Fourth of July thoughts

Its the fourth of July and the kids are all out on the dock here at Lake Ozark...  So I will take advantage of this quiet moment to bang off a blog....

The water here at the lake is about 5 feet over the top of normal pool and the dam was built in 1929 and is quite old...  They have opened up the old fashioned spill way flood gates and the water is cascading over the top at break neck speed....  The lake was declared an idle speed lake Thursday by our Missouri Governor, Jay Nixon....

This had all the folks frumpy as they couldn't drive their boats at the normal wide open throttle...  When the water is up above many of the tops of sea walls, it is up on electrical wiring and dock anchors....  Wave action causes these things to wash out and deaths have occurred from electrical charges in the water....

Still folks that don't have a vested interest in the lake are complaining that it is just to protect a bunch of rich peoples docks....  But they would be the first to sue someone if they got electrocuted....

This morning, Saturday, they lifted the ban as the water is back down a couple of feet...  This is the Osage river, and the water behind the dam is 100 miles back up to the next (Truman) dam..  So how much water is 5 feet of river for over 100 miles...?  I can see the dam outside my glass door, so I have full effect of it here....

Most everything in the Kansas City home front has been city living as usual..  So I haven't bored you with the details...   But, I finally got carpet back in the living and dining rooms of my house...  That turned me into Mr Domestic as all the furniture needed to be moved back into its proper rooms..

Everything was covered with dry wall powder, so the cleaning necessary has been intensive..  In addition, I've had Doctors appointments and Dentist visits where I had a crown replaced..  I hate the numb mouth drooling that goes along with that one..

I've been to 4 lunches with the new trike, so most of the normal folks have now seen the grandpa kit on the back of the bike..   Everyone tells me they like it, but most would never ruin their bikes like that..  I have driven over a thousand miles since the conversion was completed so it is now commonplace...

But then last night, I was out on the Maxi Scooter that I keep here at the lake...  it is the old 650 Burgman Suzuki....  So I have to switch styles of bikes in my mind and lean on the corners, and don't forget to get that foot down when you stop...  Of course that comes naturally, most of the time, but I found myself pulling on the left lever at the stop light thinking it was the clutch...  Of course it is the rear brake, so a rather abrupt stop is the result.. OK as long as the car behind me doesn't run over me..

Thursday evening, there was a bike ride down to Ottawa, Kansas where there is a restaurant called Bar Be Cue Creations...  They take a creative approach with their bar be cue....  I ordered a stuffed baked Sweet potato..  You choose your meat, and I had pulled pork, but on top of that they put bar be cue sauce and a load of cheese...  With a big glob of sour cream on that..  The potato was a small football in size...  I was using the chipotle bar be cue sauce...  Casting fate to the wind..

My hiatal hernia made me pay later..  But it was really good on the way down...LOL!

Retired Rod    Enjoy the Fourth everyone!