Around the lane for Lane

More than two dozen of us Loveless Lakers gathered last weekend for a memorial walk around the lake to honor our late friend and Loveless Lake dynamo, Lane Burke, who was killed in a car crash last fall.

It was my first trip around the entirety of the 3-mile path -- a cobbled-together route through the woods, mostly on gravel roads, with a couple of sprints through easements on private property and several connectors on major thoroughfares. I can’t wait to do it again and pay better attention.

I figured I was bringing up the rear chatting with Don, a longtime Loveless Laker who, at 74, still plays competitive softball and apparently can still cut a rug on the dance floor.

But when I got back home, I heard from Lane’s widow, Lisa, who said it took her nearly two hours to get around the lake because she made so many stops to visit with old friends.

Chris reminds me that everyone believes “their” lake is the best. But that’s what I’m talking about. Way to come together y’all.

“We can’t plan life. All we can do is be available for it.” – Lauren Hill

A day in the life

Just another functional fire at Loveless.

Fore!

All work and no play make for a grumpy tiling man, and we don’t want that. Chris is an environmentalist from way back, but he’s also got a big sense of play. Which is why he would think it perfectly logical to stick a tee between the boards of the OSHA-unsafe deck and drive a golf ball through the woods and into Loveless Lake.

“Oh, that felt good,” he said as the solid whack echoed around the ‘hood. “High and straight. I’m ready.”

He considered it a warm up for the Terry Fiedler memorial golf tournament on Sunday, as he’s been so busy this summer there’s been no time to play golf.

And we're off

Beyond home row.

Two years and one month after spending our first night at the Loveless weeHouse of Unrealized Potential, we’ve taken the first steps toward having a functional bathroom + shower. This may take us another two years to finish, but let’s hope not.

Day One of tiling went off without a hitch after much planning and consulting and figuring and cussing and worrying. I’ve decided that building a bathroom requires more decisions than building an entire house. And each one is something you’ve never thought about before.

I mean, who ever gave much thought about which tile to put on the shower curb? Do you go with the one you picked for the floor? Or the one that’ll go on the shower floor? And even then, maybe the floor tile will go on the outside face and top of the curb and the shower floor will go on the inside one. And once you figure THAT out, you have to decide which way to lay the tile to line up grout lines.

In our case, we decided to wrap the whole thing in the lovely dark tile for the shower floor. Then we realized I didn’t buy enough of it.

So that was that. 

 

All Dogs Eat Grass. (Cows, too)

Game for anything

Look out journalism, here they come. Liz and Shelly already have proved their substantial mettle by leaving families behind to come to America for schooling. But these extraordinary  women sealed their fates as forces of nature by finding their way to Loveless Lake for a weeHouse picnic over the July 4 weekend.

They overcame rain and bird-sized mosquitoes to visit our work-in-progress place, and stayed just long enough to enjoy a fresh brat on the (yes, still) OSHA-unsafe deck.

After this, the remainder of their 10-week internship at Minnesota’s largest news organization surely will be a piece of cake.

 

The scene from our new dock -- made with leftovers from the old place.

Long time coming

Behold, the shower pan. It may not look like much, but let me tell you, this 3’ x 5’ piece of real estate may be the most long-awaited project in Loveless history. Let the bathroom tiling begin.

Fern haven

These transplants from friend Connie’s yard gave me the cover I needed around the septic tank eyesore. When I stuck them in the ground last spring, they looked sad and discombobulated. But Loveless is a fern-loving paradise. And this spring was so wet, the ferns shot up in proud display earlier than usual.

 

Who needs a dog bed when there's tall grass and clover?