1966, 1967, 1968 ... 2011, 2012 -- 47 years. I haven't visited Chautauqua every year, but I sure have tried. And this year I was able to spend an entire week there. Last year I discovered that The Catholic House has opened on the grounds, and that guest rooms are awarded in a lottery system. I was fortunate enough to win a room for week 8 of the season. It was a blessed week.
The spring and summer have been especially stressful, beginning with the Ides of March EF3 tornado that struck Dexter. Work intensified at that time, working up to a fever pitch in the weeks before vacation. It's becoming more and more stressful every year, it seems. Originally I had planned to begin vacation on the 9th, but instead commenced at 1pm on the 7th. Words cannot adequately convey the immense lightness of being the enveloped my spirit as I joined Jan and Elizabeth on the golf course on the afternoon of the 7th.
It was so nice then to have the next day off to move at my leisure doing errands and getting a mani-pedi. On Friday I hit the road, heading to Seneca where Mary & Steve, in the midst of "Nanny & Papa Camp" had brought Trey, Mary Abigail and Charlie. Stevie & Carla met us there to pick up Trey, and all of us went out to eat. Dad was kind of fuzzy; everyone descended upon them within about 15 minutes and it was a bit overwhelming for him. Later that evening, when everyone had left, Dad recounted his WWII experiences, pretty clearly with only a few proddings from Claire and me. I keep on remembering the book of Ruth's that I read when I was a teenager, Limberlost, the author of which I can't recall. The main character suffered from amnesia and couldn't remember her immediate past, however her recollections from long ago were quite clear. By the end of the book though, only too late for her relationship with another character, her memory of more recent years had returned.
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