The summer of 2013 is sadly coming to an end. The younger crowd on our Point have mostly headed back to school and us seniors citizens are trying to squeeze a bit more out of the summer before we head for home. 

The Barneses have finally recovered from major jet lag after a week in Anduse, France where our California daughter was celebrating her 60th birthday. It is a fascinating area of the country with many interesting early historic sights to explore. Some date back to early Roman times. The cuisine was out standing but I think we all ate enough croissants to last for the rest of our lives.

Susan Welch spent a few weeks in her cottage and we were pleased to have a couple of visits with her before and after our journey abroad. During her stay on the point she hosted two friends from her church group in Pasadena, Calif. Her cottage is now occupied for a few weeks by her brother David and his wife Marilyn from Sacramento, Calif. Holly Barnes and husband Dick Bremer were with us for a long weekend last week and the weather cooperated enough for us to enjoy a long boat ride and lunch at Trevett.

Gordon Scowcroft, Lee Corbin’s son, has returned from Colorado with David Corbin for a couple of weeks. Gordon is overseeing construction of a new year-round home for his mother on the south end of their property. Original plans called for a partial basement under the living room, which had to be shelved after excavation revealed basalt/granite ledge just four feet below the surface. When "The Almighty" hands formed the dry land, obviously basements were not anticipated, at least not on the Maine coast.

Bob Stuart reports that the repairs on the Varuna are progressing, but more slowly than he hoped. In the meantime the family is making do with Mary’s Sunfish. Bob attempted to teach Michael’s children, Jessica and Zack, how to sail. However, because of an extremely low tide and an unfavorable wind, they were not able to get out of the cove. Bob took over and had the same problem, which resulted in a capsize and a lost iPhone. The next week, Tim Stuart came up to teach the family how to sail a Sunfish. He was interested in how far you could push it. The family were all were entertained by watching Tim also capsize and then right the Sunfish, only to shortly tip it over again. What fun!

As usual our long summer time in Maine and on Juniper Point is always much too short. The most annoying part of our three month stay that we all must be experiencing is putting our cottages to bed for the winter and packing up for our other lives. Our one consolation is that in nine short months we can all return. Some of our very lucky residents are even planning a short visit later in the fall to enjoy the fall colors. Our Stanford University cohorts and Juniper Point neighbors. Jim and Lynn Gibbons, will be among that group.