Spring in condo-ville

At the point when the days get longer and there is a warming trend in the weather, the condovillers leave their winter coccoons. In the months of January through March and once the snow birds begin their sojourn down south, the streets are more or less devoid of people. There are the winter stalwarts who brave frigid temperatures and all weather conditions but most of us - well - hibernate.

The small mini pooches clad in smart winter attire by their owners including leather boots(!) turn into dogs again in Spring, wearing nothing on their backs except their fur. There are still some remnants of winter with a few Christmas decorations adorning balconies.

Potholes are abounding in the city but actually they're scarce in this area of condo-ville. If this gets out to the rest of the community they could complain it's favoritism. I'm not saying anything.

The pool is the jewel in the crown so to speak and the opening at the end of June is anxiously anticipated. Last summer the new pool maintenance company for whatever reason, used the wrong type of paint resulting in a slippery surface. It should have and easily could have been re-painted in autumn but it wasn't. This means having to wait for said pool maintenance company to rectify the slippery situation. Said company were slow to prepare the pool altogether last year resulting in a delay in the pool opening. Said company should be replaced with someone who knows what they're doing, at least IMHO. We'll know shortly if there are any changes and whether things will be fixed.

Last summer the flower display was...there - that's the best that can be said or written about it. Seems that every year there is less emphasis on this area one presumes as a result of savings by the condo association. This year perhaps I'll express my feelings at the annual condo meeting in the hope that it will return to its former visual glory. I won't hold my breath, though.

Meanwhile, the duck population has awakened from its sleep or wheatever ducks do during the winter. The Canada geese, however, have not returned. Some people would say this is good but not me. They are a harbinger of the season to come. After all - what's Canada without their geese?

The Christmas lights they do twinkle, somewhat

It's mid-December and almost Christmas in condoville but you wouldn't believe it. In past years we always had a beautiful and tasteful display of white twinkling lights in the middle treed and green area dividing the two condo buildings. It matched all the other very bright and twinkling displays of the other condo apartments. This year, however, and for whatever reason - money springs to mind - the powers-that-be at the condo association decided that our light display was excessive and unnecessary.

In a note posted near the elevator and surrounding area, they offered the explanation that there will soon be the expediture of a new roof. Not mentioned by the association is the rumored two figures, a comma and four-zeros amount spent this fall on the new placette or small landscaped over-look with a view of the pool and the nearby river. The old version which dated back to the 1980's built with wood and surrounded with shrbbery, finally started disintegrating. Its replacement is a modern, visually-stunning, IMHO, approach with large patio tiles replacing wooden railway ties leading up to the placette along with a stone placed layout. In the Spring a plexiglass railing will complete the look. As mentioned, the replacement came at a steep-ish price. There is grumbling among some condo owners that the old look was nicer while the newer and frequently younger condovillers like the updating. It will be interesting to get a more overall opinion of the end result once the news gets out about the cost. There most likely will be a heated discussion but the job is finished so what else is there to say?

To get back to the Christmas light display, this year in a cost-saving move, three live fir (Christmas) trees were put up in the landscaped, middle treed area facing the streetbetween the two condo buildings. The trees are - well - sort of lacking in thickness and branches...sort-of Charlie Brown-ish... and are decorated with blechy-colored mundane lights i.e. red, green, yellow, etc. etc. On top of which the stringed lights barely cover the branches. Quite an about-face after the beautiful display in past years. The general concensus among people I've spoken with is that it's lacking - let's leave it at that. To add insult to injury, there's an electrical short in the light timer causing them to work on a 5-minutes-on/5-minutes-off interval throughout the night. It's akin to living accross the street from an all-night diner that stays open all night i.e. they're on - no - they're off...etc. etc.

Given the current money-saving atmosphere, the trees will probably be down in a week into the new year. The memory of the holiday lights will be forgotten for a year at least until the annual condo meeting in the Spring. The agenda will include the the renovated placette and the re-painting of the swimming pool. Did I mention that they still didn't re-paint the slippery surface of the pool in autumn. Well they didn't. If there's one subject that gets condovillers riled up it's the pool but even that will be replaced with the smell and noise of the new roof.

Fall back

A quiet has fallen over condoville. They closed our pool this weekend and stopped the pump filter that cleans the water. Also blocked the steps leading to the pool. This means that the pool contents are now a mixture of pool water and whatever other liquid falls in. Still, someone or some people decided to use it anyway. Yuck! Ducks have been known to fly in for a quick swim on occasion. Surprising that the water hasn't been drained, yet, but given how long it took for the company that services the pool to paint it in Spring, not surprising.

The condoville association decided to buy two miniature fir trees in containers as winter decoration to replace the Spathiphyllum or Peace Lily. The peace lilies are okay as indoor house plants but they're very blah as outdoor decoration. Nobody seems to know where the summer plants will be stored. Maybe upstairs in the party room...or exercise room... As for the spruce trees, they could be used for Christmas decorations one assumes... Anything to save a buck.

Started a new canvas last week. I use the kitchen table as a painting surface and cover the it with a plastic picnic tablecloth I bought on sale for a dollar. Cover the granite counters with large plastic garbage bags and put my painting equipment on top. Spacially tight but an artist has to do what an artist has to do and where there's a will, there's a way. Now storage is another whole thing and at some point I'm going to run out of space. What I need is a studio... Every spark of an idea has to begin with a dream, right?

A pool of discontent

This has been a really hot summer, the type of summer that reminds people of their past with fondness.

"Remember when we were (insert year or age) and it was so hot that... (insert personal recollection)?"

It's surprising, then, that more people didn't use the pool to cool off. In the morning the pool was busy with a dozen or so lap swimmers in addition to Ms. Cruela deVile and her aqua fitness ladies twice per week, while the afternoon hours were used sparsely by condo-villers mainly to stand around, gossip and dunk intermittantly. However, problems arose when some of the morning lap swimmers made it known that they required the entire length of the pool to extend their lap swimming into the afternoon. Not surprisingly, this did not go over well with the leisure dunk-and-dippers who expressed the opinion that they had the right to do nothing if they so desired and stand motionless anywhere in the pool they damn well feel like it.

"We need lanes!" one of the lap swimmers pleaded her case. "Why can't people just stand on the side until we finish?"

"Did you do your laps this morning?" I questioned, to which she responded affirmatively. "You can't regulate where people can stand in the pool! Why don't you do laps on the side of the pool?"
A look of horror crossed her face.

"We need room to do strokes!" she went on, "and not run into people standing around!"

"Exactly!" I responded. "Just move to the side and everyone will be happy."

Another issue this summer for some people were splashers, the ordinary folk who splash when they kick while swimming, or diving in the pool or children having fun.

"Why do they have to splash everywehre?" one of the anti-splashers asked to which I answered: "why are you in a pool, then? You can't get wetter-than-wet!"

A condo-viller made a request, would you believe, to have the diving board removed so that she would have more room to do laps. It's true!

"They can dive off the side," she concluded.

The pool will be closed this weekend, which will end the bickering - for this year. Heaven knows what they'll come up with next summer.

The fall party...yawn...

In the end the fall party-in-the-park was - well - kind of borrrrring. The evening was on the cool-ish side and there were definite hints of autumn in the air. Even though the affair wasn't called to start until 7:00 p.m. people started drifting over at 6:00 p.m. I mean, what is so attractive about hotdogs and corn? Okay. So it's "free" but one would think that they were serving filet mignon or lobsters and not weiners!


So we arrived at 7:05 p.m. because honestly couldn't see any logical reason to arrive earlier. The lineup to get hotdogs was long and the corn was still bubbling away in a huge vat. After all - people didn't want to starve or anything while they wait! Some of our fellow condo-villers and pool pals saved us a table away from the main crowd, since the few picnic tables set up were filled. As usual the one-man - actually two-man this year - band had set up early and were busy playing your usual 'cha-cha's' and popular spanish songs, along with the ever-popular Barry Manilow's, "Copacabana."

The hotdogs were actually cooked this year unlike last summer when they were cold and semi-raw. The big attraction, however, was the hot corn-on-the-cob and people filled their plates with two and three corns along with healthy blobs of butter sliding accross the surface. Let's put it this way: there was a lot of shiny lips. The problem with corn is that although it is delicious, it's almost impossible to extricates from between the teeth. There is also no way to pick one's teeth with one's nail that is socially acceptable so I passed on the corn. It doesn't mean that much to me. Word had it that the corn disappeared quickly as did the mini danish for dessert. The topic of conversation at least at our table were the rumors of romantic liasons between certain condo-villers or at least knowing looks between certain people. Of course, the pool and the ever-changing temps was also the focus of conversation.

Once the mosquitos made their presence known and the food was consumed, people began drifting away. Although there were door prizes, many of the winners had already left, which pleased those that remained since more numbers were pulled. As usual, we didn't win and then left the park to the mosquitos and avid samba enthusiasts. The sounds of disco filled the air until exact 11 p.m. after which the party season was over for another year.

Pool attendance has been sparse these days even though the days have been very comfortable. Perhaps the snowbirds are busy planning their Florida sojourns or maybe people had their fill of the water. There are still complaints of visiting children splashing the regulars to which they are reminded that pool=water=wet. Some people are never happy and in any case, the pool closes on Labor Day. Guaranteed that will be a reason for further complaints.

Walking tour of condoville

Yet another crisis in condoville this week. As Roseanne Roseannadanna used to say: it's always something. It's a crisis when related to the pool and once again the heater was down. There were a few cool evenings causing the water temperature to drop substantially. Predictably, this did not go over well with the morning regulars.

"The water was so cold this morning," one of the lap swimmers complained. "It's ridiculous having to swim in an unheated pool," she railed on, placing the blame on the condo association trying to save money. I suppose it's a possibility but not likely. I'm sure the condo pool committee don't appreciate phone calls at all hours and having to listen to pool regulars rant and rave about water temps. Officially, the pool heater was broken but Ms morning swimmer wasn't convinced and believes a plot is afoot. Whatever... Okay - so the water temperature was 74F instead of the usual 83F but there are worse things in life! Things are now back to normal and the water is a comfortable 80F although there is grumbling that it should be at least 82F. Still more complaints about swimmers splashing while doing their strokes. I mean, the only way to avoid getting splashed is to stay out of the pool. Gimme a break!

A familiar voice stopped me in my tracks while passing the pool on my way for a walk. It was the familiar and melodious sound of Ms Aqua Fitness Cruela Deville shouting out instructions to her willing aqua fitness slaves.

"Take your noodles and place them under your arms!" Cruela barked out in addition to yelling out other commands. After 5 minutes of listening to her and the delighted reaction of the participants who actually appeared to enjoy her screeching, the memory of our short and not-so-sweet work-out sessions compelled me to depart.

The river has receded considerably due to the unseasonably hot summer this season with huge boulders jutting out at the shore line. Living in an area near a river with lots of greenery and trees in addition to a walking path, we are partners with wild life that call the area home. Spotted two small pond turtles sunning themselves on a boulder and a huge groundhog ran accross the path in front of me. Ducks are in abundance and most of them seem able to withstand a frigid cold Canadian winter. ,Most likely they manage to survive with the help of human handouts.

Next week is the autumn party in the park accross the street. Gotta remember to bring along tooth picks this time since corn on the cob is on the menu. Not socially acceptance to pick out the kernels with one's finger. Actually, not much better to pick one's teeth with tooth picks either.

Late summer observations du jour and the autumn party is a go

Nature has its way of telling we humans that summer is winding down. Given the really hot weather we experienced this season, my balcony flowers really gave a show to be remembered. Okay, so we did switch to one of those super soils that promise lush blooms and this could have helped but more likely the end result was due to lots of sun and heat. The shortage of rain meant a dependence on human intervention and all the flower boxes, urns and hanging plants received watering twice per day. Every morning and evening I brought out four 2-litre soft drink bottles filled with water and emptied them into the parched soil. The plants thanked me for my attention by providing a visual treat for the eyes. Truly.

In any case the plants are now at the "leggy" stage with lots of stem and leaves and flowering at the top only. Like a faithful servant, I "dead-head" the plants and remove the dead blooms and although there is some new growth, it's obvious their time here on earth is winding down. So depressing but natural.

Notices have been posted our autumn party-in-the-park will take place in late August. This is the one that is always well attended since hot, boiled corn is on the menu and hot dogs. Usually, the hot dogs aren't really cooked enough but hungry mouths demand to be fed and the people are impatient!

The talk around the pool has turned to wintering in Florida, yet another sign that summer is over. Location of winter condos has replaced the pool temperature discussion and less people are coming down to lounge. There are the usual complaints voiced about how some people splash when they swim. Duh! Water=swimming=splashing.

It's raining today. It will rain tomorrow and the next day too. Good. More river bank is showing and the ducks need water to swim. Did I mention that our ducks stay over for the winter but that's cold weather talk.