The Pond Never Looked Better & Life Moves On!!

It's been almost a year now since we reached the decision to walk away from publishing a weekly newspaper, which had been our calling in one way or another since 1988. This marked the third time to attempt retirement and I must say this attempt has been the most promising of the three. But in spite of the pandemic, a short supply of new and used boats for sale and every Grand Lake realtor scrambling for salable listings, it's been a remarkable year in a lot of ways.

 

Many thought the pandemic, and a boatload of associated restrictions, would have a devastating effect on the lake economy, but the exodus from the various metroplex communities brought an entire slough of prospective buyers seeking the security of a rural location. We have neighbors here on Grays Hollow, who apparently took up full-time residence in their lake place to escape Covid-19, and have adjusted their lifestyle to now call this location home. A strange year to observe for sure here high on my perch overlooking the hollow. 

 But even though peering through our Grand Lake colored sunglasses, the last year has not proven easy, even for the most calculated operator. Adequate staffing has become an ongoing problem, many things we never have much thought about are now difficult to find and when you do, there has been a significant price increase. And that's not considering the long waiting period to get something, that before the pandemic, was readily available, but as they say, "Blame it on the Covid."

 An Observation on Mental Health

Our retirement has definitely got off the launching pad over the last ten months and its chances of succeeding certainly look much better than the first two attempts, but not without some associated pondering. We've taken care of some needed improvements and deferred maintenance for sure, but it has made me wonder if keeping the 'ol brain active wasn't a real contributor to my well-being and longevity of 77 years.

 As I mentioned in that last column associated with our final online edition of Grand Times and Grand Lake News Online, there could be a blog on the horizon. I set up "Grand Times on Grand Lake with Rusty Fleming," but it's been mostly inactive till now." We'll mostly concentrate of the colorful history surround our pond with an emphasis on a feature we have called in the past, "Legends of the Lake." If there are issues to be addressed, we won't be bashful about checking them out, but the fun stuff, like this weekend's Aquapalooza, I'm sure will be adequately covered by The Laker Newspaper, the Lake Bum, Grand Lake Living and the King of the Grand Lake social network, Jerry Cookson. 

 No specific schedule, but more to come. We'll be posting links to the blog on our Facebook presence at Grand Lake News online and Grand Times on Grand Lake, plus my personal page. Since we're not getting paid, we'll only work when we want to and as our friend Terry Frost has been known to say, "For Mental M@#$%^&!@#$%. And as I have been known to say.....

 See Ya' Around the Pond!!