Last year, I went swimming earlier than I had intended to. Today, my last Blackberry and a very pristine pair of Ray Bans lay encased in a living tomb of zebra mussels about six feet West from the inside buoy that keeps my boat in place. That swim wasn’t much fun but it did provide me with a very early start to the summer of 2011. That early start is one that aim to repeat in 2012, and in my own personal dedication to summer it is obvious to me that this is not a dedication shared by many.
Today my mind spins with thoughts of summer. It isn’t warm today, but it isn’t exactly cold either. The snow is melting, the ice is too, and spring just landed a quick right jab after absorbing many, many body blows last week from its frozen opponent. I haven’t shared this publicly yet, but I do believe that February 12th is a very magical date for my fellow summer lovers. If the lake is not mostly shrouded by ice as of that date, it is unlikely the lake will ever significantly freeze. Sure Fontana Bay and Williams Bay and Geneva Bay will concede an early defeat as their shallowness provides them no other options. But if that date will come and go and large sections of open water still remain, this will be a harbinger of an early spring. And I will be overjoyed.
And what about spring? It is celebrated by some, but it is, in practice, completely and thoroughly ignored. Everyone looks forward to spring, but most let the opportunities of a young spring slip right through their hands. I’m talking about boating, and I’m talking about spring. Summer is indeed short, but if summer is preceded by an acknowledged spring, it isn’t as short. I’m not only hinting that you should have your boat in the water by April 1st, as I’ll do this year, though that would be commendable. Instead, I’m talking about May. May is a month that has warming temperatures, pale green leaves, later and later sunsets, and it is a month that most reading this will completely and thoroughly ignore. This needs some correcting, and if May is going to be fixed the repairs must begin in January. Like right now.
If May is going to become a month of leisure and be measured alongside July and June, though none can measure up to August, there are commitments that must be made. It is often said that September is the best month at Lake Geneva. This is true, but it’s mostly thought of in that context because the lake is quieter and the traffic slighter. May is like this as well. Some of the best boating moments of my past year came during May, both on frosty early mornings and on warming late afternoons. May can provide this sort of experience, and in May you’ll likely be one of a very small group indulging in such delights. I am not worried about losing my solitude on the lakefront, for even if you grasp at May I still have April.
If May is going to be dedicated to weekend leisure, April must be dedicated to the tidying bits that must be taken care of at any vacation home. There will be leaves to rake, or have raked. There will be maintenance issues to take care of, or have taken care of. There are many items that many homeowners put off until May, and if May will be splendid then these must be started and finished in April. This is the way it is. And if you do this, May can feature charcoal dinners on Saturday evenings at the lake, while your vacation home neighbors have yet to uncover their grill and sweep the leaves off the porch. This is one-upping the Joneses, Lake Geneva style.
For buyers, the art of a lake based May is not so easily accomplished. Many buyers look toward summer and place a date of June something in their minds. This is a great way to start out on the wrong foot. To close in May, or June, is to close at such a time that said buyer is welcoming a frantic summer schedule, one where deliveries occur and tradesman knock as often as towels are slung over the back of a porch chair to dry. This is not a great way to be introduced to a Lake Geneva summer. If that same buyer were to close in March, or perhaps April, there is a month or more to arrive upon a reasonable schedule. To develop a routine of what goes where and who likes what. In the establishment of a routine in April and the practice of that routine in May, then and only then can there be a seamless transition into June.
From my view today, summer does not look so far away. I have a windshield to replace on a boat, an engine to paint, and many screws to be put back in their appropriate place. In the spring, I do not want to be doing these things. Instead, I want to be chasing smallmouth around Conference Point, and throwing a fly into the mouth of Uhleins Creek. I want to be living in May, not preparing in it. Make your summer longer and better: Start it in May.