Parked Out By The Lake
Eighty Miles from Santa Fe
It's an annual tradition to join Kathryn's family at their rented lake house for some boating and fishing. This year, calling it a "lake" would be a generous term. Not only has an exceptional drought devastated the region, but this particular lake was being used to supplement nearby cities and reservoirs in droughts of their own. The water level was up to the first few feet of rocks at this time last year. Had the water been down a foot lower, I doubt we could have used the dock that came with the house.
It wasn't long into our trip when we realized that the dry spell was attempting to resolve itself. We spent Saturday morning enveloped in our screened porch, flipping eggs and bacon on the griddle as dark clouds finally released their accumulation. One optimistic night found us jetting to a nearby cove to start a fire, only for the rain to immediately chase us home through its thick sheets of water. I can only imagine how the creepy abandoned doll on the shore fared in the storm.
We still enjoyed our lake time despite Mother Nature's best attempts to the contrary. The temperature was quite lovely for a summer day, and I finally avoided a sunburn basking under the overcast skies. Even the worst day by the lake beats the best day in the office, right? Did I mention that the house has no internet?
It's Electric
The lake was conveniently located between my house and Emma Lou's house, and I had long owed her some renovation work as part of my birthday gift to her. I took advantage of the opportunity and met her later that night. We explored some of the walkable Charlottesville strip that I didn't get to see on my last visit. I'll spare you the gory details of my electrical work that followed the next day, but know that I successfully replaced an ugly fluorescent kitchen lamp with much nicer, dimmable LED circles in the ceiling. I'm looking forward to seeing (and perhaps eating) the many meals that will be prepared in their light!
