Being back at Lake Winnepesaukee brings back so many memories, some foggier than others.
In the very early days, we camped in a canvas tent at Lane’s End campground in Melvin Village. I remember bursting out of the car after 12 hours in an unairconditioned Pinto station wagon, impatiently waiting for my dad to pitch the tent so I could throw on my older sister’s hand-me-down bikini and tear down to the end of the lane to jump in the lake with my sister while my mom tended to our baby sister.
The water was always cool and clear, the pine trees aromatic in the warm afternoon breeze.
When we got older, we started renting out one of Nori’s cabins. She was an older lady who lived in a red Cape Cod house at the edge of the lake just down the shore a bit from the campground. She had two matching cabins on her property; we would rent one, and my aunts and cousins would stay in the other.
We spent long summer days jumping off the end of the pier, walking down the road to the Hansel and Gretel Shop where we were allowed to pick out one souvenir and fish in the plastic pool for magnetic goldfish.
Nori passed away years ago, and a wealthy family has purchased her property. All three red houses are still there, but their days are numbered.
For now, everything looks the same.
My Corner of the Village 