New Generations

[Peechee]

Hi everybody. Hope you had a good summer...my son and his brand new wife will be spending a few days at our little spot on Lake Winni and I suddenly see the parade of generations! This will mark the third generation of our clan to be at the beautiful lake, to make the blueberry pancakes and see the sunsets and build the fires. Anyone have wisdom (or happy tales) to share about one generation "handing off" the experience to another? Thanks!:)

[Island Life]

Peechee,

My siblings, cousins and I are the 5th generation at our summer place on the lake. Most of us grew up spending much or all of the summer up there, swimming, picking blueberries, learning to get along with one another and to do without the distractions of home (friends, TV, etc.). Now we are raising the 6th generation (currently between 7 and 17 yrs. old) and cherish the time that our kids spend at the lake. Our kids love it just as much as we do and they truly appreciate the simplicity of their lives when they are there. What pleases me is the range of things that my kids cherish about their summer lives: they love fishing alone on the dock just as much as swimming and playing flashlight tag with the cousins, sitting around a campfire with their parents' generation or playing cards with their grandparents' generation.

Some of my favorite memories of this summer involve sitting in front of the woodstove on these cold August mornings, flanked by my children, each of us engrossed in a book.

School starts in a few days, we're back at our 'real' home and those simple moments will quickly fall away. But we'll be back to recharge next year.:)

[Weirs guy]

We're fortunate enough to be living in the house my grandparents bought in the 60's. I got to spend a good part of my teenage years here, and now my kids are getting to enjoy the lake and the Weirs in ways I never really did.
We're entering my favorite time of year up here, when its just us for the most part but the weathers still nice enough for a good swim or walk everyday and the Weirs is open on the weekends.

[jkjoshuatree]

My dad first learned about the lake when he was nine. He used to leave Dorchester (Ma.) with his parents and travel to North Station. They'd then travel to Weirs Beach via train (they didn't have a car).

From there they'd walk into Meredith (with their luggage in tow) looking for a place to rent for the week.

To make a long story short, because he fell in love with Winni, he promised himself he'd eventually have a place somewhere out on the islands.

He bought our place on Bear in 1973.

His six kids, six grandkids (and one very unhappy cat) all learned to swim in Lake Winnipesaukee's waters.

And all of us (it's safe to say), would have no problem at all calling Lake Winnipesaukee our favorite place on earth.