Sunday, October 03, 2010

ALONE AT THE END OF SUMMER

I decided to take one last drive down to Glenwood, the little lake-front town about ten miles south of Alexandria. It's October 3--summer is over, and who knows when I'll have time to get down there again for my 2 to 4 mile walk. Probably not until next spring.

What I didn't realize when I got in my car and drove down there was that I would have the entire town to myself.

There was nobody at the beach where I parked my car . . .

A few stray geese down by the shore didn't even fluff a feather when I walked by. I guess they figured there were more of them than there were of me, so they had no fear.

There wasn't another soul on the walking path. Not a soul.

I hadn't expected to see sunbathers, but nobody?? Not a beach comber looking for shells or a couple of 10-year-old boys looking for frogs? No, just me.

Most of the summer residents had taken out their docks after Labor Day, but a few hardy locals still had their boats or pontoons tethered in the water. However, not a single boater was on board.

A flock of mudhens bobbed unconcerned several yards from shore. But they didn't make a sound--they just bobbed and floated.

More beached docks, ready for winter.

Nobody fishing off the public fishing pier . . . it was a safe day to be a crappie or a walleye on Lake Minnewaska.

Not a single kid was playing at the public playground . . . It was like the Pied Piper had been through town and lured all the kids away.

Lakeside restaurant's parking lot, which is usually jam-packed in the summer, was empty. E-M-P-T-Y, even though the neon sign in the window said "Open."

We usually have to fight to get a table in the outdoor seating on the front of Lakeside--but today I could have had any chair, any table, I wanted.

The streets were empty . . .

Nobody stood admiring the yellow-leaved trees against the blue sky background except me.

Me, myself, and I. All alone in Glenwood. Where was everybody? Even the inlet was deserted.
It was a perfectly beautiful October day along the shores of Lake Minnewaska in Glenwood, Minnesota. Sixty degrees, blue sky, gentle south wind rippling the water, fall colors abounding.

And I had the entire place to myself.

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

Minnesota Vikings had a bye week, so it must have been the Twins baseball game. everybody was inside watching the twins lose?