the week!
I often felt like I was living in the book "Make Way For Ducklings". It was great! The ducks were super cute and we loved watching them.
Bob and I spent today at Old Home Day in Wilmot Center with my grandparents. My Papa grew up in South Danbury, NH and South Danbury celebrates Old Home Day with Wilmot, the town next to it. I've always loved going to Old Home Day - it is like stepping back in time... people bring lawn chairs and picnics and sit on the lawn of the church, listening to the Kearsarge Town Band play and catching up with other members of the community. It is always a small but dedicated group of "old timers" and I'm often the youngest one in the crowd. I love listening to the stories and watching my grandparents reminisce with people they've known since they were children.
My Papa was born in 1928 and my Mimi was born in 1929 and they lived in the South Danbury area until a few years after my mother was born. Both sets of my great grandparents remained in the Danbury/Salisbury area (in the big old farmhouses they had raised my grandparents in) until their deaths in the 1980s. Our family history is firmly ingrained in this place and I feel a very strong pull to this area. Papa has a wonderful memory and Bob and I spent this afternoon listening to his stories and having him explain who was related to who and where they lived and how everyone was connected. I have always loved family history and I could listen to Papa tell me these stories forever. I feel very lucky to spend this time with my grandparents and for them to share with me the places that they love.
