Our Bountiful Joy

051810: Tomatoes. Lettuce, peppers, homemade salsa, picante sauce & guacamole. More lemons than you can ever imagine. Loaves and loaves of hip-lovin' Schat's Bread. Wine, beer, champagne, soda, Saturday-water, apple martini's, BBQ'S (& BBQ'd food.) Strawberries, cherries, oranges & nectarines. Oh hell, all kinds of fresh fruit. Two boat trailers, fork lifts, buoys, and a catamaran. Homemade cakes & pies (from the blackberries in our own hills!) Parties, celebrations, dinner out, dinner in, meals-to-go, just a hair more than a few hangovers, compliments & gift certificates. Launching boats, cleaning sites, cleaning our bathrooms, watchful eyes & helping hands. Fish. Lots & lots of fish ~ canned & fillets. Tools, tool chests, rolls of electrical wire & propane bottles. Washable tattoos, T-shirts, hats, & polished stones. An old boat for a garden, orchids, daisies, irises, petunias, pansies, roses & just last week: hybrid geraniums. The other day: 12 glorious jars of an annual jam supply. Today: Candies (for moi!) & one dozen fresh brown eggs. Laughter, love, hugs, smiles, support, advice, encouragement, shoulders, sounding boards, security and truck loads of memories. Good stories, sad stories and the kind of stories that make you say, "Are you kidding me?"

And one day when I'm old n' gray I can sit back, smile and fondly remember all of these odd, delicious and generous gifts bestowed on us while we lived at Topaz Lake.

Springtime = Birdtime

051410: I was out in the Park today and upon walking back to my office I heard a bird up in the trees by the office. I had never heard this bird before, so I stood there and looked for it amongst the tangled branches. When I finally spied the bird, I knew I was looking at a Bullock's Oriole. Usually these little beauties live on the South end of the Park and build little hanging nests that look like sacks of woven hair and fishing line. I have never seen them on the North end of the Park, let alone heard them. I'm posting a link here so you can hear their call. This little male was chasing his mate through the canopies.

He was flittin' around so much I was lucky to catch a few poses in focus. This one cracked me up as he was perched on two different branches.

He is a pretty little guy and soon he and his mate will bring more little Bullock's Orioles to our Park.

A Mom Story. Kinda.

050910: Yesterday, a relative of one our customers came into say "Hi" and ask about guest charges. I know her but not well so we engaged in a little small talk for a few moments.

She was staying through the weekend and wanted to know if there were any guest charges. And she wanted me to know that Max came with her, too. I told her definitely there would be a guest charge for her and asked her how old Max was? She said he had just turned 4. It was then that I replied that guest charges apply at 5 years or older. She paused and then said "Okaaaay."

Later that day I was speaking to her mother-in-law (who I know much better.) The topic of her visiting family came up and I asked about Max. I hadn't seen this little child named Max, but her daughter-in-law had told me Max came with her. It was then I learned that Max was a dog, not the child I thought he was! I laughed out loud at the thought of my Abbott & Costello conversation with Max's mom. Later I ran into her and revealed my misunderstanding of Max's species. She laughed, too, admitting that she thought our age policy for dogs was a little strange, but she assumed I knew that Max was a dog because he had been here before. Admittedly, we can do a lot of strange things, but I have never considered charging only for dogs 5 years and older!

Re: Photo. I haven't posted a sunrise photo in quite awhile. I captured this one the other day. Sometime today, David & I are going to go out exploring and I plan to tote my camera along to catch the beauty of our surrounding areas. I wish all you ladies out there and beautiful Mother's Day.

Woman + Me = We

050710: It's Friday and it's a gorgeous day outside. I'm having trouble concentrating because I want to be outside soaking up the sun. But I have work to do. Hey, I wonder if David will move my desk outside?

Re: photo. We put the North dock in the water the other day. Well, technically "we" didn't do it as hubby pointed out to me. But I tell him that I say "we" meant in the singular tense. Just like when he says "we" need to go grocery shopping or when are "we" going to do some laundry? You know what I mean?

Well, enough of that. There is more than enough to do keep busy all day long. So I think "we" will go finish the laundry and "we" will do some vacuuming. Then maybe "we" will take a little nap and then have him make we something something for dinner.

Work, Shmurk

050310: The last few days have felt like spring. Finally. The warmth of the sun, the gentle breezes, the calm of the lake are beckoning all to come outside. It's hard to concentrate on the work to be done on days like this....

Sometime during the day yesterday the feeling of joy overcame me. It happens many times of the year/our season, but it only happens the "first" time once a year. Yesterday was that day. Much like today, the Park was alive with our fishermen and our fisherwomen. The social level and pure friendliness of all were abundant. Every one's joy was evident. My realization of this was because Mother Nature smacked me upside the head and told me to put my work down and look around. Topaz Lake and our Park makes so many people so happy. This, undoubtedly, would bring myself joy, too.

This photo is of our new neighbors. They are working hard on projects in their new home, but they find the time to enjoy the reason why they moved here. Then again, I don't think they had a choice when the lake beckoned to them, too. Or maybe Mother Nature smacked them, too? I'll have to ask them when I see them next.