Wyndanwood

I got home a little while ago from Wyndanwood. This will require some explanation, and I need to go back about 9 1/2 years ago to start this story.

June 2000: My buddy Paul and I came off the golf course and headed to Gibby's on the River, a nice restaurant and bar that is about a mile from my house. While there, two women walked in, and I had my eye on one of them - the slim, attractive blonde. After navigating my way to the proper seat (and outwitting Paul to do so), I met Dorothy. We had a nice talk, I got her phone number, and I called her the next day. The rest, as they say, is history.

Like me, Dorothy grew up on a farm. You learn certain things when you grow up that way, and we have a lot in common because of it. We're frugal, we're not afraid to get our hands dirty, and you learn early in life that you can live without a lot of the things the city kids had. One of the things we have in common is a love of the outdoors, especially where water is involved.

The farm on which Dorothy grew up was a 200 acre tract at one time, but her father sold off parts of it and it is now 100 acres. The house where Dorothy and her siblings were raised still stands, and a friend of ours recently rented it from Dorothy's mother. There are two ponds and about 70 acres of woods.

Last February, Dorothy broached me with an idea: should we look into buying part of the farm? I hadn't been out there in several years, and buying it had never crossed my mind, so we drove out to take a look. And that's all it took for me to agree that we should pursue it. Words can't describe the beauty of the place. We spent quite a bit of time out there over the summer, just enjoying the scenery and the peace and quiet.

We initially thought we'd buy 30 acres, and we had the land surveyed and an appraisal done. As it turned out, that 30 acres was priced too high for us, so we had it resurveyed and reappraised. The second time we got it right, and we now own 18 acres in Union County, Ohio, complete with a 4 acre pond and about 12 acres of woods.

There are trails going through the woods, and sitting in a canoe in the middle of a pond that is situated in the middle of the woods is about the most serene feeling there is. The only sounds you hear are the wind and the wildlife. There are deer and turkeys and woodpeckers and blue jays and wood ducks and probably some coyotes, too. The pond is full of blue gills and largemouth bass, but we couldn't hear them.


We closed on the property a week ago Friday, and today was the first day we went out to start maintaining it. The pond will need some work, and the trails will need some cleaning up, and I spent nine hours in a clearing today cutting off low limbs and burning them. Dorothy came over in the canoe with soup and sandwiches, and all is well with the world.

By next spring, the pond will have the silt removed, we'll put in a couple of docks, and buy a little boat suitable for bass fishing. (The canoe is great, but my back complains every time I get in and out of it.)

I'll close this post with some pictures of Wyndanwood -- the name Dorothy chose for the property. I look forward to spending time with her on our little piece of heaven.


I can think of worse places to be.



I think she likes it out here...


The Cathedral - and a newly cleared trail. We spent most of our time today working on this.


No contest!

Lobbyists Have Talent

Every two years, the Ohio Chamber of Commerce hosts a legislative conference at Salt Fork State Park. Salt Fork is well off the beaten path, and it's so large that when you pull into the entrance, it's still another 6 miles to the lodge.

The Salt Fork conference is one of those events that one shouldn't miss. There are always good speakers (this year's keynote speaker was former US Senate Majority Leader Tom Dashle) and great hospitality. The event is themed, this year's theme being Capitol Square's Got Talent! A committee was formed to write material for a talent show of sorts. We thought we had 4 or 5 legislators lined up to perform, but in the end, only two of them did. But we had several lobbyists willing to take the stage.

There is an unwritten code between lobbyists and legislators: Thou shalt not take pictures where legislators and lobbyists mingle. Well, given this year's theme, I thought it was important to document some of the talent. The clip you are about to see is a duet sung by Jenn Klein and Mike Carroll. For those not in the business, "Sabety" refers to Pari Sabety, the Director of the Ohio Office of Budget & Management. The song is about the state budget, which was billions of dollars in the hole, and Sabety's way of making the budget balance. Jenn and Mike graciously gave their assent to me posting this here. They rehearsed for many hours, and we were a little worried about how this was going to come off, but as you'll see, it worked out just fine. In fact, many thought it was the best part of the entire program.


Next stop: American Idol!