Procrastination

It has been a busy fall as usual, so it has been easy to procrastinate posting. Another reason is that this post has been on my mind for a while. I somehow keep losing the picture that E took and that inspired the thoughts surrounding it, and of course the subject isn't the easiest to write about.
So I named the picture "And then there was one". It is a strange feeling to grow up in a family of five and then over time have everyone except you die. Nobody ever expects things to turn out the way they did, you expect things to go on forever, just the way they are, but here I am.

I am lucky to have the rest of my family, truly blessed in fact, my children (J, C, M and K), E, and a few good friends. So we will continue and be thankful for what we have and for the those we no longer have with us.

Dock Work

My annual dock installation routine started early this year to take advantage of the very low water conditions at the TFF. The bottom of the steps leading to the dock had no support on the non railing side and the hillside under the stairs was beginning to erode. The main improvement was to add the two large rock shown just below the steps and the rearrange the rocks on either side. I also graded the slope leading up to the steps from the lake.


The lake is typically high enough to float the dock section into place. This year there was about 10 feet of sloped shore to deal with. Notice the large greenish rock just past the dock, it was sticking up a few inches and looked to be a in the way so after an hour or so of digging the rock was extracted from the lake bed. It's a nice rock though, I'll find a use for it.


Now for the real challenge. The dock secton is 6'x16' and weighs about a ton. I had just enough pieces of chain, tow straps and a come-along to reach a huge maple about 75' up the hill. Winch, pry, lift, shove was the trick. I used the come-along to put as much tension as I dared on the system, then E and I used pry bars to lift and shove the dock toward the shore. Progress was slow but in the end the dock was in place and secure to the shore with some new chain clevises.

On the dock

E and I really enjoy sitting on the dock during cocktail hour. We tend to do this throughout the season, even in the winter with a foot of snow under our feet.
August is probably the best time of the year. It is still warm and the sun sets during cocktail hour on most nights. If we are really lucky the mosquitoes are mostly dead too.

This is a September shot. It was dark and the view could not be photographed so I played around with what I could shoot. I have a red/green/white headlamp. I like this photo, it is a blue polka dot glass of Reyka with red light illumination.