A little girl who may be themost wanted
baby in the world is being born right now and I'm sending all my best
wishes her way, not just for an easy birth but for a life so wonderful that it
makes all her mother's worries and tears worth it all. (I think Heidi will think
it was worth it no matter what, though!)
We came hom last night after
a couple of days camping on the property, clear
out still more low branches and dead wood and attending the annual homeowners'
meeting. Urgh. That went on much longer than expected; they're makig some changes
to the CC&Rs, and there is not much agreement on what to change. I must confess
that I spoke up enough that I really shouldn't complain. It drives me nuts,
though, when the document's exact words say things that are clearly not the
intended meaning. This is a legal and binding document, and a change in personnel
could lead to conditions being enforced that no one really wants. One example is
motorhomes; as written, it now reads that motorhomes cannot be set up on a
property except while building is going on. Well, that's not what they mean. No
one objects to people occasionally camping out on their own lot; they just don't
want motorhomes permanently out in view. So now they're changing the rules to
allow them to be used "not more than 15 days per year", as if anyone's going to
count.
We had a very upsetting realization while we were there. All
of our Ponderosa pines seem to have contracted bark beetles. The tallest tree on
our lot is dead, as well as several smaller ones. Several more are showing signs
of infestation and I think we may lose all but the little seedlings. We cut down
some of the smaller ones and will buy a chain saw and go up next week and take out
the big one. I feel like a tree murderer. Thank goodness we have some other types
of pines on the land as well. Today's projects: sleep late (done) and shop for a
chainsaw.