The House on Loon Lake

This American Life aired an episode titled House on Loon Lake which tells the story of a real life Hardy Boys mystery about an abandoned house in Freedom, NH. The story has become so much a part of my psyche that I felt that I actually read the Hardy Boys mystery book and looked to purchase it online.  Thankfully, the Internet set me straight and brought me back to the This American Life episode.  This post has nothing to do with the episode, but another house on another lake which brought me up and close to a real life loon.

We are fortunate to have friends that have a summer home not on Loon Lake, but on nearby Newfound Lake in New Hampshire. We have visited every year since I was pregnant with Dova, and have had the pleasure of living the lake life for a weekend without the cost of ownership thanks to our gracious hosts.  The lake life consists mostly of water-skiing...


(my second time up on water skis ever...)


(unlike me, Doug can actually water-ski without looking like a goofball in goggles)

Tubing...


(Adam tubing at age 5, miraculously I captured this shot without having a heart attack)

Just for comparison sake, here are shots of Adam at age 2 and 9 on the same tube:


(I gotta stop feeding this kid, he is getting way too big)

Relaxing on the dock...



Or on the beach...


(for some reason, Doug and I took similar "relaxed feet" shots")

Watching the kids play in the water...



Sometimes I swim with the kids like a mama duck...



And sometimes we just go for a boat ride...



I never understood the mysterious draw that New Hampshire-ites all seem to have for the call of the loon.  It's just another duck, right?  I had no idea how majestic these creatures were until I saw them up close. Normally, this is about as close as you can get to them.



But last year, we managed to get closer and I took these shots with a very steady hand on my point and shoot camera.



Look at those bright red eyes against the loon's jet black smooth head!



OK, I get it, these birds are amazing! We are looking forward to our summer visit this year to the house on loon lake.