Driveway Fun
On Saturday, Cyndie and I had so much strenuous fun raking gravel up against the edge of our new asphalt that we took yesterday off from doing any heavy labor. Our afternoon was brightened by a visit from Julian who brought over his battery-powered push mower and leaf blower for us to test.
Cyndie has decided a blower is the best way to clean out the large areas of river rock landscaping around our house. I’ve been thinking for a while that a small push mower might be a better tool for mowing around our sloping front yard’s features and might even fit on the labyrinth pathway. One of my hesitancies in adding more power equipment has always been a disdain for small gas engines. I’ve already got three times more than I want to care for so the possibility of switching to electric is enticing.
While we were playing with Julian’s battery-powered equipment, he hopped on his electric one-wheel board and took a few spins on our fresh asphalt.
You would think that the new driveway would give us a break from struggling to maintain a well-tended appearance around this place but I discovered evidence of nature’s tenacious ability to demonstrate dominance over us by way of the first weed sprouting through the pavement.
It didn’t take more than a month. Really?
The electric mower worked well in the labyrinth and finished the job in a third of the time it has been taking us to use the power trimmer. Just a few adjustments of the rocks forming the pathway borders at the 180° turns and the 21″ deck will fit nicely. I think some electric outdoor power equipment is likely in our future.
At least we will be able to keep the labyrinth looking well tended.
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Morning Sunlight
This morning when we emerged from the woods on our walk toward the barn to feed the horses, the rays of the emerging sunlight were blurred by a hazy fogginess. Back in the house, while we were enjoying toasted slices of fresh bakery bread topped with homemade blackcap jam, the angle of the bright sunlight was getting high enough to shine through the windows on our roof.
From up in our loft, I noticed how the light was washing over the spotlights above the fireplace, creating an interesting reversal of purpose. The spotlights were in the spotlight.
It caused me to turn around to see what was happening with the other skylight.
The shape of the window was pretty well defined.
Seeing that sunlight serves to beckon my presence outdoors posthaste. I will not ignore the invitation.
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The Dancestronaut
I would like to introduce you to a video by MKXero, an artist who just released a fabulous electronic dance track, “Gimme That Beat.” If house music is your thing, this song will sound familiar as it triggers your urge to move. For me, the part that grabbed my mesmerized attention was the visual of a space-suited human revealing dance moves never before associated with full-on space attire.
I highly encourage you to keep your eyes on the screen long enough to witness what happens as the wormhole dancing plays out.
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If for some reason your curiosity wasn’t spurred to click on that video, let me point out this additional detail: The only reason I know this dance track video exists is that my son, Julian, composed the song, devised the unique nom de plume MKXero, released the track on streaming services, and then used his game development skills and tools to put together this synced music video to go along with it.
Color me proud of such creative artistry and initiative. And a little bit jealous.
Is it possible for me to “inherit” some of the desirable traits my children manifest?
From his Youtube post:
The year is 2034. A wormhole has appeared above Earth. A fearless explorer has ventured into space to investigate. As he passes through the wormhole, the beats begin… The explorer finds himself helplessly trapped in the gravitational pull of a nearby star. As he is pulled to his untimely demise, he does what any rational human would do. He shakes, shuffles, and dances his heart out. Back on Earth he has been dubbed: The Dancestronaut
I wish I’d thought of that.
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Strenuous Fun
I worked almost exclusively on covering the exposed edge of another 35 yards of asphalt yesterday. It is some hard labor but it is a labor of great satisfaction. While I was toiling away, it occurred to me that this job is getting a level of attention to detail that is totally unmatched had we paid to have it done by the paving crew.
Not that I wouldn’t have preferred to have someone else do all the finishing work but it wasn’t in our budget. That’s not an isolated incident around our place. You may recall we hired a couple of professional tree trimmers to trim and fell a day’s worth of trees but had them leave everything lay where it landed for us to deal with later.
The miser in me is inclined to dodge an expense for services if I can do the work myself. I rarely get things done promptly, but I tend to focus on the money I didn’t spend, not the time it takes me to complete the work.
Speaking of the time I spend on things, I had an insight yesterday that the satisfaction I was getting out of the gravel work could be compared to my slow shaping of an artistic piece of wood sculpture. I’m crafting an outcome that I want to look good and fulfill its function even better.
Framing it like that might be a way to justify my tedious pace of progress, but it works for me because I’m getting a similar joy from the results. There are endorphins to be had by accomplishing the progress of each additional length.
I felt like I was doing twice the work yesterday because I needed to dig up and move gravel from places where there was surplus to areas that didn’t have enough. Digging up the gravel is strenuous work but it is oh so fun to pour it out on the spots that didn’t have enough.
We had some wonderful downpours of rain last night that will help settle the most recently tended lengths and will also soften the gravel to be raked up over the asphalt edge where we will be working next. Cyndie is coming home today, so I’m looking forward to having her contributions again.
Just not today. My arms need a day off. The calluses and blisters on my hands could use a break. My legs are longing to be propped up in the recliner. A guy can take only so many consecutive days of strenuous fun.
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Concept Proved
I did a test length of backfilling the sharp drop from the driveway’s gravel shoulder to the grass to soften the slope. We plan to toss some grass seed on that and call it finished.
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I think it is a reasonable improvement. Before we can actually achieve this level of finish, there remains a lot of distance of asphalt edge that is still exposed. I knocked off another 25 yards by myself yesterday. A little progress is better than no progress at all. I’m looking forward to Cyndie’s return tomorrow so we can double-team the job, which effectively doubles the distance we can complete in a day.
Actually, we have made enough progress toward getting the gravel pulled up over all the edges that seeing the shrinking distance that remains is starting to serve as “a carrot” enticing us to keep after it to get ‘er done.
I keep picturing the challenge I will have, come winter when I need to navigate the slopes of those edges to plow snow beyond the width of the pavement. The less steep we can make that slope, the better it will be for me for clearing snow.
Unfortunately, what I envision is that the blade will likely tear up much of the grass we might be able to get growing on those slopes by winter. It will give me extra incentive to be careful about keeping the blade up a few inches on the sides. I can hope that we get some good hard freezes before the first plowable amount of snow falls. That makes all the difference. If the ground isn’t frozen by the time I need to plow the driveway, it’s always a messy exercise.
I wonder if we will get much snow this winter. We didn’t buy the heated driveway option to melt snow off the pavement.
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Switching Sides
When we go away for a weekend and have somebody else take care of the horses, we close gates to isolate the four horses into two groups of two. It makes things a little simpler at feeding time if each of the four can’t move around and switch feed pans with all of the others. They don’t always do that with us but the fact they suddenly do it one day without warning is part of what makes it a little less safe for an inexperienced handler.
When I got home yesterday afternoon, I opened up all the gates again and granted them free rein. It is interesting to watch how the two pairs quickly take advantage of the new access to the “other side.” They didn’t rush to take advantage of the ability to connect with each other without a fence between them. The first order of business was to walk over to each other’s paddock and breath the air there. In case it was any different.
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Light had stepped out of frame by the time I snapped the shot on the right showing Mia grazing in the larger paddock. On the left, Mix and Swings wanted to be by the willow tree they haven’t had access to for a few days.
When I showed up with feed pans later, they duly took up their regular positions: Light and Mia on the left, Swings and Mix on the right.
Horses, dog, and cat all seemed happy, healthy, and glad to see me. Our sitter, Grace, takes good care of them. We are so lucky to have her covering for us when we want to get away.
Yes, for when we want to “switch sides” between home and the lake!
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Making Adjustments
After pretty much power lounging for a couple days, Sunday became the day to take care of a few projects around the place. The most laborious had to do with the launch feature from the big raft. Somehow the big airbag got a hole in it and then it started filling with water.
Last weekend Steve got it to shore and laid it in the sand to drain. Yesterday, I went down to retrieve the bag from the beach and bring it up to the house to wash and fold in preparation for taking it back to the Cities for repair. At about the point I was losing my patience with the task, Cyndie arrived to rescue me and helped to get us to the finish.
The main project of the afternoon was digging under the round pavers beneath the tall bench at the fire pit. We didn’t dig them in much originally and that left the bench too high off the ground.
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That should take care of that set up for a while. We’ve tweaked them multiple times to finally get them all where we want them. I’m ready to not think about the fire pit seating for a few years now, except maybe to sit out there.
From there, I moved to some finishing touches on the screen door we installed a couple weeks ago. I added a turnbuckle tensioner, put longer screws into the hinges, installed some foam tape to seal the back edge, and put on a couple of quieting bumpers that didn’t really do much in the way of quieting.
I’m almost completely satisfied with it for now. Time will tell if it holds up very long to repeated use.
This morning I am driving home on my own and Cyndie will stay up with her mom. After a run of four weekends in a row at the lake, I’ll be adjusting to home life for an extended run. That means more days for driveway shoulder duty. Woohoo!
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Mostly Cloudy
Some days are so low-key that the excitement of solving the Wordle puzzle is one of the noteworthy highlights. Actually, amazing life events sometimes play out unexpectedly in the midst of an otherwise bucolic ambiance of a quiet cloudy day at the lake. There are only three of us occupying the big log house this weekend. With the cool temperature and cloudy sky doing a lot to set the tone, we didn’t have any lofty ambitions about pursuing laudable accomplishments.
Midmorning we received a precious invitation to join with other Wildwood families for a gathering of the Whitlock family next door. They were doing a memorial spreading of ashes for their patriarch, Bill, a founding member of the Wildwood Lodge Club. Afterward, families represented gathered on the Whitlock deck to catch up and share memories.
It was the kind of visit that could have gone on forever except they had a dinner plan. We three returned to our place for dinner and a mix of tv dramas in front of a fire.
Some sunshine would have definitely painted the day with a greater urge to be out but the surprise opportunity to commune with people we dearly love was a bonus that truly blessed an otherwise understated day.
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And Then
Suddenly, it was Saturday, August 13 in the year 2022. I woke up in the loft bedroom at the lake place, emerging from typically bizarre dream scenarios to gaze upon damp forest scenery under a hazy gray sky. Knocking off this morning’s Wordle in four, and burrowing deep into comments on Reddit about how fast time flies when looking at decades past, I luxuriate in loitering in bed until Cyndie wakes up.
Yes, I grew up before personal computers or cell phones, but waking up in the morning is pretty much the same as it has always been for me. As best possible, I try to trust my perceived reality is accurate and true. I always sensed that the ads at the back of a comic book or magazine hawking some sensational product like x-ray glasses were more hype than reality. Get rich quick schemes and miracle cure-all formulas, beach wimp to muscle-bound stud plans, or pounds melting away with ease all seemed dubious at best.
What is it about today’s technological advances that have led masses of people to swallow the loads of crap that grifters are dishing out in this day and age? I have no idea. How did typical dream-type bizarreness become everyday headlines? It’s weird.
At the same time, creative minds are still creating fascinating storylines for television series that stream on more platforms than I can keep track of. The ability to discern the fictional drama from what shows up in the news is getting tougher to maintain, but at least I can parse the fiction in measured doses. Binging does happen, but it’s optional.
The daily news keeps coming at us 24/7. I usually preach turning off the news but as time passes I find myself checking it out more than I used to. I think it is in large part a result of the unbelievableness of it all. Am I really living in a time like this? I guess so.
I failed to hit the water when I got up here yesterday. The wind was strong and the rain had just let up making it much more of a “sweatshirt by the fireplace” type of day than a “soak in the water” one.
Does the middle of August mean autumn is any closer than it’s always been at this point of the year? Maybe it just seems that way to me because time flies faster the older you get. It was never like this back when there were no cell phones or internet.
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Relative Something 