Todd and I are both members of the exclusive organization, The Leaf Catching Club. To be a part of this club (membership opens in the Fall), you must catch a leaf falling from a tree, before it hits the ground. Picking up a leaf from the ground, throwing it up in the air, and catching it… does not count! The best way to catch a leaf is to run around outside in a wooded area (deciduous treed woods) on a day with a slight breeze. Sunshine and moderate temperatures are optional but highly recommended. If you catch a leaf, you are automatically a member! Congratulations! But to make it super, super official, be sure to join The Leaf Catching Club’s Facebook Group and post a picture of your accomplishment!

One leaf is usually not enough to satiate the need for leaf-catching; here is a video of us trying to catch more and MORE leaves.

We’re just about ready to pack it up and leave Lake Dunmore for the year, so I thought I’d post a little tour of the cottage before we left. Some of the pictures are from earlier in the fall when the leaves were still green!

The cabin here was bought by Todd’s great grandfather in 1938. Originally, it was the freestanding garage for another cabin, which had blown down in a big storm in 1937. To convert it into a full-blown summer/fishing cabin, they added a living room with a fireplace, a second small bedroom, a bathroom (toilet and sink), a kitchen and screened porch. The garage portion is now the main bedroom. Later, an addition was made to increase the size of the dining room, and an outdoor shower was added. I’m not sure how long there has been a dock here, but I do know the most recent incarnation dates back to 2007, when it had to be rebuilt due to flooding.

The cabin (or “camp”, as everyone calls it) has been a summer-time constant in the lives of the Smith/Quackenbush family  for generations now. Todd’s mother and her siblings grew up coming to the lake every summer, then Todd and his sister did, even when they moved to Ohio. Now, Todd’s sister, Lindsey, and her husband are bringing their two boys (ages 4 and 1) to camp in the summer all the way from Alaska.

We were so lucky to have this place to stay in this summer and fall. Though we had a lot of family and friends around before and after the wedding, and we’ve shared with Todd’s parents quite often (this is THEIR cabin, after all!) we’ve had the place just to ourselves for the majority of the time. So it’s really felt like “ours”. Our home. It’s sad to be packing up and leaving.

BUT, we’re excited for the next chapter in our big adventure (Brooklyn!) and we’ll be pretty grateful to no longer wake up in a 40-degree house, spending 1/3 of our waking hours trying to keep the fire going, and showering out in the elements (cold wind is the worst in an outdoor shower).

The windsurfing here on Lake Dunmore has been pretty good this month… and Todd is the only one who knows it because he’s the only one windsurfing here! Even most of the folks with sail boats have packed it in for the fall/winter, so Todd has just about the whole lake to himself when he’s out there.

He made this awesome video compiling footage from this summer and fall (mostly from the fall since that’s when it’s windiest), mostly from his GoPro attached to the mast or boom, and a few shots I took with my point and shoot from the dock.

He’s got skills (windsurfing and video editing).

Wind!

Even though we’re losing our unseasonably warm temperatures and humidity, the incoming cold front means lots of windsurfing for Todd.

Yes, he is wearing a sweater.

We had one of those unbelievable foggy Lake Dunmore mornings today. How does this even happen? It’s amazing.

Doggies get thirsty, even on foggy mornings. It’s true.