As a child I sang the "Rain, Rain go away" song as I loved to be outside! Being STUCK indoors was a punishment! Sitting still and reading was not in my skill set YET! I didn't learn to knit or crochet until I was an adult. NOW, I do have the skills and desires to be still and the aches and pains of changes in the weather causes my body to agree that sitting in the rocker is to be preferred to sliding down hills or rocks on my backside, climbing trees, or riding my bicycle. My mother told me for YEARS about the camping trips where I wore out my blue jeans sliding down sloping rocks with my brother and my cousin Tom.
This year however, after a winter of SNOW, to wake up to the pretty white dusting two days in a row - maybe you only call TWO INCHES a dusting after a winter of ELEVEN FEET of snow!! I have been nagging my overworked husband about the THREE snow blowers decorating the space between the fir tree and the shed for a month now, but he has been putting the swimming pool back together after its winter hiatus. His remark is "I have some repairs I have to do before I put them under the building!" Now those snow blowers are decorated with SNOW. Appropriate perhaps.
I sent a text to my friend in Southern California, my former housekeeper, about the snow yesterday. She replied that she remembered a July 4th weekend when our guests wanted to use the pool and I had made them sign a "waiver of responsibility" since there were several inches of snow on the pool deck!! That concrete deck can be very slippery when wet, let alone covered in snow! I had forgotten that episode, but it certainly sounds like ME, the queen of SAFETY! I have been know to stand over a puddle at the supermarket until the employee arrives with the mop and the yellow "BEWARE slippery floor" sign. Tripping hazards get the same vigilante coverage.
Oh well, at least we didn't have a power outage last night so the circulating water should have protected the plumbing and equipment. I didn't even mention that thought as we were going to sleep at 32 degrees last night, just prayed for some Divine Intervention in the power department!
As I mentioned in "The Resort Years" the pool is an enigma all its own!! But I kept track last summer of all the wet bodies who did enjoy it, including our own, and it is an attraction here in greater, downtown Strawberry - population under 100 except on Holiday Weekends - where the women are strong, the weather unpredictable, and the kids have to be driven to school in Tuolumne, Soulsbyville, or points west since Twain Harte School District chose to CLOSE OUR SCHOOL five years ago!
Until next time, HAPPY TRAILS TO YOU!
Friday, May 17, 2019
Wednesday, May 1, 2019
MAY Day
My, my!! How did that happen?! I guess that May does come after April and the flowers ARE blooming!! The pool is uncovered, the water is nearing the proper level, the PLUM TREE is in full bloom so we are due for at least one more snow storm. A few flakes will do to keep the town legend going! The new solar cover for the pool was due to arrive today; I put a tracer on it late this afternoon, but the old cover is still atop the water left from last summer. No leaks and no loose tiles to replace. PRAISE GOD!! It was such a COLD winter and so much snow that we had no way of knowing just what repairs might be necessary until the "winterizing cover" was removed!! Some new friends helped with that and the reconnecting of the pool plumbing.
The pine needles and pine cones are still to be raked, but God sent an angel to remove the years long accumulation from the shed roof on "the garage" at #5. He is one of our fishermen and an old friend. He saw the push broom and the three sections of roofing material that I had raked off and asked his adult son to lace his fingers together, hopped up there and used that push broom like he knew what to do with it for sure!! What a blessing! Now we can rake around #5 and it will look pristene. It never ceases to amaze me how GOD sends the help we need just as we need it!! Whether advice or physical labor, money or man power, we can trust that it will be provided!!
No weddings this summer, so far, but several family reunions so the Spring Clean up must be done by Memorial Day! Last year was the YEAR OF THE WEDDINGS. We had FOUR starting the weekend BEFORE Memorial Day and ending mid August. The Memorial Weekend Wedding was planned a year in advance and included at least 100 people, All the Cabins plus several folk who stayed at the INN across the Highway! The spur of the moment wedding was planned a whole TWO WEEKS in advance. All of the grooms family were coming for an annual reunion and the groom suggested getting married! Fortunately, I had the contact information from the first wedding - "weddings your way.com" - for someone to officiate; so we saw Pastor Mike twice in one month!!
The last wedding was a local event as the bride and groom both worked for the local hospital and the food was provided by the various workmates. The delivery of the tables and chairs went smooth as silk by the third time around!! We had not had FOUR weddings in 25 years! Several weddings and a 50th Anniversary Celebration were done here on the property but over 25 years - four in one year created THE YEAR OF THE WEDDINGS!
So what will this year bring? Lots of FISH STORIES, a few surprise "left overs" and possibly RETIREMENT. But we are not holding our breath. Perhaps only a renewal of old relationships as we do have quite a few families who come every year. They put in their reservations as they leave for the following year!
Tom's hip surgery last September has gone on and on due to the drop foot. He was nearly DONE with all the snow from last February when he stepped down with the drop foot and tweeked his back. So now we are dealing with a painful back instead of the painful FOOT! The shot of cortisone didn't do what we had hoped but, in fact, has exacerbated the gait which was already knotting his thigh muscle on that side! Can't get in to see the back doctor until the end of this month!! So I have had the RESORT phone on forwarding since September as we made several trips to Sonora each week. Someone tried to tell me that I was hard to get a hold of by phone. "It rings in my pocket except when at a doctor or at church" I told him.
If I were rich I would get someone to put the calendar on the website, but then I would miss making DEALS with folks who only need a ONE BEDROOM cabin. Since we are living in the ONE bedroom cabin the rest of my cabins allow me to rent theirs as a one or two bedroom at a lowered rate.
Whatever surprises are in store for this summer, we will begin each day with a grateful heart. We have enjoyed living in Strawberry for 40 years, it is a beautiful locale with some great friends and neighbors, and great memories of raising our children in the small Pinecrest Elementary School.
The pine needles and pine cones are still to be raked, but God sent an angel to remove the years long accumulation from the shed roof on "the garage" at #5. He is one of our fishermen and an old friend. He saw the push broom and the three sections of roofing material that I had raked off and asked his adult son to lace his fingers together, hopped up there and used that push broom like he knew what to do with it for sure!! What a blessing! Now we can rake around #5 and it will look pristene. It never ceases to amaze me how GOD sends the help we need just as we need it!! Whether advice or physical labor, money or man power, we can trust that it will be provided!!
No weddings this summer, so far, but several family reunions so the Spring Clean up must be done by Memorial Day! Last year was the YEAR OF THE WEDDINGS. We had FOUR starting the weekend BEFORE Memorial Day and ending mid August. The Memorial Weekend Wedding was planned a year in advance and included at least 100 people, All the Cabins plus several folk who stayed at the INN across the Highway! The spur of the moment wedding was planned a whole TWO WEEKS in advance. All of the grooms family were coming for an annual reunion and the groom suggested getting married! Fortunately, I had the contact information from the first wedding - "weddings your way.com" - for someone to officiate; so we saw Pastor Mike twice in one month!!
The last wedding was a local event as the bride and groom both worked for the local hospital and the food was provided by the various workmates. The delivery of the tables and chairs went smooth as silk by the third time around!! We had not had FOUR weddings in 25 years! Several weddings and a 50th Anniversary Celebration were done here on the property but over 25 years - four in one year created THE YEAR OF THE WEDDINGS!
So what will this year bring? Lots of FISH STORIES, a few surprise "left overs" and possibly RETIREMENT. But we are not holding our breath. Perhaps only a renewal of old relationships as we do have quite a few families who come every year. They put in their reservations as they leave for the following year!
Tom's hip surgery last September has gone on and on due to the drop foot. He was nearly DONE with all the snow from last February when he stepped down with the drop foot and tweeked his back. So now we are dealing with a painful back instead of the painful FOOT! The shot of cortisone didn't do what we had hoped but, in fact, has exacerbated the gait which was already knotting his thigh muscle on that side! Can't get in to see the back doctor until the end of this month!! So I have had the RESORT phone on forwarding since September as we made several trips to Sonora each week. Someone tried to tell me that I was hard to get a hold of by phone. "It rings in my pocket except when at a doctor or at church" I told him.
If I were rich I would get someone to put the calendar on the website, but then I would miss making DEALS with folks who only need a ONE BEDROOM cabin. Since we are living in the ONE bedroom cabin the rest of my cabins allow me to rent theirs as a one or two bedroom at a lowered rate.
Whatever surprises are in store for this summer, we will begin each day with a grateful heart. We have enjoyed living in Strawberry for 40 years, it is a beautiful locale with some great friends and neighbors, and great memories of raising our children in the small Pinecrest Elementary School.
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