A Whole New Slice

Thank you for your patience while I took a maternity leave.

The town is quiet again.  So peaceful -- just how I like to flourish in it.  The leaves are mostly off the trees.  The wind whips on occasion, but the sun is shining today.

I love this time of year.

Yesterday I took a walk.  My first walk in three weeks!  My little man, Braeden, and I took the Fanny Hooe trail around the fort area.  This is usually one of my favorite, easy, close walks.  Yesterday it was liberating.  And so different than the last time.

Here are a couple shots of how things are looking these days.

Naked trees surround Lake Fanny Hooe

Brown leaves cover the trails

Bittersweet, I tell you.  Because this is how bare the trees will be until May.  The only thing that will fill them before then will be snow.

We did get our first snow on, um, October 31st?  Nothing that stuck up here, but further south the roads and ditches were messy.  And the snow in the trees was stunning.  I wish I had some pictures of that, but well, I probably do from years past!

So the Queen IV is in the Portage Canal.  Most of the seasonal businesses are shut down.  People drive home with truckloads of wood to prepare for another who-knows-what-kind-of-winter.  It's like the summer never happened.

A couple days before I started having contractions, I went out to shoot the moon.  It was supposed to rise full and big over the lake.  But alas, the clouds blocked its glory completely.

When I turned around to go home, I had this view of the Harbor Haus.  It must have been their last weekend in this shot.  From their dock, looking inward seems like looking into a child's doll house.

The Harbor Haus in action

It's really charming when you can see people moving inside with the lights on like that.  You should try it sometime.

In the midst of some of my last contractions, I heard the squeal of my little man.  Our baby boy was born October 15th.  He is truly a blessing.  I am so excited to share this world with him.

So was the town.  Here is what was on the Mariner's marquee when I entered back into da Harbor.

Braeden's homecoming sign

What a supportive community I live in.  That was one of the first things I noticed when I moved here 9 years ago, and the feeling only gets stronger.  For that I am truly grateful.

So my little feather-weight champion seems to like it here so far.  He keeps me busy, as you can imagine, but I know he is a gift to this world.  Here is a shot of my little peanut, so you know he's real.

Ready for a car ride

Luckily, he handles the Covered Stretch better than I do with Aaron driving.

While I try to get myself back together, pardon the spotty posts.  They may be short.  They may be far apart.  They may not always make sense.  Though there's not a whole lot going on in da Harbor, my little slice is overflowing.