a fun night

I read this morning that Randy Pausch lost his battle with cancer. He was the professor at a college and when he found out he had cancer and would have to give up teaching, he wrote the "Last Lecture". It became a big hit, and was even turned into a book, and basically what it was about is having a positive attitude and being very grateful. I was touched by his lecture and have it on my "list of things to do"... to get a copy of his book. I feel that being grateful and having a positive attitude are two things that are hugely important in life, and with all the "crap" (please excuse the word, but it describes it well) that is printed, or told, or sold in life..... things like happiness and gratefulness, seemed to get pushed to the back of the line. I intend on keeping them at the front of the line.

Aren't these "black eyed Susans" amazing. They are just growing wild all over the farm, I couldn't get them to grow like this if I had planned it, but here they are ..... there is so much beauty in the world, we just need to see it!!!!

So, tonite was a special evening. We got together with two of our camp neighbors, the Stansfields and the Scalices.... sadly the Stansfields head for home tomorrow... they had a poor week as far as the weather was concerned, but they assured me that they enjoyed their time at the camp and the family being together. Just so we could spend a little extra time with them, I said "let's have dinner all together" and we did. I was happy to see our other neighbors had arrived a little early than usual and said, "come on over, we're having a cookout."

The Stansfields have been on the lake for generations. I never knew the "grandparents".. but I did know Roger and Audrey.(the parents) Roger passed four years ago, and now their sons, Hal and Sam and their families come to the lake at least one week a summer (or try to anyways). I have gotten to know Hal and his family quite well, and I enjoy their company. This year when they came out, Audrey felt up to the trip and came with them... it was certainly wonderful to see her again. But it is also sad to see her and not Roger... he was a neat man.

It gave Audrey and Hal to catch up with Ralph and his family. Ralph's sons are still little, but Hal's daughter Gwen was wonderful at entertaining them while the adults visited. It was fun to see old friends catch up with each other, and keep the "new generations" of the lake in touch.

And it feels a little odd to me that "we" are now the generation on the lake, as many of the "parents' have passed on.We were once the kids, but now our children are the kids..... When did I become the adult ????