The other day we heard a helicopter pass by

Quite low

Likely landing at the large home belonging to the Corning executive

A few cottages down the way

We think we saw a helipad built into the flat roof

The mansion almost built

So different from our sweet little cottage

I wonder what it would be like to get here quickly

Rather than the two days’ drive it takes

Through the hills and valleys and mountains

So much lush landscape from there to here

But the drive is part of what makes my heart soar

To finally arrive

That first glimpse you get of the lake through thick trees

The signs that tell you Penn Yan

Is just a few miles away

I can remember the original cottage

Purchased by Grandpa Brigham

Who worked hard selling enamel cookware

Often door to door

For pennies on the dollar of what it is worth now

Jonathan’s parents building this new structure

With modern improvements yet maintaining aspects of the original

Keeping the footprint and the history

The best of both worlds

I love the little bunk room that sleeps four

“Joy’s room” with its air conditioning so lovely on hot days and nights

Grandpa’s books still lining the bookshelves built into the side of the stairway

The pocket doors that save space

The wrap around porch and its bank of windows growing smaller

As they go up the slope to the second floor

So much I love about this place

It is smaller than our home in Chattanooga

The rooms just big enough for beds

But what it lacks in space it more than makes up for in cozy comfort and stunning views

As I look at the stately shape of Keuka College across the lake

I think about change

The restaurant where Jonathan got down on one knee

Offering me a ring that symbolized a life spent together

Artwork lining its walls

A Baltimore staple at the time

Long since shuttered

The recent news that Eastern Nazarene College

Where Jonathan went to school, his parents met, and their grandparents too

Is closing

It makes me melancholy to think of all that history

Disappearing

Sad to think of the students scrambling to find a new place to attend in the fall

But things change

As well I know

And holding on to the past is not possible

We can honor it

Learn from it

But change is an inevitable as death

I look at the Starcraft boat with its Evinrude outboard engine

The waves are making a hollow thumping sound as they hit its hull this morning

I love this old boat

You can’t buy them this way anymore

With seating in the very front

Sitting low and stable in the water

Without pontoons

I feel like I’m flying

I don’t envy the neighbor’s shiny new speedboat one bit

Nor his new electric boat lift

Ours has a large wheel

Relying on physics and a little bit of work to raise and lower the boat

The effort is part of what makes the ride so fun

I know crotchety people

Who can’t accept change

Always complaining about some new fangled thing

Or the kids these days

May I never join their ranks

May I never join the ranks

Of those who spend and spend on newer gadgets and bigger toys

All to avoid the journey

And in saving time lose some of the wonder

I’ve always known that joy is a by-product

You cannot seek it out

Nor can you really white knuckle it

Choosing joy as the popular saying goes

No, it is a by-product and a gift

Put in the effort

Live with purpose

Treasure the past

Accept change

And give thanks to God for all of it

Past, present, and future

Too often have I lived with the spectre of regret

Like an anchor keeping me chained to shore

Dwelling too long in a land of disappointed dreams

Missing the beauty that is right here

Right now

At the end of my life

Whether that is in 50 years or 5 days

I pray others say I lived up to my name

Finding joy in all these things

Looking again and again

To the author of joy

Who loves to give

If we will only receive