Day 30 - Work

It was this morning that the idea of returning to work began to set in. I checked email and tended to a number of issues with 'My Own Backyard'. I am definitely looking forward to the upcoming year, but I know when it comes time to actually leave this place, I will immediately long to be back.

Day 28 - Sunday Recovery

Everyone spent most of the day recovering until late afternoon. We all ate dinner at the Clayton Yacht Club, the premier and most venerable institution in town. We shared some ice cream at the Scoop afterward and concluded the day with an evening Parcheesi game.

Day 27 - Polish Horseshoes

Cullen turned twenty-one on Saturday, and we spent the day making preparations to host a large party at the farm cottage on Saturday night. There are few social gatherings I enjoy as much as a good family gathering at the River. We split firewood, hung lights, and Cullen and Conor built a new game called Polish Horseshoes, which became an instant classic.

Polish Horseshoes consists of two spikes set in the ground big enough to host a beer bottle atop each. Players can play singles or doubles and take turns throwing a frisbee at the other team's pole attempting to knock the beer bottle off the top. Points are awarded for knocking the bottle off clean, knocking it off hitting the post, and lesser points if the other team catches it after the bottle is knocked off. The game went on into the wee hours of the morning.

Kerry was sick most of the evening and unable to take part in the festivities. I ended up sitting around the fire until three with only Luke Metcalf left to accompany me. The canoe full of ice and beer was three quarters empty when I finally retired to bed.

Day 26 - Down and Out

I opened my eyes, and quickly realized I was not feeling much better. I felt like I had a fever, but as I am usually not sick and a bad patient, and did not have much confidence in my own assessment. I tried to head over to Rockledge for breakfast, but soon decided I was better off resting. I went upstairs and laid down on a bed overlooking the river and was in and out of sleep for the entire day until about five o'clock. Somewhere in there Kerry took my temperature and it came in at 102. No sooner had the bug set in, my fever broke and around five, I decided I felt well enough to crawl out of bed and walk down to the dock. I gradually improved over the next day or so, as the illness passed to Erin Clare and Kerry the next night.

Day 25 - Stricken

Another great day ended up around the bonfire on the Point gathered after dinner. Everyone was cooking Smores when I began to feel a bit ill. It was within twenty minutes that I removed myself inside to the floor around the Parcheesi table. I promptly passed out and awoke to Kerry shaking me to head back to Cottage. I could not stop shaking and felt desperately cold. The short walk home felt unbearably long, and I was relieved to crawl into bed. The worst was yet to come.