Happy Saturday morning:

“If you put the federal government in charge of the Sahara Desert, in five years there’d be a shortage of sand.” OK, one more since he was so good, I just can’t resist; “A society that puts equality before freedom will get neither. A society that puts freedom before equality will get a high degree of both.” ~ Milton Friedman (1912-2006), he was an American (born in Chicago) economist and recipient of the 1976 Nobel Prize in Economics

Phil Donahue on his TV show did an interview with Dr. Friedman back in the mid-seventies on the subject of capitalism and greed. It was a classic! Donahue an “über” liberal asked the question, and Friedman answered with amazing clarity. Watch a short 2-minute video of Friedman’s brilliant lesson, hyperlinked above. Maybe I’ll watch it again after I post.

I’ll post after my walk – might as well confess; I slept in. I woke up at two in a solid sweat. Then I realized I had my thick, woolen, Dutch blanket on, and it’s finally staying a bit warmer at night. Well, that had me up for an hour and not awake again till 6:15. I’ll be key-stroking a bit more when I return from my three-miler. First I’d best top off the thermal mug with some fresh coffee though.

Incompetency – As ticked off as I am, I should not even be posting this week. These past few months we’ve been busy preparing and selling a property. These past few months we’ve been dealing with massive incompetency and bureaucracy.

Mid-July it was supposed to close. This was moved to the end of the month. To even make that small change happen caused a flurry of nonsensical busy work. Finally the end came into sight. Finally we were told all was in place. Then at three, the day prior to closing, the lender informed they were not able to execute their paperwork (primarily drawing a check) by the next day – yesterday, a Friday.

Were it not for Marcia acting like a dog with a bone we wouldn’t be this far. Now it looks like (hopefully) next week this will finalize.

Marcia had plans to come up tomorrow, now that too is postponed. As I wrote to her; “this whole thing is like a bad case of constipation, can’t wait for it to pass.”

Getting ready – I believed it to be a good idea to not have Marcia step into a place reminiscent of a college dorm room. Steadily a bit of cleaning and gathering has taken place. Things are not spotless mind you. Now it has more the appearance of that ‘warm’ lived in look.

In the meantime the regular chores and repairs are also on the menu, as is menu prep, a little reading, a small Kayak excursion here and there, plus some listening to Stuart Varney at lunch time – you know how that goes.

Yesterday I finally tackled a large bundle of tarps taking up the rocking chair in the Bunkie. One large tarp proved the most awkward to fold. Hence I spread it out in the side yard and carefully began to match the corners, folded it over several times, and began to double the thing into a small bundle. To get the gathered air out from between the folds I threw myself prone, and laid spread eagled on top of that tarp.

It was at that moment that Bob-the-forester came around the corner looking for me to assist with something. When I heard him stutter; “Oh, I’m sorry” I knew that what he was seeing was something vastly different from what I was doing.

Animal Planet – All of a sudden the Hummingbirds came back. All over the lake folk are struggling to keep up with filling their feeders. Three times this week I watched a little male practice his high-speed “U” swoop courting ritual. Either this little fellow is confused or he got beat out by a better ‘swooper’ and is now practicing for next spring.

Mid-week Marlene and I, while on our three-mile ‘southern loop’ walk spotted a Beaver. Marlene saw it first as it slapped and dove under. We stopped and some seconds later it popped up again, and again it did its tail slap. This time it disappeared for good.

Earlier in the week Bob-the-forester and his bride pulled their boat over by our dock. I wandered over and for the next several minutes got caught up on happenings. A Loon swimming nearby had gone under two or three times. All of a sudden it burst out of the water – a mere TEN feet from where we were chatting. We could see it swallow the fish it had caught. Then, as if to show off its accomplishment, it reared up and extended its wings in a stunning display. They surely are gorgeous birds. Of course my camera was in the cabin.

But that was not all. A few seconds after the Loon had disappeared underwater, one of our group spotted a creature swimming to shore. We watched it clamber along the rocks, run by the shore in front of Northern Comfort, and over our dock, then it disappeared. Again it was a mere TEN feet from me. What was it? A perfectly black little Mink had crossed by. Bob-the-forester took it all in stride. He merely said; “there goes sixty bucks.” And I still did not have my camera.

Thursday the lake’s Gull population discovered the roof to Paul’s boat house. Warm, flat, secure, they must have been surprised they hadn’t discovered it earlier. All of this would not be a bad thing. Except for the fact that aside from being a resting spot it’s also now their toilet. Not only that, but whoever is in charge sounds reveille at the crack of dawn and that starts off hours long rounds of loud squawking. Non-stop squawking.

Donn and Marlene to the rescue; not so much as for their own sanity. They rigged a stuffed Owl on a stand. At first it worked, mere hours later the Owl became the Gulls’ best buddy. We’ll see where all of this heads (or better stated “lands”).

Fini – This coming week is the week where all the kids and grandkids arrive for a week of family fun at the five cabins around the bend and in the cove. This means that the little landing next to the Narnia ‘forest’ is like a Wal-Mart parking lot. Additionally they require boats to get to those “off the grid” cabins. I’ve not seen this much activity up here since I opened the cabin. Then it was just as busy, only it was from Mosquitoes.

This weekend (Monday is a holiday in Canada) it’s “Community Days” in T-town. It’s the blowout weekend of the summer. Bunting and banners all over the place. A parade at noon today and a baseball tournament equaling the big leagues is all part of the fun. Not to forget Frozen will be shown on the big screen, outdoors, at the marina.

To Pieter and Jeanne, have a great week in Miami – give Birthday wishes to Jack on his 7-0 will you?

Make it a great week. Stay safe.
Cheers.
Dirk