2017 Part 7 - November

This is the seventh post in my pictorial review of 2017 family activities. As I compose it I'm back in Florida busy making memories for my 2018 review. But first things first. 

November

After the busy and somewhat emotional months of September and October, Nancy and I settled in for more typical family life. There were some standard parenting activities, like sitting the grandson while his parents went off to a college football game (not sure where, but there was mention of a "big house"). We were assisted by Flat Stanley, a fellow you met in my previous post.

There was also chaperoning the family puppy by the fire, shown here in her "what, me worry" position.

Between fireplace sessions, we saw a lot of this. I call this her "woe is me" pose. You'd think she was a short-haired pooch from the tropics, trying to thaw out, rather than the hardy Buckeye forest creature she claims to be.

There were Dad home improvement chores at Christine's new condo. Like installing drapes.

And sorting out living room storage and decoration.

Finally, there were some long distance grandparenting tasks. This is where the whole Flat Stanley thing came to a head. In addition to hosting Stanley and taking him around the neighborhood and to high-brow social events, we had to write up a brief narrative of his adventures for Austin grandson Cyrus to present to his class. Always on the lookout for our next "grandparents of the year" award, Nancy took to her word processor. Here is our final product, submitted for review by a classroom of seven year olds. I hope we got an A.

Capping this fortnight of harrowing parenting and grandparenting duties was a classic 70th birthday dinner of pizza and salad, celebrated at Cathy and Matt's. This was an homage to our family habit of ordering pizza and salad for dinner just about every Friday night during the heyday of our "everybody's-working-or-in-school-and-dad's-wearing-a-tie-everyday" period (the late 80s and early 90s). Both the dinner and the memories were delicious.

Toward the end of the month, we starting prepping for winter. We don't have to do much at home these days. Rake the leaves to the curb where they magically disappear a couple of times a week (thanks to the city's mobile leaf vacuum) and store a couple of pieces of yard furniture in the garage/shed. We also convert our deck table to this sort of alien encounter thing. It took years of experimentation to arrive at an effective method of protecting our summer comfort spot from the rigors of winter, without having to lug it across the deck and drive into the garage. I just hope we don't come down for coffee some morning and catch it - running lights a-blinking - lifting off E.T. style. So far, so good.

Preparing the cottage for winter is another matter. But before we go there, I'd like to report on yet another brief episode with our close friends, Detroit Edison. You member this from May, right?

And this from August?

Those pics are from the nasty gas line explosion in front of our house and the eventual final cleanup activity. Well, just before Thanksgiving look who was back in front of our house.

This time it was less dramatic, but even more interesting. While minding our own business, relaxing after chores one day, the power went out. There was no storm, but it was a little windy. After a brief examination of the power pole in our backyard, we located this.

That is a picture of the transformer on our pole. Note the funny blue thing? Turns out that is part of one of those metallic party balloons. The ones full of helium that often end up escaping and floating to parts unknown. It was another part of that balloon that had niftily wedged itself between two exposed terminals on the transformer and shorted out the line to our house. Who'd a thunk?

So, another one of our buddies from DTE had to do this.

To their credit, the power company responded promptly (I think we're on their watch list) and restored power within a couple of hours of being called. Here is a shot of what was left of the troublesome part of the balloon.

So for your next party balloon event, I recommend the old rubber blow up kind.

Our Thanksgiving this year was a tidy threesome as the Kuhlmans were celebrating with the other branch of the family. So we adjusted. Here is our mini-turkey (easy on the carver).

Our mini but elegant table setting.

And the distinguished attendees.

This approach was also easy on the cleanup crew, of which I am a key player. So it all worked out, complete with our annual viewing of the parades and a screening of Miracle on 34th Street.

With the holiday in the rear view mirror, it was time to return to the cottage phase of winter prep which is somewhat more onerous as there is no curbside pickup of leaves. Actually, come to think about it, there's no curb. Hmmm.

In the past, I had been fairly successful in easing the pain of leaf work at Wiser Times by redefining it as a party activity and inviting friends to participate. You may remember an earlier post Leaf Burning in which I described this clever scenario. But last year, cosmic forces finally put me in my place.

Global warming has been creeping up on Wiser Times over the last few years. One effect has been that the leaves from my stand of ornery oaks have been falling later and later. By Veterans Day weekend last November - our customary leaf burning time - only about a quarter of the potential workload had cooperated. So reluctantly, we cancelled the party. Bummer.

Even by Thanksgiving there was still a healthy percentage of those stubborn little critters clinging desperately to their hosts. But we were running out of time and decent weather for outdoor chores at the lake. So on Black Friday we headed north, zigzagging our way around shopping malls beset by hordes of frenzied shoppers, to do battle with nature.

Assisted by daughter Christine, Nancy and I started with the traditional raking and burning of those leaves that had succumbed to the finally chilly weather. Here's a shot of me policing the arboreal funeral pyre.

And one of Christine rounding up another batch of victims.

Here are a few more pics of the problem. Those little devils were hiding out everywhere.

The battle raged on for hours. Though we were outnumbered, we were committed.

Eventually we prevailed, though we knew it was only the first half. In the spring we'll have to deal with those stinkers that watched this engagement from a death grip high above the fray.

Once the leaves were dealt with, there remained only the ceremonial buttoning up of the cottage grounds. As the house is year-round with heavy insulation and two furnaces, there is little to do inside. But there are a few precautions we take outside, to protect against the snow and wind of the winter months.

First we breakdown the deck furniture, stacking the tables, bench and a couple of Adirondacks at one end.

And stacking and covering the chairs, side tables and glider at the other end. Yes, the glider cover assembly does look like a distant cousin of the deck table winter configuration back at home.

Next the gazebo is relieved of furniture, all of which is lugged up to the loft over the garage (another good reason to make this a "party" weekend).

The front yard picnic table is moved from its slab to a convenient, upright resting position on the cozy north side of the cottage.

The beach toys and floaties are packed away in their respective boxes, and the firepit and beach chairs are snuggled under their canvas covers.

And finally the fleet is tucked into place in a sandy niche on the south side of the beach and cabled to the ever reliable slingshot tree.

There are also a few odds and ends, like the wind spinner, the deck umbrella, the Tigers flag and a few outdoor power strips that are gently uninstalled and carefully stored in designated spots in the garage. All in all, the entire winterizing process is about a two-hour project. Quite reasonable I would say, given the roughly 1200 to 1300 hours we spend at Wiser Times each summer.

Once done, I always enjoy taking a last stroll around the grounds to survey our little piece of paradise and make sure everything necessary has been tended to.

I start at the stepping stone path running between the back of the house and the garage. Note the wind spinner in its winter spot.

I then move down the north side of the house past the resting picnic table where, when needed for overflow guests, the big blue tent is pitched.

Then around the north corner of the deck.

 To the front yard.

Past the empty gazebo and bedded-down beach equipment.

To the start of the beach.

Then down to the beach, for a look south.

Down along the water's edge, with a look back up to the north.

Then up the south side of the beach back to the yard with a final look at the deck and cottage front.

A brief pause at the south end of the deck for a final view of the lake.

Then along the narrow path on the south side of the house to the back yard and garage.

Note that our yellow Wiser Times sign has been moved from its summer position on the mailbox post.

To its winter position at the southwest corner of the house.

The placement of our sign (a retirement present from my kids) at this location - safe from terrorizing snow plows - signifies the end of the Wiser Times winter prep. The last act in another great season for our family and friends on our favorite Great Lake. Can't wait for the next one.

With the work done and the final inspection complete, Nancy, Christine and I packed up and headed back home for the holidays. And that's where we'll pick things up in my next and final 2017 review post.

Grosse Pointe Charles