“I have lived in and around Rochester since 1973. I tried living in Florida for a year, but I was so homesick for the hills and finger lakes of this area that I moved right back here. And surprisingly, I missed the changes in the weather — yes, I even missed the snow — and the variety of the seasons. We live on Conesus Lake and are able to watch the way the lake changes depending on temperature and cloud formation. And we are able to see so much wildlife. During the summer I take my kayak out almost daily and am often accompanied by a Great Blue Heron who flies ahead of me five docks, lands on that fifth dock, waits for my arrival and flies ahead another five. I don’t know if he enjoys my company or is keeping an eye on me for security reasons. One of my favorite things to do is sit on the deck and watch an incoming storm make its way across the lake, the sheets of rain becoming so thick that it’s hard to see the other shoreline.

“I also love the variety of events in this area. From the Broadway Theater League, Rochester Philharmonic, and Geva to the many wonderful and diverse restaurants, to the ski hills of Bristol and Holiday Valley. We also seem pretty great at hosting a huge number of festivals like Canal Days, to Corn Hill to the Clothesline Art Show. And then there are the wineries and breweries that are sprinkled about. And everything seems to be within a thirty minute drive. Although we are in our sixties, we have no plans to retire to another state. This will always be home.”

—Elizabeth Falk, Conesus Lake
Elizabeth Falk Books