We'll See

After months of bipolar weather I walked with Kory at Beck Lake one day late last week and knew that summer was almost here.

The west is such a strange place during the reluctant transition from winter to summer, and the first couple of years we were here it was a shock.

I was used to spring in Tennessee.

A place where humidity was high and so was the temperature by Memorial Day.

It was predictable.

I knew it, expected it, and I reluctantly accepted it.

But here............here is different.

It can snow at any time.

One day long before we ever made it to the west, it snowed during the July 4 Parade in Cody.

People still speak of it.

It can be 80 degrees one day and 25 the next.

LC went into Ace Hardware yesterday for something and one of the sales people spoke of customers finally being excited about planting.

Flowers.  Vegetables. 

On June 4.

A week ago I was wearing long pants and a jacket.

Yesterday it was 87 degrees at 6:30 in the evening.

Bipolar indeed...............

On this weekend day with Kory it was very warm but not yet hot, but I could finally feel that the on-again off-again spring had finally taken hold for good.

Spring would only last for a week before it turned hot.

Not really spring at all.

Just some kind of Nature Waiting Room - the brief transitional pass-through between the long winter and the short summer.................

 

I needed to be alone and to wander in a quiet place, and I pulled the leash from the hook in the mud room and held it up expectantly and wordlessly, waiting for my dog to clue in to what I had in mind.

She didn't know where but it didn't matter.

Leash in hand meant a walk.  Somewhere.  Anywhere.  It didn't matter where.

Korys' world was instantly an exciting and magical place filled with potential adventure.

And she was happy.

Beck Lake is 5 minutes drive from the house we are currently renting, Kory recognized the neighborhood where the entrance to the park is located and by the time I pulled into the parking area I had a ballistic dog bouncing off the walls of the inside of the vehicle.......................

Within minutes of starting a walk on the paved trail that circumnavigates the lake, she had taken her first dip in the water...................

Looking back at one of three fishing piers that line this lake, and Cedar and Rattlesnake Mountains in the background.................

On this welcoming and warm Saturday afternoon the park was busy.

It is a sprawling complex filled with two lakes, endless paved and unpaved trails, a dog park (that we don't use - partly because people don't control the behavior of their dogs and not everyone properly maintains the health of their dogs, and partly because Kory can jump the encircling fence), picnic areas, fishing piers, a bike obstacle course and more.

With all of that the park did not feel busy because people were spread out all over the place.

Swimming, fishing, bike riding, sitting, running, hiking and more.

After so many days of rain and cool, this first sunny day in a while had brought the locals out in force.

We ran into people occasionally but a lot of the time we had the trail to ourselves..................

The canal (which follows the edge of Beck Lake before winding its way like a rattlesnake across the desert floor, providing irrigation water to endless farms and homes) is brown (as it always is in the spring) from mountain run-off..............

A few days ago I took part in a community hike to the top of Heart Mountain (elevation 8132).

A blog post for another day...................

Kory lives to run.

But she enjoys quiet adventures as well.

The kind where she dips in and out of the lake.

Where I smile and nod at oncoming hikers, and where Kory meets and greets happy pups.

Where I wander at her speed, and where a blade of grass can hold her interest for minutes at a time...................

A couple of months ago we went to look at a home down the South Fork (just a few miles outside of Cody).

Homes in our price range don't come up very often and when they do people are all over them.

I know a lady who was friends with a woman who put HER home up for sale.

Even though the lady was friends with the home owner and was paying cash, she ended up buying the house for $6000 over asking price.

There were 15 offers right behind hers.

Which is crazy.

LC and I are quite comfortable for a while, in the house we are currently renting, and have no (zero) desire to get cutthroat about home ownership.

So.............we went to see the home. 

We liked it.

It had an acre of ground, mountain views and was close to the reservoir.

It was at the top end of our price range which was scary, but if we want to live here it is what it is.

We put in an offer.

We didn't get it.

We forgot about it.

Until our real estate agent called a few days ago and told us that the sale had fallen through and the home was back on the market.

An hour later we were looking at it again, and two hours later we submitted a bid for full asking price.

We've learned the hard way - there is no point messing around over a few thousand dollars because there are handfuls of people chomping at the bit to get homes in this price range.

By the end of the day our offer had been accepted.

Trips to the bank, a home inspection scheduled for early next week..............we may be home owners soon.

I don't believe in getting ahead of ourselves.

And I don't get emotionally invested in either the possibilities or the homes - at least until it is all a done deal and the home is ours.

We may be home owners soon.

We'll see........................