It’s busy busy time

I’m sorry not to post daily right now, but we are juggling several activities. Down the road on the house site the concrete contractor is building some gorgeous (never to be seen again unless the house burns down) foundations. I opened the tap to empty the water tanks for the fourth time, as recommended by Jay, the pump guy. By now we should have pure-as-the-driven snow water. I’ll have to get it tested. My main concern, besides seeing if it is full of uranium like the water in Oakhurst, is to determine the amount of calcium. If it’s anything like the well water we get here a mile up the road, we will have to put in some filtration to reduce it before all the plumbing clogs up with lime.

It would be so nice to spray some water on the car when it’s covered in dust from our road, and not have the water droplets dry and leave calcium rings behind. Maybe that’s just a country boy’s dream. Maybe I could dream up a water distiller that I could use as final rinse. I really don’t like to have to use a towel on the entire car to keep it pretty. Maybe that’s just a country boy’s dream.

Meanwhile we are preparing to open both the lake operation with its rental boats and ferries, and the ranch with its cabins and power plant and hiker resupply operation. We have already taken one boat to the maintenance guy in Madera to get it prepped for a summer of heavy use. Another boat goes down soon. And the really big boat that lives at the lake will get its engines spiffied up so it can haul people and cargo all summer long. The floating dock suffered some damage last winter and will need some work before it goes into service. And people want our rental fishing boats ready for use, plus we need a new engine for one of them. We bought a nice brand new very quiet generator to supply power for the lake but haven’t even started it up to see if it works. It’s a Whisperwatt so it should be flawless. It’s the only generator the United Rentals people have since it always works and needs nearly zero maintenance.

Soon (like tomorrow morning) I’ll be getting up at five o’clock to start the summer-long routine of answering emails from people who want resupply bucket labels (hikers on the Muir Trail send packages to us) and reservations for tents and cabins at the ranch. The last few years I have spent the first two or three hours in the mornings answering their requests. Then I go outside and water trees and plants around the place while wearing a wireless phone to get customers’ calls. Then I come back to the house and pay bills online. At least it’s hot outside. I love heat, being a valley native. Karla makes me wear a hat, but I figure what the heck, my head’s already fried.

The cat is going to the ranch, so that reduces my duties by a bit. I feed the ravens who fly in for some sustenance. I figure if I feed them it will reduce their need for eating all the other wild creatures’ babies around here. It’s working—we have lots more wild pigs.