WITH THE KIDS and grandkids gone, the white throated sparrows and many of the loons gone, and Kathy at home, it is up to me to drive north and drop by the island one last time. To check and double check locks and latches and odds and ends, to say a last goodbye to the ‘dear old cabin’ (99 years old this coming year) and to Kathy’s beloved new ‘cabbage’ (cabin/cottage) and to bring the fishing boat home. It is a sad and lonely feeling, brightened only by knowing we will return in the spring, to open the door and smell the sweet ‘cabiny’ air once more, to gather together and make new memories. And sometimes I remember back to long-ago boyhood dreams of a place Up North, and I can hardly believe how lucky I am.