LVS Weekend #1

Last weekend was a very important one on the family calendar: the opening of the Local Vacation Spot (LVS for you newbies) and the putting-in of the boat. These weekends are often good for a laugh or two, as S and I bump up against our many limitations in mechanical knowledge and ability.

I’m happy to say the weekend was an almost complete success. We picked the boat up and got it down to the lake without incident. We got the boat into the water faster than we ever have before. It started right up and ran just fine as I took it back to the dock. And we brought in enough fuel to ensure we didn’t run dry on our one trip around the lake later in the day.[1] Oh, and the house was still standing and fully operational. We went entirely too long without coming down to check on it and I was a little nervous about what we might find.

Now the weather was not great. We dodged showers off-and-on Saturday. But there were enough breaks so I could get the yard mowed and S and family got our new solar lights installed on path down to the water. After some steadier rain rolled by, the sun burst forth just in time for us to load all our guests onto the boat and take it for a leisurely lap. I do enjoy the rare days we’re out in the boat and A) not many other people are on the water and B) there isn’t much wind so the lake is nice and calm. I like these days because you can go fast!

We also had a most excellent fire that I lit around noon to drive away the bugs and was still going strong when we scurried inside to avoid a downpour around 10:00 that evening. A lot of limbs, big and small, had fallen since our last visit sometime last fall.

Sunday was a complete washout, but that allowed us to get the house all cleaned up and ready to go for the summer.

There was one surprise that greeted us, though. As I approached our dock for the first time, I saw a goose swimming toward me rather intently, honking away. Then I saw there was another goose sitting in the mulch bed on the edge of our property, about 10 feet from our boat slip. Yep, we have a Mother Goose of our own!

She was not thrilled when we came down to pick up sticks, open up the shed, or when I mowed within about 20 feet of her. She also did not enjoy me pulling the boat into the dock a little later. She stretched her neck out as long as it would reach, low to the ground, and followed every movement of the person closest to her. She looked like a damn snake. But she remained on her nest.

Later in the day I went down to check on her and caught her away from the nest. I was able to get within about 10 feet or so. I saw four or five large eggs in the nest she scraped out of the mulch. When we took our lap on the boat and checked out some other coves, we came across a family of ducks and ducklings, and two geese with their goslings. ’Tis the season and all.

Sunday, when it came time to cover up the boat before we left, I decided I needed a little barrier between me and Mama. So I took one of our porch chairs and placed it between the edge of the boat where we would be attaching the cover and the nest. Homegirl hated me getting that close. She popped up and hissed, but never made a move toward me. I kept one eye on her the entire time we were snapping the cover on, but she just did her weird, snake-neck thing.

Because of sports and birthdays and school and S’s schedule, we won’t be down for a weekend for at least three more weeks. Hopefully between now and then there is a successful hatching and the geese decide to move to the opposite side of our cove, where there are two unoccupied houses. I don’t think they’re going to enjoy it when we start having people down in early June.