We skipped the parties this year, including Bitsy's. It wasn't discussed much. We both knew we needed an evening to settle the lake house question.
We sat in the kitchen with the good champagne. It snowed, and the lights did their six minutes on the maple while we talked.
We went through the carrying costs, the coming pier assessment and the drive. Would we still want to make it later on? We talked about Michigan and the house with the bell choir. We opened the spreadsheet and closed it again. Neither of us seemed to be finding an answer there.
At 11:40 Jonathan closed the laptop and explained why he had brought it up at Alinea. “I asked at dessert because I was afraid to ask sober,” he said. He didn't want to sell. He wanted to know whether we still enjoyed being there, or were just keeping a place for our things.
The lake house stays. The bunting will come down in spring, and we have agreed to keep pretzels on the pier this summer. After the trouble that one pretzel caused, we might as well have plenty. Happy New Year from Burling Street.