Echoes of Summer

Pumpkins have begun to dot the landscape. Leaves have begun to collect on lawns, A jacket is definitely a necessity when I walk the dog in the morning.  Clearly, fall is upon us and summer has come to an end.

Although I much prefer fall and winter to the warmer seasons, my house is filled with little reminders of summer that do not get put away come the cool days of autumn. I use a mug with a moose on it every day. On the shelves of my living room are tchotchkes from summer vacations. There are sweatshirts and t-shirts in our closets advertising one tourist attraction or another. There is a solar windchime on a table in the living room and a glass globe hanging from a wrought-iron hook on another.

They were all purchased in New Hampshire. 

Pictures of New Hampshire serve as the background for my phone and tablet. They are often featured on my Facebook page. One adorns the top of this blog. I check the weather there almost daily.

But, no, I am not obsessed. Well,not too much, anyway.

I have spent part of every summer of my life (with one or two exceptions) on the shores of Lake Winnipesaukee in the tiny town of Alton Bay on a finger of land known as Echo Point. While I have lived in various places in Massachusetts and New Jersey in my fifty-odd years, this spit of land is the constant. It is the place I call home. When we leave each summer, I always wonder why we do not simply stay there and live. I know why, however. To live there would be to ruin the magic.

So, to hang on to that magic for a little bit longer, I think I will write about those summers in the lake. They began long before I ever came upon this planet and, with luck, my children will be able to enjoy them long after I am gone.  Echo Point isn't going anywhere.

Layout Notes:

Welcome to the Lake

I failed to mark down any of the supplies for this layout. The photo was edited in Photoshop using technique found in an article in the Somerset Studio Gallery Winter 2011 edition, "Vintage Inspired Photo Postcards," written by my good friend and fellow scrapbook artist, Chris Peters. Unfortunately, that edition is sold out. Perhaps I can persuade her to allow me to share it here. Her work can be found at www.mementosofthejourney.etsy.com.

Echo Point

Supplies: paper - Heidi Swapp; stickers and tags - unknown; acrylic title letters - Heidi Swapp colored with Ranger Alcohol Inks; chipboard title letters - Maya Road covered with patterned paper (unknown source); beads - Blue Moon; mosaic tiles - unknown.