The Most Depressing Day of the Year

Yesterday was the most depressing day of the year.  We closed the cabin for the winter.  It's a lot of work, but we've been doing it for over 20 years now, so it has become a bit of a routine.  Pull the pontoon boat out of the water, winterize the outboard, load up the deck furniture, and haul it down the road to the neighbor's pole shed, where we store it for the next 6 months.  Hook up the ATV to the dock and pull it up on shore.   Cover the air conditioners, strip the beds, put out D-con and mothballs to keep the mice under control, make sure no food is left anywhere, and last, but not least, drain all the water out of the system to prevent frozen pipes.  Oh the joys of having a cabin in Minnesota, where the winters "up north" can bring temperatures of 20 degrees below zero.  The summers make it all worthwhile, though. It's loads of fun sitting on the deck in June, trying to shoot down the dive-bombing mosquitos with a 12 gauge shotgun. I can't wait until we open the cabin up again next spring.  I wonder how many more years we'll be doing this.