June

Hard to believe that May has ended and we're moving on to June. June is a great month here, if the black flies aren't too bad. Usually May is the best month of the first part of the year, but this year May had plenty of bugs--black flies, mosquitoes, punkies (no-see-ums) all at once. Those punkies are mean little suckers. They bite, nasty bites.

My water crises seem to have reared an ugly head again--while I was walking the bog this morning the pump refused to shut off. This usually means the well has run out of water (I prefer that phrase to "has gone dry"). Or there's a problem with the pump/plumbing. That would be the worst. When the well runs out of water it usually refreshes itself pretty quickly. Not much water at once, but some--enough to do the dishes, flush the toilet (maybe) and water the dogs. It's a terrible, terrible thing to begrudge your dogs a bowl of water.

This morning I washed in the lake, lucky to have that as an alternative. The water is, well, let's see: brisk? refreshing? too cold? Temp must be in low 60s at best. It's not that bad to swim in but it takes your breath away at first. I swam on Sunday with my friend Linda. We spent the afternoon sitting on her dock--our docks aren't in yet. Really, really nice. No one on the lake this early.

I'm going to have the son of a good friend do some work for me. I think I'm getting pretty clever in my old age. I'll pay him, plus give him gas money. I'm figuring he'll mow my lawn (how lazy can I get?), move firewood around (again, how lazy?) and maybe paint the trim in the living room. If I have him do that I'll have to pick out a color, though. oh dear. I really want to paint the whole living room, but that's a question of money. always money.

I've been sleeping in the boat house off & on. When it's 50 or colder in the morning I stay at home. I was almost asleep the other night when the loon started screeching. Scared the poop out of me. It's great to have loons every year, makes us all feel everything is right with the world.

There are some summer people here now, only a few of them. I'm trying to adjust to the change in the neighborhood. Getting ready for the real onslaught. The bog is still empty of people, and belongs to Chances and Tess. We walk it pretty much every morning, it's exactly a mile so I like that. There's no one around at 6 so we have it to ourselves. It's greening up quickly, some wildflowers in bloom now.

Supposed to rain all weekend. Excellent opportunity to sort clothes and PUT THEM AWAY. When I was in high school my mother told me that our house was "not the sort of place where we put clothes on the floor." All I did then was close my closet door. I have no closet in the bedroom where I'm sleeping right now, so I just have piles of clothes. I'm doing my best to keep them off of the floor, but the piles tip over. Dealing with clothes has been a goal for, oh, many months at least.

I had a nice long weekend--from Sat. through Weds. It was great. Every year I try to take extra days off around Mem. Day. I pretend to clean my house. Each year I get less and less done. More lists, longer lists, a new list every day, pared down to something reasonable (like, do the dishes). This year I got very little done and the house looks as if I didn't clear off a single surface. Which is pretty much true. I did make a dump run, though, and accomplished a few other things. Well, maybe one or two things. I spent a lot of time visiting with Linda and others, which is really nice.