Critter Magic

Larry and I were "noodling" in the lake yesterday afternoon, when something spooked a vulture in the trees high above our cove. Once that one bird started from its tree, many others followed suit. There were at least two dozen huge birds circling around the tree tops above us. It was really creepy and we both felt like we were playing a scene from Alfred Hitchcock's, The Birds, movie. We were mesmerized and couldn't stop watching them swoop and sail through the air; landing on branches above us or disappearing behind a tree top.

There have been lots of dead fish floating on the lake recently. And, there was a smell of dead fish in our cove. We saw a filleted fish left behind the other day. But, why so many huge birds in one small area? There were not that many dead fish around. The majority of fish floaters were in the deep water area near the dam. My brother-in-law told us when a fisherman catches a deep water fish and brings it to the surface, letting it go will kill it because it cannot handle the temperature change. "Catch and release" is not a healthy thing in this circumstance. It would be kinder to keep it and eat it.

This morning we sat on the pontoon enjoying our coffee. As we talked about the night before and our coming day, a May fly was doing Yoga on the little table. At least that's how I interpreted it's movements and its holding positions. It's supple body, elongated as a narrow worm, was curved in  a "U" shape to the tip of its slender tale from its outstretched front paws, held together in perfect alignment with the rest of its body, completing the "U" shape. Amazing. I wasn't even high to be able to appreciate its beauty. Then, all I had to do was look up and everywhere there were caught or dead May flies. Everywhere. Dead bodies floating on the surface of the lake and filling spider webs all around the boat canopy supports and in the dock railings. It is pretty gross to see that many just hanging there obstructing the view. But there you have it. The flies must have a second hatching. That's all we can figure. Usually they are around the end of May or the beginning of June. We've never seen them in August.

One last annoying critter thing. We have little black worms that I believe are tiny millipedes everywhere. I thought all the curled up little things on the floors everywhere were spider turds. But I realized recently that they are really dead worms. They appear seemingly from nowhere and are everywhere. We don't remember having them before. We've been at the lake house eleven years, and don't remember them. They don't hurt you, they are just annoying to have crawling all around, so we kill them or flush them. Why can't they just stay outside? It has been so wet around here. We've decided it's because of the intense dampness. The house has a pervasive mildewy smell. I hate it. I've seen a bit of mildew on the dark wall paneling also. It's pretty gross, and even running the air conditioners for two weeks hasn't helped the smell much. I burn lots of Yankee Candles. What else is a smell sensitive woman to do? This is part of country lake livin'.

Where's the magic in this story? It's in the "now you see 'em, now you don't".

Life as a Catfish

Larry and I launched my brother-in-law's pontoon on the lake the other day. I was in the boat as Larry backed it into the water down our ramp with the truck. I was looking over the stern, watching to make sure the wheels stayed on the ramp when I spied a very large catfish swimming onto the boat ramp...very slowly. I yelled to him, "Better get a move on, Catfish, or we'll run you over!" He just kept crawlin' along.

I yelled to Larry, "Pull up! You're gonna go off the ramp." So he pulled up just as we got very close to the huge fish meandering across the ramp under water. I was relieved. This fish was huge! It was the biggest catfish I've ever seen. The feelers on his nose were actually thick as well as long. He was a big boy! Larry pulled up and we started to back down again.

As we backed down the ramp, I saw the fish in the center of the ramp getting very close to the trailer wheels. "Hurry up fish. You're gonna get squished!" I was getting very concerned and realized I was in the middle of a moral dilemma: do we just say to hell with the stupid fish and run over him, or wait until he crosses the ramp and out of harm's way. My first thought was to keep going to let Darwin take care of the fish. My second thought was guilt about thinking the first thought.

"Pull up one more time, Larry. You're almost there," I yelled once more. The fish moved so slowly across the ramp. "Will you get a move on, please, Mr. Fish?" I can't take this any more! Larry pulled up to straighten the trailer once more, and began backing down the ramp again. I noticed this time that as we got to the water's edge, Mr. Catfish was just passing over the other end of the ramp and out of our way. Thank God, I thought. I would have felt really bad about squishing such a huge fish. What kind of mess would it have made on our shoreline? Then, I couldn't believe I would have considered just running it over...again. What kind of person am I?

We backed the boat into the lake, and I maneuvered it up next to our dock the most successfully I ever have. Because my docking was so smooth and efficient, I felt rewarded for sparing the life of that catfish. Is this the Buddha in me? I don't know. I just felt grateful he saved himself and we didn't have to deal with cleaning up fish guts.

P.S. I just realized after writing this piece what really bothered me about the catfish. He must have heard the wheels coming toward him underwater, but the sound didn't startle him a bit. He just took his sweet time searching for whatever morsels of food he could find on the ramp. I'm sure he could swim fast if he needed to, but he didn't bother to do it even when I could no longer see him under the outboard motor. Didn't he care? Or did he just know he'd get out of the way in time if he had to. Searching for food on that ramp was the most important thing to him. I don't know if I could take such a risk in life. Maybe that's what bothered me. Does he have more faith than I do that everything will be ok no matter how dire things appear?

Enjoy Our Time

Crepe Myrtle we planted years ago.

We are spending time at the lake this trip just enjoying it. Yes, we met with our builder. He agreed that until we know if we're selling the place, we should put our plans on hold. A prospective buyer and his father are coming to see us Sunday afternoon.

We straightened out our credit report issues. Equifax and TransUnion had Larry's primary address wrong. Can you believe it? Our prospective lending bank representative couldn't believe an address could affect a social security number. Oh well. That's where we are as a society. The credit bureaus run your life, but you have to do their job. Unbelievable.  Anyway, the refinance is on target with an appraiser is coming Monday afternoon. If our buyer wants to buy, we have until Monday to cancel and get our application fee back. Let's see how this all plays out.

In the meantime, the pups and I went for a nice walk around our country loop. The sky was overcast, so it was not too hot or sunny for the walk. But, Mattie Grace pooped out early nonetheless, and I carried both pups up the last bit of a hill before making them walk the rest of the way home. The loop we walk here is about two miles around and they are out of shape. I've been lazy about walking them lately.

Then, I went food shopping. The Lexington Farmer's Market was in full swing, so I picked up some southern fresh produce: purple-hull peas, butter beans, "Hoppin' Johns" (black-eyed peas), boiled peanuts, peaches and corn on the cob, plus a nice looking watermelon among other things. After stopping at Publix supermarket, I took my booty home and crashed for the day. We sat on the dock looking at the "cooters" in the water and listening to the myriad of bird song over a cold beer. What a life.

This morning I "stripped" the hulled peas over coffee and now I'm getting ready to cook. We're having a lake party tomorrow with friends and family starting around noon. Tonight, we're going to a friend's house for ham and hash-brown casserole. I expect the "Cosmos" will be flowing as well. And, I'm bringing laundry. Thanks goodness for friends who invite you to bring your dirty laundry. Love you, Mary Pat!

Larry's out mowing the lawn right now, and I'm about to get started at the stove. My legs ached terribly all night, so I put on my new thigh-high compression stockings for the first time. Let's hope they help with the throbbing aches derived from my newly acquired varicose veins. Argh.

The sun is shining and it's a lovely day on the lake. Enjoy yours, Y'all.

Small Bee

Bee

Weed

 

What is The Universe Trying To Tell Us?

I thought we were done with The Lakehouse. I skipped doing spring chorus in RI because I felt I needed to be in SC to sell the property. I drove down by myself in early February with the intention of pushing that sale forward. Once there, I bought "For Sale" signs and posted them on the main road, at a key intersection leading to the road, and on a stump facing the water. I posted "Open House" signs and web updates each weekend, and for a little while felt encouraged at our prospects of selling the property. What I learned was this:

• Our house is "charming".
• Our lot is much bigger than anticipated. (Not necessarily a good thing apparently.)
• We're asking too much money. (Even though what we're asking is only a little higher than what the County has decided to charge us taxes on.)
• Nobody wants to tear down and build new.
• Nobody wants to invest in its upgrade for fear of not recovering that investment on a future sale.
• We only got drive-by inquiries.
• Nothing came to us online, even though I purchased an MLS listing. Acually, this isn't completely true. A woman wanted to rent it, but I declined.
• Realtors only work with one another, and do not send potential buyers to a "By Owner" listing, even though they add that listing to their own online site.
• I (not just Larry) am not completely ready to let the property go yet.

These revelations were helpful because we decided not to sell and keep it for (not to exceed) five years. That became the five-year-plan going forward. A couple of months later, we were enjoying our morning coffee in Tiverton, and received a phone call from a SC realtor's assistant. He convinced us to give his boss fifteen minutes when we returned to the lake. Not only did we have this appointment, but I was about to make one with a second realtor, when it occurred to me that I should check with Larry and see if he really wanted to consider selling. When I (for the last time) posed this question to him, he shouted, "NO!!!!" without hesitation. This led to an argument about communication in marriage that I cannot expound here. Suffice it to say, I cancelled the realtor appointment. This same realtor emailed me research numbers he did on the sale of our property. Long story short: even if it stands out from the other fourteen houses for sale in our price range, it'll take two years to sell it.

That night I saw the second-to-last episode of the TV show "Smash", where Angelica Houston's character had a revelation to double her advertising budget when her assistant had just informed her she had to cut back or not be able to carry the show a mere two months' more. That's when I said, "Honey, let's go the other way with this house. Let's refinance our mortgage and fix it up as basically as we can afford and make it nice for the next five years, so we can enjoy it as a new house like we planned." So, we hired a general contractor and Larry designed a renovation according to the discussion with this contractor.

Last week, we initiated our refinance mortgage after soliciting three choices of mortgage rate companies. We chose the bank with which we already have a mortgatge because their 7/1 ARM option was the best. The "5-YR Plan" has been sneaking its way to a "7-YR Plan", apparently, as if it has a mind of its own. Funny how this can happen. We paid our $100 application fee and gave the nice woman from Regions Bank our information. She soon called back to inform me that she could not obtain all our credit scores because there were "HAWK" Alerts on two of them. What the heck is that I asked? They are fraud alerts, that were put on our Trans Union and Equifax scores. We have no idea how they got there or who put them there. The Regions woman gave us a web site and phone number for all three companies. Needless to say, these were not helpful. Not only did we get no information of the alerts or how they got there, we had no way to talk with a person about it. Our only option was to "snail mail" an application with copies of documents to identify who we are and where we live, because were not able to get our credit reports online either. Now we are waiting for a postal mail reply and our application is on hold.

Simultaneously to all this, a man interested in the property sent me an email through Zillow.com. Apparently, even though my MLS listing expired, the ads were not automatically removed from all the other web sites, like Zillow. I nicely told the man the property was not for sale, but he kept persisting. I typed, "Who are you and why are you being so persistent?" He gave me his name, that he is a student preacher with a local Baptist church, and he, his wife, four children and parents have been looking for a place on the lake where they can all live together. When I heard what he did, I kindly emailed him a question: "Respectfully, since you saw what we are asking for the place, we are assuming you are in a financial position to make an acceptable offer. You need to know that we are not willing to negotiate for a whole lot less than what we are asking. Do you still want to come see it?" "Yes", was his resounding answer.

So, the ultimate question is left hanging in the air now: Is the Universe telling us we are going to sell The Lakehouse? What do you think? Larry sent the contractor a simpler roof design because he told us the cost to build what we already sent him is more than double what we can afford. He suggests we tear down and build new if it costs  that much. We told him we can't afford to do that.

We are moving forward with the contractor. Larry sent him a simplier design and we await numbers on that plan. And, we are scheduled to meet our interested potential buyer next week. I'll keep you posted on what happens. My nails get shorter by the day. Nibble...spit.

Synchronicity of the Dance

This is my second week alone at The Lakehouse. I drove over nine hundred miles in my Toyota Solara convertible to get cracking on selling our lovely paradise on Lake Murray. We just cannot afford to maintain two houses on the water anymore. Property taxes and many other expenses, including those of the Upton, Massachusetts house we seem to be permanent caretakers of, drain our retirement finances. Looking long-term down the road, I worry that we'll be eating out of dog food cans when we're eighty. I also want more freedom to vacation where we want instead of working on properties we own for our vacation. Enough already. It's time to reign in our generosity at providing for family in need and a free playground for other family and friends, and focus on providing for ourselves and our own future desires and pleasures. That's what I tell myself anyway.

Early spring has sprung here in South Carolina, and at the lake house in particular. Our Forsythia has bloomed, and today I found blooming Vinca vines. There was also another lovely tiny purple ground-cover flower that I'm sure is a weed, but is just preciously beautiful. Seeing these new blooms energized me to get raking and continue cleaning up the yard that we began almost a month ago. I am amazed that every year I once again get reminded about how satisfying raking and the immediate gratification of a clean-looking yard is.

But, before my work began, I took my coffee on the dock and meditated to the sound of all the birds that surround our place. After meditating, I began to read my Kindle while enjoying that first Cup O' Joe. Soon I was distracted by the frantic chaotic sound of birds, so I looked up. At the island closest to us, sea gulls were flocking and flying is crazy-looking circles over the water. Then I noticed ducks floating on the water, here one minute; gone the next. The gulls were diving and squawking loudly and I sat there mesmerized.

The swarm of birds on and above the shining water moved to the left and then I saw a large fish jump nearer to me. Very quickly the swarm of flying and swimming birds came near me and put on a feeding show that made me laugh. The gulls circled above and dove into the water while the Loons swam in a large circle together, disappearing under the water almost in unison. It looked like some strange form of contra dance with dips and circles; dives and fluttering wings. It was beautiful and magical. I wanted to dive in and join them.

 The synchronicity of their dance was harmonious and warmed my heart. It will be painful to lose this place.

Time to Sell

Sadly, our lives and priorities have changed over the ten years since we bought "The Lakehouse". Larry and I have become more settled in Rhode Island, and our South Carolina family's busy lives do not allow them much use of the place either.

We recently discovered a break-in when our niece, Allison, arrived to spend the weekend with her husband and girlfriend. They walked in and got physically sick at the smell of "#2" that permeated our home. Someone gained access to the house through a window left unlocked. They, interestingly enough, did not have the where with all to figure out how to turn on our well for water, so they filled our master toilet and left a crappy diaper in the waste can; dirty dishes in the sink, and cleaned out our fridge. I like to think out of respect they got a blanket and slept on top of our made bed instead of in it. We are grateful nothing was stolen or destroyed, except the ambiance and sense of smell of our family and friends.

This incident threw me for a loop. I felt so helpless and violated. But, it made us take a good hard look at where our life is going, our priorities and our finances. For the amount of time we spend at the lake, it has become more expensive to maintain that house than it does our home in Rhode Island. We cannot afford to continue paying for two houses on the water. One has to go, and sadly, it must be "The Lakehouse".

I posted a notice on Craig's List, and if you see this posting, please consider buying this lovely haven. You won't regret a minute of the decision. It saddens our hearts to leave, but leave we must. Hopefully, one of you reading this blog will have the resources to buy it. By the way, the property next door is also for sale. If one were to buy both, you'd have ten and a half acres to build a very private dream home! Think about it and dream big!!!

Reacquainting with The Lake

I am so happy to be back at our lake house on Lake Murray in South Carolina. I keep forgetting how beautiful it is here; so remote, quiet and calm...peaceful. The full moon is working its magic on my mood and my dreams. I am exercising every day so far, and had a very interesting dream this morning.

In my dream, a mentor told me to trust the process and have faith that all will be well with me and in my life. The entire first part of the dream was about not being accepted by literal beauty pageant candidates because I am fatter than they are and do not conform to the "hair and makeup; fashion" contingent. I was feeling bad about myself as a result. Then I packed a bag to get ready for an event, when the bag "activated" upon closing; a motor switched on and lights lit. I grabbed the handle and it lifted me up and into the sky. It took me far away to a lovely land where I met a mentor. This spiritual and life mentor challenged me to sing my "Song" in support of my candidacy as leader of the Fei. I watch a SciFi Channel television show called "Lost Girl", and the Fei have special powers. The Fei mentioned in my dream was more spiritual in nature, but powers would be granted if I succeeded. I awoke singing the song as challenged, feeling confident I would win. She smiled at me knowing I would win too. It was a good feeling.

The water temperature in our lake is wonderful. It's hot here right now: low to upper 90's and sometimes into the 100's with high humidity. I thought the water would be hot too, but it's more like lukewarm bath water. Cooler than I expected and lovely to swim in. I am swimming more than usual because I keep hearing the words of my Rhode Island personal trainer, Eric, in my head: ramp up your cadio! My weight is out of control, and I am getting better, but still not great with controlling what I eat and how much I drink. Being on vacation doesn't help that process either. But I figure if I exercise every day, it'll help to stabilize my weight increases, and maybe help me to eat less sugar and drink less alcohol. Hopefully. Anyway, every day is a do-over for me. I feel better about myself as a result. Doesn't that count for something?

I didn't want to come back to the lake because I love our home in Tiverton, Rhode Island, and didn't want to experience extreme heat and humdity.. Now that I am back here, once again, I realize how much I do love the lake house, and the temps aren't much different than up north.  The pups, Jackson and Mattie Grace, really love it here because they get to go outside unsupervised and they love to swim! It's calmer swimming in the lake than in the ocean, so they are more likely to venture into the water on there own. I've begun taking them for rides in our paddle boat, and they really enjoy it as much as the pontoon. I guess it's all about togetherness for them.

We've only been here a few days, but we are already relaxed and settling into lake life in the rural country. I am so blessed and grateful.