"Honey, can you make sure you get the groceries packed into the cooler before we start bringing things out to the Car?" My wife yelled out to me from the bedroom.
"Yeah, I'll just do it now" I called back, pausing my video sports ball game and making my way into the kitchen. My wife and I were joining my younger sister and her new husband for a week at our parent's old vacation cabin in New Hampshire. It was early fall and the leaves would be ripe for the peeping when we got there. My sister and I had gone every year about as far back as I could remember, it just wasn't fall until you sat on the cabin porch on a briskly cold evening with a cup of warmed apple cider.
Which reminded me, "Hey Carrie, we forgot to get cider."
Carrie walked into the room a hanger dangling from each finger their loads flowing along, "I left that off my shopping list, we can get better cider up there. By the way what do you think about this number?" Carrie whipped a hanger around from behind her back displaying her question in front of her as she contorted her body into it's best model pose. "Should I bring it?" The black lingerie was more air than clothing and it almost floated as she waved it around.
"Hmmm, Uh, yes, I think we can find some alone time up there. Besides there's no internet at the cabin so I'll need to fill all the time normally spent browsing for porn on something." I attempted to put the right emphases in the right places so I would get an eye roll instead of a slap. And there it was, a roaring success.
Carrie rolled her eyes. "Shut up, Victoria's Secret wishes they had a model who could fill this thing out as well as I can, let alone some lame porn star."
And it was mostly true, not that porn stars and models couldn't fill out lingerie, but my wife's body was certainly made for wearing less clothes. "Totally agree with you there babe," I said, "cooler's all packed by the way."
The car filled itself fairly quickly and we got on the road headed north, the beat of the podcasters expressive voice thumping through the car. *Welcome to death in the Adirondacks. Today we discuss which youtube "Maker" might be behind the gruesome filleting of human bodies, using the victims bones as joinery and glue in their modern take on Adirondack Chairs. You'll be riveted to this fastenating story*
Three hours later we pulled up to my sisters house a nice little rancher that many call a starter home, and us in our twenties call, the only thing we'll ever be able to afford. It was going to be 4 more hours up to the cabin and a nice pit stop for lunch was necessary. Rick, my sisters husband, answered the door with his arms full of suitcases right as I knocked, "Oh hey Mark, good timing. Jen just put out lunch. Pumped for these BLTs."
Normally I'm one for giving a hug as a greeting, but not when they are performing a 3d container loading problem. "Yeah man, I'll give you a real hello when I see you inside," I said as Rick scurried out to the car.
"Hey SIS!" I yelled out
I heard a squeal from the other room and Jen came rushing in skidding her way to the front door with socks on a hardwood floor "MARK!!! You're here! It's almost fall! I'm about to get so basic. Lets. Go. Peep. Some. Leaves!"
I laughed, "Someone's a little excited, and only a lot lame." I said to her, smiling and giving as strong a hug as I could muster. "How have you guys been? how's the new house?"
"Well," Jen replied a smug smile on her face, "the votes are in, our house was voted the best labor friendly display this year for Labor day."
"OK pause." I said "Labor day display? That's a thing?"
"According to the local newspaper it is. It was a union town." she said it so matter of factly that I almost believed myself dumb for asking. Jen continued, "It also sets us up for a potential grand slam, Halloween, Thanksgiving, and Christmas." She paused, "not that I care about actually winning, it's more that I want to see people in their HOA office who care about this stuff lose." Her voice trailed off.
"Yeah, yeah, yeah, sure. You've never been competitive." I said sarcastically
"Well, competitive for the right reasons at least." She replied. "Where's Carrie B-T-Dubs?"
"Oh she was just grabbing something from the car she'll probably be in any second unless she waylays Rick while he packs the car."
A minute later Carrie and Rick came in. "Hey babe?" Carrie said, "Did you hear about this labor day display?"
I groaned, "How did he tell you about that already? Did the two of you age like 30 years since we saw you last?"
"You city slickers wouldn't understand." Jen replied, "You move to the burbs you got to fit in, first it's yard displays, next thing you know your being invited to the local church group swinger party."
"Ignoring that." I said, "Why don't we grab some grub so we can get up to the cabin while there's still some light."
We ate quickly and piled into our much more crowded station wagon. Wherever a human wasn't, there was a bag or suitcase taking up space. *it's Take the Cake, your podcast detailing every known attempt to steal nuclear material, from classified documents to glowing dinnerware, we've got you covered like fallout after a nuclear explosion.*
The leaves slowly shifted colors as we sped north turning from a hyper oxygenated algea bloomed sea to the fiery yellows, oranges, and reds of the American deciduous forests. The road snaked through rolling hills and shallow valleys as it meandered along, flowing with the landscape. It was always a peaceful drive, a far cry from the busy I95 corridor of the northeast megalopolis. Just as the sun began to dip below the trees we pulled off the highway and turned onto a narrow dirt road ill kept and covered in a thin layer of abandonment.
The cabin sat midway up a hill surrounded by forest, a stones throw from a large pond, or small lake depending on what definition you used for either. The wagon crunched to a stop at the top of the driveway and the podcast abruptly cut off as I tapped the power button. There were a couple groans from the back seat as my passengers awoke. I popped the trunk and started grabbing bags to lug inside.
The inside of the cabin was cold, but brightened up once we got the solar fed electrical system going. And soon with a roaring fire in the 2 wood stoves it would be quite toasty too. The wood paneled walls gave everything an orangey glow that exuded warmth and closeness. "Is that everything?" I heard my sister call from their bedroom.
"yeah, nothing's left in the car." I called back.
My sister appeared in the living room in a small red bikini, "In that case, first person to the hot tub is off of couple cooking duty tonight!" Her slim figure sprinted towards the front door, her bikini struggling to contain her at speed. But I was quicker than she expected and my arm shot out catching her like a subway turnstyle that hadn't received a ticket.
"Carrie! Go for the lake!" I yelled to my wife who was still outside and definitely not in a swimsuit yet. But it was too late because out of the bedroom Rick came charging with a black speedo and swimmers cap on giving his best impression of an Ironman.
Jen started fist pump still struggling against my arm as her husband passed through the front door, "Go, Babe go!" My arm relaxed and she fell back laughing, "got to be quicker on the draw next year bro."
I pulled away and glanced down at her, "Uhm, Sis." I said pointing at her chest. "You might want to cover up." Our rough housing had done the job that her sprint couldn't and forced her breast out of the bikini. It was good sized, maybe a C if my quick glance could judge correctly, and almost perfectly round. The kind of natural shape the plastic surgeons are trying to replicate when they put someone under the knife, but often they go to large and it becomes cartoonish. Her areola was small and a light pink, but her nipple stood out prominently, probably edged along by the temperature of the unheated cabin.
"Whoops." She said, swiping the bikini back into place, "Sorry about that, I guess I was a little too ambitious this year with my swimwear choice."
