One of the most wonderful aspects of living on our Lake is the generational feel of so many of the camps
and cottages. Unlike the McMansions massing ominously on Winnipesaukee, Lake Monomonac is still mostly a community made up of prewar and mid-century family summer homes that have been lovingly passed down from generation to generation.
I was reminded of this recently as we went about the process of preparing for my first grandchild, Caroline's, second birthday.
As we decorated the massive hand crafted, and slightly sagging, table that has stood under the picnic shelter in a grove of pine trees for more than half a century, I paused to remember the numerous other birthdays and celebrations held there for Caroline's father and uncle and others over the years.
Camp has been a place of so many family "firsts"; our first trip to Blueberry Island to fill our cups for fresh blueberry pancakes on a warm July morning, both our sons first solo trips as proud "captains" of their own boat, our first time decorating and then joining the annual July 4th flotilla parade, our first hike in to a closed-for-the-season-cottage, during winter, for ice skating and ice fishing.
Small events perhaps, but as we sat together around that old table with family and friends, for Caroline's party, I found myself smiling with the knowledge that with Caroline, the cycle begins once more. A fifth generation takes root on the lake we love and cherish together.
