Sunday, August 17, 2008
Twenty-two hours at the lake
I had planned to stay longer, but then lightning scored a direct hit on one of Larry's trees. The tree exploded as the sap vaporized. Pieces of tree shrapnel were thrown all over the place. A large one broke some rafters in his shed.
Well, that didn't happen while I was there. It happened over a week ago. But, Larry's phone connection was burned out and so was the power line from his cabin to his shed. The lightning surged through Mark's TV and one of his air conditioners, "killing" them.
And it may have done in the power to our pump and water heater. It also seems to have fried the power line to the Shakespeare House and the outdoor outlets mounted on the retaining wall. And, strangely, the fixture on the kitchen ceiling and the outside light over the door.
I tried to reset the GFI circuit. No result. I checked all the fuses and even put new ones in the four circuits. No results. I looked at the fuses in the power switches for the pump and the water heater. They looked good.
And then the flashlight I was using wouldn't turn off!
Ah, without running water, I was forced to eat left over pizza I'd brought along on paper plates. I got some water from Skip's hose to do minimal washing up, but no shower.
I reset some of the wobbly pavers, and I pulled weeds in the patio.
And I enjoyed the bald eagle(s). I saw eagles twice, once when an eagle dove through the air and grabbed a little fish. I also got to see one of the cranes fly by, land, fish, and fly off.
This morning, while canoeing around the lake, I saw three loons floating on the lake. I'd been hearing them yesterday and last night. It sounded like they were over on Big Blake. This morning, I got to see them take flight (they need long "runways") and then circle over the canoe on their ways to somewhere else. They make a funny noise when they fly.
I also enjoyed the flowers that are blooming now. About the tiger lillies that I "rescued" from the ditch along Hunky Dory Road: when I was a little boy, my great grandfather Rohl had a huge "flock" of tiger lillies in front of his house. They were beautiful and as big as I was. So, they are magical flowers to me still. There are a dozen blooming stalks now and half that many smaller ones that haven't bloomed this summer. Next year.
The Cone flowers are fascinating just because the petals flop back against the stem.
The daisies are just a welcome additional color.
There are also lots of unwelcome plants. Like these in the patio.
And these that the wind blew up against the shore around our dock.
Well, I packed up and came home this morning with the phone number for the electrician who fixed Larry's problems. I'll call him in the morning and hope he can fix our power problems as easily.
Well, that didn't happen while I was there. It happened over a week ago. But, Larry's phone connection was burned out and so was the power line from his cabin to his shed. The lightning surged through Mark's TV and one of his air conditioners, "killing" them.
And it may have done in the power to our pump and water heater. It also seems to have fried the power line to the Shakespeare House and the outdoor outlets mounted on the retaining wall. And, strangely, the fixture on the kitchen ceiling and the outside light over the door.
I tried to reset the GFI circuit. No result. I checked all the fuses and even put new ones in the four circuits. No results. I looked at the fuses in the power switches for the pump and the water heater. They looked good.
And then the flashlight I was using wouldn't turn off!
Ah, without running water, I was forced to eat left over pizza I'd brought along on paper plates. I got some water from Skip's hose to do minimal washing up, but no shower.
I reset some of the wobbly pavers, and I pulled weeds in the patio.
And I enjoyed the bald eagle(s). I saw eagles twice, once when an eagle dove through the air and grabbed a little fish. I also got to see one of the cranes fly by, land, fish, and fly off.
This morning, while canoeing around the lake, I saw three loons floating on the lake. I'd been hearing them yesterday and last night. It sounded like they were over on Big Blake. This morning, I got to see them take flight (they need long "runways") and then circle over the canoe on their ways to somewhere else. They make a funny noise when they fly.
I also enjoyed the flowers that are blooming now. About the tiger lillies that I "rescued" from the ditch along Hunky Dory Road: when I was a little boy, my great grandfather Rohl had a huge "flock" of tiger lillies in front of his house. They were beautiful and as big as I was. So, they are magical flowers to me still. There are a dozen blooming stalks now and half that many smaller ones that haven't bloomed this summer. Next year.
The Cone flowers are fascinating just because the petals flop back against the stem.
The daisies are just a welcome additional color.
There are also lots of unwelcome plants. Like these in the patio.
And these that the wind blew up against the shore around our dock.
Well, I packed up and came home this morning with the phone number for the electrician who fixed Larry's problems. I'll call him in the morning and hope he can fix our power problems as easily.
