"So Eleanor - you haven't provided us withany updates on condoville. How has summer been, anyway?"
Actually, given the absolutely great bordering on fantastic (I love that term "bordering on") July we had with hot temps, life has been idyllic. Most of the time has been spent by the pool and on occasion there have been a dozen people lounging in the new blue chaise chairs, some of whom actually swim. Just being sarcastic. I'm probably one of the few non-swimmers who rarely dip a toe in the water unless the combination of heat and humidity become unbearable. It's interesting that so few people take advantage of the pool, generally, especially it's used by two condo bldgs. On most days perhaps there are eight to ten people on average with your lap swimmers using the pool in the early morning hours. The afternoon is for the "leisure loungers" who take dips between reading a book or listening to music through whatever device. The weekends are for family visits with lots of young people and children dropping by. There have been some complaints (so what else is new!) expressed focusing on children splashing. I mean - c'mon! Pool=water=wet! Don't go in the water if you don't want to get wet is my philosophy! Wear one of those hideous plastic shower caps if you want to retain your newly coiffed hair! The other complaint is that the kids are too noisy! Gimme a break!
Seems that these days everyone is wearing a two piece or bikini bathing suit, even those whose body shapes certainly aren't made for an excessive display of skin. My bathing suit of choice is a one-piece since I've accumulated cellulite over the years along with dropped muscle syndrome. That's what I call flab that has nowhere else to go but down due to gravity's influence. A lot of our discussions focus on the various bikini color choices, style and whether or not the wearer does the suit justice.
Last but not least, the last paint job by whatever company the condo board hired is a bust, with more and more of the former color showing through. This means that the surface is not fully protected. What type of pool service uses the wrong paint, anyway? I mean...really... At least the pool surface isn't slippery any more.
"So Eleanor - what's new with the so-called gardener/whatever these days?"
The flower beds are blech. More than blech - they're blechy/pffffft. In the years I've lived here, have never seen such a mish-mash of flower types and bad color combinations. You have your orange marigolds, which are such - excuse my snobbishness - common types, mixed with pink wave petunias, sedum placed here, there and everywhere, astilbe...you name it, chances are it's growing somewhere in one of the flower beds. Just blechy is the only word that comes to mind but there are others I can assure you. Nobody asked us, the people who pay the condo fees, our opinion. Mind you, in our condo bulletin, there was a piece focusing on the gardener and it appears that people are taking their complaints directly to her, one-on-one. Good for them! The condo board on their part, asked people to complain to the condo director who is in charge of the garden. Been there - done that and didn't do any good. Yup - it's an obsession on my part but one that will be over shortly since summer flowers do disappear in autumn.
Tickets have gone out for the autumn party-in-the-park. Instead of party sandwiches, it will be roasted corn and hotdogs. I'm not big on hot dogs or corn, actually, but I'll indulge and swoosh it down with a glass of cold white wine. In attendance will be the usual singing DJ who will play lots of spanish type dancing music since this gets about a dozen people dancing and everyone will sing out choruses of "New York, New York..." along with "Copacabana"...and some Beatle music thrown in for good measure.
Summer life is good in condoville. Relaxing by the pool, watching and listening to the boats as they make their way over the river, the sound of the river life including the honking of the Canada geese... Their return can only mean one thing: autumn is around the corner.
