Whose turn is it to pick their cabin week first next summer, and by when?

THE CABIN CALENDAR. Decided by Ray and me on the porch on July 8 and 9, 2023, and told to all three by telephone this afternoon in the same words. I keep the calendar.

1. The cabin is not rented. Not to strangers, not through a website, not for a week, as long as either of us is alive.

2. The week of the Fourth of July is everyone's, as it has always been.

3. Besides that, each of the three families has ONE WEEK OF ITS OWN each summer, with nobody else's children in it. We will be out of the way, or gone home to Madison, whichever they prefer.

4. Each family claims its week by MARCH 1. A claim is a telephone call or a letter to me; I write it on the calendar and it is settled.

5. First choice goes in turn:
   2024 - Kate (she comes farthest)
   2025 - David
   2026 - Ellen
   2027 - Kate again, and so on round.
   Second choice goes to the next in that order, third to the last.

6. A week runs Saturday to Saturday. Whoever has it leaves the beds stripped, the refrigerator emptied of anything that will not keep, and the garbage taken to the transfer station.

7. Not available for a family week: opening weekend, the week of the Fourth, and anything after Labor Day, which is ours.