WEDNESDAY, August 6

(Correction to yesterday's post: Tim lives in Centennial, not Castle Rock)

Terry, Neil and Michael went to Denver today for Neil's PCA meeting.  I didn't hear them leave, but their plan was to get up at 3:30 and head out at 4:30 - so that's a good thing!  It will be a long day for them (naturally the meeting was on the other side of Denver, so it was more than 4 hours each way.)  I made up a batch of my 'famous' beef stew in the crock pot so dinner would be already done and waiting whenever they get home.

Both hummer feeders needed to be refilled when I woke up, and Shadow had left me a present outside my bedroom door (I appreciated the gesture, but dead mice are just not that appealing to me!) but once those chores were taken care of I was free to wander up to the pools and soak.

On the way up to the party pool I had a delightful discussion with Edna (she has just discovered Valley View), and Muffin was kind enough to 'wash' my yogurt cup.  At the pool I met some other first-timers, Wendy and Mary Ellen, from Santa Fe. They have worked together for years at a charter school, where Mary Ellen runs the Special Ed department. So we had lots of stories to share.  They loved hearing about my time teaching in Supai.

Around 2:00 I was headed down to the house for a bite to eat, and stopped to watch Katie painting some of the thistles by the little creek. (I do admire people who can make their hands duplicate what their eyes see!) Further along the road Greg (another first-timer) pointed out a doe who was resting in the trees close by.  He asked where the pools are, so I made a U-turn and took him on a mini-tour. On my way back along the road there was another deer munching, who let me get about 6-8 feet from her before she started thinking about bolting.  I took a picture and continued on to the house.

While I filled the smaller hummer feeder I was deciding what to have for lunch.  I'd forgotten about the pasta leftovers from last night's dinner, and they were just as delicious cold.  I am definitely going to make some when I return home!  I'd also forgotten that Wednesday is pool cleaning day; I'd originally thought that I might sit in the shade poolside this afternoon and work on my needlework.  

Heading back up the the party pool to soak I got waylaid by some pretty piano music coming from Oak House, and changed direction.  Not only did I get to hear some good playing, I also scored the Maryland license plate we needed from a car parked there.  However, I had miscounted our total because once I had so many plates it was easier to count the missing ones and subtract from 50 - except <g> I had forgotten to include Alaska and Hawaii among the missing.   I think with the addition of Maryland we're now up to 41, but will have to wait until Tom returns (the map is in the glove box) to say for sure.

I did eventually make it up to soak, and introduced Amelia to Sam McGee.  Then a man and I 'traded' poems for a while.  Leaving the pool a deer watched me walk down the path, and let me get within about 2 feet before she decided to walk off.  (One of the guys at the pool this afternoon mentioned that he'd hand fed an apple to one of the deer... NOT a good idea!)

When the gang returned from their long day in Denver, dinner (beef stew and cantaloupe) was ready to eat.  The cantaloupe rinds that I'd put on the ground outside the kitchen window were also appreciated, by a doe and her tiny fawn, who came to eat them while we were dining.  

It's a tired bunch tonight, but at least tomorrow, "no one has to get up at O-fuck-30"... LOL