“And All At Once, Summer Collapsed Into Fall” ~Oscar Wilde
I found that quote while working on the lake newsletter the other day and it really resonated with me.
Iowa has been a demonstration of extremes this year. Record cold and late snow in April. Unrelenting heat beginning in mid-May and record rain fall all summer. Just as the lake was returning to normal conservation pool level, the torrential rains have returned. Our rain gauge has captured 5.75 inches since Saturday and we are currently receiving another heavy downpour projected to leave another 2-3 inches with little relief in sight.
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The new tributary to the lake[/caption]We have developed a sort of ravine behind the motor home. Constant run-off from the circle drive in front of our site has eroded a trough along the timber-line. Within a few minutes of a downpour, our little creek (crick in my Midwestern accent) runs with miniature rapids the length of our site and into the woods. The hurricane headed for the Gulf Coast will result in a continued wet pattern in this part of the world. Maybe we’ll install pontoons on the motor home and row to Georgia! It would certainly save on gas.
Champ and I are both doing some different things. I signed up to start volunteering with Polk County Conservation at the fabulous new Nature Center just across the lake. My first gig was an annual festival event this past Sunday called Glow Wild. It began as a fund raiser when the Nature Center was still being built. It will continue as a fun event to bring people out to the facility that may not otherwise visit. The festival God’s smiled on the event and the rain held off long enough to have a well-attended, exciting event. People could canoe, take a pony drawn wagon ride, there was a lit climbing wall, live birds of prey, butterfly garden seed ball making a food tent and beer tent. My station was a kids craft table where I helped a couple hundred kids over the course of 4 hours make luminaries to decorate the perimeter of the parking lot after dark. It was great fun. I love doing crafts with kids. My grandkids always know I’m good for some sort of project when they visit. After dark when I was finished with my shift, Champ joined me and we were treated to live music from a regional country band, (good thing I’ve acquired a taste for country music over the past year) and a towering 25’ bonfire. Free S’mores topped off the evening. A hot air balloon was there as a demo, but did not fly. It was a cool luminary though! Some of you know I have switched to a strict Paleo diet. Yes, I cheated on Sunday and ate the bun with my Brat and drank two Exile Brewery Ruthies that tasted heavenly after not having beer for three months. Sad to say I am still paying for it today in the form of terrible stomach cramps from assaulting my insides with grain and gluten.
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I am looking forward to getting involved in some more activities with them next summer. Night ranger walks looking for owls and any nature hike whether we are looking for butterflies, flowers or birds are on my radar. Rangers will lead but volunteers go along to help people identify and be an extra resource, while we expand our own knowledge. I'll be writing the newsletters again here and work in the butterfly gardens. Hopefully, the insurance industry in Iowa will get is act together and I won't have to work to afford my "affordable healthcare" If that happens I'll be able to put in more time here at Saylorville, my first love of volunteering. I would love to be able to spend more time with Judy working in the gardens during the weekdays.
Champ was offered a new job for next year. Saylorville is creating a new position for a volunteer to assist in inspecting playground equipment for needed repairs and structural soundness. In our litigious society it has become necessary to inspect the equipment throughout the campgrounds more often and in more detail and document all repairs and findings. They sought out someone who is thorough and agile. Champ was a natural fit and they offered it to him today. He’s excited that he gets to ‘play’ as part of his work next year. Part of the inspection is sliding down the slides, swinging from the monkey bars, climbing the walls and ladders etc. along with checking every detail of the construction. If you know Champ you can picture him now I’m sure. He's also pretty excited that he won't be continually exposed to poison ivy. Despite all the precautions he has been broken out all summer. We have decided he can get a breakout simply by standing down wind of the stuff. He's been pretty miserable, though he never complains.
The summer is indeed collapsing into fall. The sun is setting earlier and the days and weeks till we depart for the winter are starting accelerate, I think I even feel a tail wind. I need to remind myself everyday to breath.
Until next time…
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