How about Mother Nature?

Hope everyone enjoyed their summer vacation. Sometimes this August heat can be a little oppressive. While it was a perfect weather weekend, there were a few twists provided by Mother Nature. First, the annual "Mayflies" were out a little earlier than normal...and they were quite hungry. Some call them gnats, others refer to them as "black flies", but we eagerly await their demise. The call of the wild also took hold of our two dogs this weekend, as Brock figured out how to unlatch the gate on the deck, prompting Harvey and Cooper to bolt on an exploration. Harvey returned 5 hours later, somewhat dirty, while Cooper was gone for almost 8 hours, and was wet and muddy upon finding his way home. On a far sadder note, the eldest of the Strawberry Park horses had to be put down last week. Trigger was probably my favorite, and one of the most popular horses we have. He was 23 years old, and the vet determined that he was suffering badly from some internal twisting. Cory and Katrina spent the whole overnight watching Trigger and hoping he would get better, but unfortunately, he did not improve. On a positive note, the vet reported that it was not any type of virus that might impact the other horses, and that it was simply and sadly, a matter of an old horse developing complications that are not uncommon at his age. Many campers have been asking about the swimming pools, and the complicated work that is required by the new federal legislation is now starting, and we are optimistic that at least one whirlpool and perhaps a large pool will be open for this upcoming weekend. We will know more as the work progresses this week. A couple of other little projects taking place this week include the moving of our two Park Model display units to the area near the horseshoe pits (from the Visitor Parking Lot), and the loaming and hydro-seeding of some of the thin spots on the softball field/soccer field area.