Saturday, August 11, 2007

Notes from a morning bike ride

It was cool this morning around 6:00 (only 80 degrees) so I hopped on my bike to enjoy a ride around the park. I keep thinking about all the work and heavy maintenance that goes on around here that our short term snowbirds never think about or realize.

Crews have been tarring all the little cracks and seams in the miles of streets inside the resort and have had to make some major road repairs or water line repairs in some areas. There are a number of places where holes have been drilled through the streets and water lines or repairs take place. That type of work is seldom seen by most of our residents.

Landscaping chores are endless. All those bushes and trees along the roadways need trimming plus every palm tree in the park gets pruned annually. I took a picture this morning so you could see how fresh and perky the trees now look with their recent haircuts.

I also passed a couple striking and unusual plants that I think are noteworthy. This cactus dwells in front of a house along Coyote Trail. It is quite different in that its stems are a different shape and color than the norm. Notice their graceful pretty flowers! I had to smile because the color of the stems matches the shutters on the house. Was that planned??
This photo shows a really cool palm tree along Cole Circle down by the village homes. I think its really neat how it grows in a cluster. Very attractive! Hats off to the landscaper who came up with such a lovely variety of plants for us to enjoy.
There is good news waiting for those of you who use the park cable for television. The number of channels has been increased so you will now have 71 channels available....including the golf channel. Those of you who are buying new HiDef televisions....beware that they require two lead in lines so if you want to continue to receive the park cable (including the park channel 3), you will have to make special arrangements with your DirecTV or Dish installer.