Peace and Quiet on the Pond

Saturday was to have been a quiet day. A few weeks ago I mentioned to a neighbor that I had some timber from a couple of trees affected by the ice storm of December that I was going to burn. He said he was going to rent a chipper to take care of quite a few trees he had on his property and that I could add mine to his. Saturday turned out to be the day.

About 9:00 I had gone outside to get the paper and noticed his SUV in his driveway with the chipper in tow behind it. By 10:00 his wife, son, the son’s friend and he had the chipper in place and started it up. I was still reading the paper when Debbie, who had noticed the noise and activity, encouraged me to get our timber over there before it was too late. I knew their pile of trees was going to take a while. But she insisted I get ours over there. Well, I had not even finished all my coffee but I know when to shut up so I got up and put on some work clothing, got my work gloves and went to work.

I spent 10 or15 minutes getting my pile of lumber to their chipper but felt guilty about just dumping mine and leaving. So three hours later we had reduced the huge pile of timber to a very small pile of wood chips. The hum and growl of the chipper brought several other neighbors running with some limbs of their own to add. I somehow resented them although I had done the same.

At 2:00 I sat down at our kitchen bar and ate some lunch. After lunch I noticed the rocks needed the weeds whacked. So the whirr of the weed whacker was heard for another hour. Shortly after that the neighbors' yard crew showed up and mowed and trimmed two entire yards in less time than it took me to weed whack. (see my blog of 03-19-2008)

Finally quiet and peaceful. Then Maverick reminded me I had promised to take him to the Tulsa Talon’s Arena Football game Saturday night. So, I cleaned up and it was off to Tulsa for a noisy indoor football game.

Sunday afternoon was beautiful but I did not get outside to enjoy it. I stayed in where it was quiet.

At The Roadhouse Do As The Roadies Do

Last night Maverick had a baseball game at 6:30. The Outlaws won and are now 2-1 in season play. Maverick went 2 for 3 at bat and played left field, right field and an inning at 1^st base. I had to meet Debbie and Maverick at the park because of game time and by the end of the game we were all hungry.

We made our way to a place where we had eaten on two other occasions - Logan's Roadhouse. On those occasions we were there at lunch time and right when they opened (11am) and we were one of the first customers with the place mostly to ourselves. By the time we arrived last night it was 8pm and the place was hopping. While we waited to be seated a man offered us a tin bucket of peanuts and we joined all the others waiting for a table in cracking them and throwing the hulls on the floor. The floor looked like the floor of a barn. They were very tasty and Maverick and I ate enough I could have gone on home without eating dinner but Debbie insisted on staying.

When we got inside and to a booth I begin to notice the place was noisy because every time Maverick or Debbie said something I saw their lips move but only heard the clanging of plates and the hum people yelling and talking loudly. Every now and then a young lady would yell something I could not understand and one section of the place would yell, “Yee haw!” We soon figured out it had something to do with a free dinner or someone’s birthday. By the 3^rd or 4^th time I knew what to do and joined in and yelled with them, "Yee Haw!!" Debbie and Maverick were embarrassed but I found it to be a stress reliever.

When the waitress (Amie) took our order Maverick told her he wanted Macaroni and cheese. When she brought the plates out he had a “roadie” which is a small hamburger. She said that is what he had ordered and she had repeated it to us. I apologized and told her I had only been reading lips for 10 minutes. She brought the correct serving and said something I could not understand as her head was turned and I could not read her lips. Our dinners were very tasty, Debbie had a chicken salad and I had the meatloaf. I will have it for lunch again today because for some reason I filled up quickly. Debbie said it was because of all the peanuts. You think?!

When the tab was presented to me I noticed coffee was 2.09 a cup. I quickly asked for another refill after making sure they were free. She forgot to bring us containers to take our leftovers home. Normally I would just give a friendly wave trying to get her attention but by this time I was in the groove of the place. When I spotted her I cupped my hands over my mouth and said loudly, “Amie!” I think I might try this at the next place we eat as this worked and she came right over.

Debbie was embarrassed by that behavior of mine. But when in Rome…

Spring Arrives Tomorrow

Spring officially arrives tomorrow, March 20^th. Here on the pond we have seen signs of Spring for a while. We have had a few days of warm temperatures and the past couple days two inches of rain have fallen. This can only mean one thing in Oklahoma – mowing season is about to begin.

Yard Maintenance

I looked out the window yesterday and saw henbit growing in the back yard. The purple flowers on the weed makes for pretty Easter colors. However they stand out against the brown Bermuda grass like a sore thumb. And they grow tall and fast! The battle is about to begin! I will make the annual pilgrimage to the Wal-Mart garden center this week to find the chemicals to attack the purple plague.

Living on the pond was a dream of mine. We live in a patio home that was to keep yard maintenance to a minimum – no side yard and a relatively small yard. When I think of a lake home I think of au natural turf. If the grass grows you mow it, if the sun burns it up even better. We are here to enjoy the view and why should we spend time worrying about yard maintenance? There are only two problems with that philosophy: Debbie and the neighbors.

Debbie And Her Flowers

Debbie loves flowers. On the pond gardening is a major effort; a small war. Out here rock grows best and we have a bumper crop. When we built the house we hauled in some good soil to place in front of the house and Debbie had her flower bed. But a couple of years later she had a vision of a garden out back. I thought I could deter her by telling her to dig a garden out there would require blasting caps and helmets. She had read some gardening books and had a plan that included gardening bricks, 100 bags of soil and a strong back of a cheap laborer. It consumed one very long three day weekend but we got it constructed. I was never so happy to see a Monday morning come and the opportunity to sink into my chair at my desk. Here is the result of that effort. Debbie plants a fine garden.

Neighborhood Green Envy

My neighbors keep their lawns like golf courses. They have sprinkler systems, lawn treatment companies, and landscapers all keeping the yards immaculate. I have seen the mowers converge on the neighborhood and have all homes mowed, trimmed and driveways and cuttings blown from sidewalks, patio and driveway before I can get my mower started. Their yards are emerald green all Summer while I pray the heat will kill mine to keep it from growing.

I fertilized my yard for a couple of years but have decided that creates more work. When you live on the lake fertilizer washes down from your yard to the rocks. This gives the weeds on the rocks the ability to come up more pretty and green than your yard. I can mow my yard in 25 minutes but weed-eating the rocks at the back of property takes 2½ hrs. The neighbors’ yard crew gets 4 men out on the rocks and they are finished in 10 minutes.

Ecology Friendly

The price of gas is rising. Everyone loves the peace and quiet of the lake. Why pollute the air and sound with lawn equipment? Its time to get concerned about the environment. I am going green this year. I figure 3 goats should do the trick. And it will give me more porch and pondering time.

Spring Thunderstorms

I like thunderstorms. Okay I said it. It is not the politically correct thing to say these days.

Radar Education
Television stations spend thousands of dollars to convince us thunderstorms are dangerous. We have 4 network affiliates in Tulsa. Each one of them have doppler radar that has a name just for them. Double Doppler and Doppler 8000 are two names. Are we to believe doppler makes a specific model for every station? One station has WARN radar (Wide Area Radar Network). Just the name places fear into the hearts of the weather wary such as Debbie. These same stations have tornado trackers, weather watchers, 24 hour coverage of precipitation and temperatures along with weekend area festivals schedules (for something to do on slow weather days). Before Doppler people predicted weather by the cows, flies, and aching bones. My brother-in-law, Pat, can predict the weather by the pain in his knee from an old motorcycle crash injury. I trust him more than doppler radar. I just need to get him to move from Broken Arrow to Skiatook for greater accuracy.

Storm Preparation
If it is daytime when Spring storms roll across the pond I take pictures and sit on the porch to feel the breeze and smell the rain. Meanwhile Debbie and Maverick are packing important papers, snacks, pillows, radios and flashlights and heading to the "safe room." The safe room is a walk-in closet in Maverick's room with concrete walls and a steel door. Boxes must be removed before we can all get into the closet and one hopes that before we climb in all have time to use mouthwash.

When storms roll in at night I like to listen to the thunder and rain. Did I mention sleep? I like to sleep too. Last night storms came through. The thunder had wakened Maverick so I climbed into bed with him. I had just dozed off to the rhythm of the rain when I felt something being laid on my leg. It was Debbie emptying the safe room floor of its contents. She seemed perturbed that I could sleep through the thunder and rain. I did not have time to worry about it and drifted right back to sleep.

Thunderstorm Season
It is going to be a bad season for storms and I don't need a doppler radar to figure that out. I know it by watching Debbie. She has emptied the safe room twice already this year and it is only March 18th.

Baseball Season Begins for High School

Skiatook's High School baseball team (Jr Varsity and Varsity) began their season today. Scrimmages past they now move into the games that count. The 1st game was here in town at the diamond on the school campus. They played against Debbie's Alma mater - Nathan Hale (class of '75) in Tulsa. It was a warm and sunny day so Maverick, Debbie and I decided to take in the game. I sunburned the top of my head and only had my hat off for about an hour! It was windy but a good game and a winning experience with the home team Bulldogs defeating the Rangers 8 - 7.

Maverick was VERY interested in going to the game. He watched intently for 3 innings before we needed popcorn, chips and a soda. By the 4th inning he saw one of his baseball teammates, Noah, and went down a couple of rows on the bleachers to sit with him. By the 4th inning both boys had moved from the bleachers to the grassy area.

Yes, it was spring-like weather and John Fogerty's "Centerfield" was blaring from the speakers. It was baseball! What was Maverick doing out on the grassy area? Playing football

For Everything There Is A Time

For a few years my cousin Dennis has been posting his thoughts here on Blogspot (http://kscowboy.blogspot.com/). He has some humorous insites into current events, family life and...well...coffee.

Recently I have upgraded to a new PC and have decided to try this myself to try and balance some of the sanity (or lack thereof) in his posts. So if there is a time for everything I guess this is my time to begin blogging.

I live up on on Skiatook Lake with my wife (Debbie - age unknown) and grandson (Maverick -8) where we enjoy the view and some escape from the rat race. Our jobs are in Tulsa which is only a 30 minute drive.

Postings should be brief since I am a man of few words.

The Almands (Dad's sister and her husband) visited the Clantons (my parents) yesterday evening. Here is a quick video I took while they were visiting at Dad and Mom's place in Tulsa. Sandra (one of my two sisters) and her husband and a grandson joined us too.

So, my pondering has begun. See you around the pond.