Week 3 at Navajo Lake State Park

Can you pick out which photos are of Cat?

I finally had a good opportunity to get photos of VC the Visitor Center’s cat. Can you tell which photos are of Cat and which are VC? Here’s your clue – there is two of each.

There’s never a dull moment as a Camp Host at Navajo Lake State Park. Things do quiet down, mostly Monday through Wednesday, making that a good time for longer visits with campers, to do motorhome chores and read (finished “The Old Patagonian Express – by train through the Americas” by Paul Theroux) and passed the book onto a camper from Argentina. Off and on I read bits from a book I bought at Colorado Springs’ Garden of the Gods gift shop. It is Cowboy Poet Baxter Black’s “Horseshoes, Cowsocks & Duckfeet.”

And then there are times to just sit back and enjoy the sky, clouds, sunrises and sunsets. Oh, yes! Time to pet Cat.

Macky the Rooster (motion activated) has been on duty, crowing when people walk up to Jeremiah’s door. (Thanks Essie! I know you really wanted to send one of your real roosters with me.)

I’ve enlisted Bucky (the ventriloquist dummy) to be my co-host, riding around in Zippy as I make campground rounds. He is a big attraction with children and adults.

Hannah the dog walks his “mom” (Jean Holloway-Burkhart) several times a day. Jean, a delightful and interesting lady is a full-time RVer. Hannah is one of the most alert dogs I’ve met. The way she sits amazes me – and I took a picture.

During the three weeks I’ve been here, we’ve had some wonderful evening and nighttime rain storms. Sometimes the rain is gentle; sometimes it comes down in buckets. Either way it cools things off and makes for good sleeping – and beautiful pictures. Here’s one I took between storms one day.

This week’s highlight – Hilda Ripley

Hilda, a friend from Albuquerque, has been my first visitor. By herself she was a great treat – but the bonus was the groceries and such that she brought me. If that wasn’t enough, she also took pity on my ‘no laundry facilities’ circumstance, taking me to a Laundromat at the nearby town of Aztec.

She also became my host assistant as I helped campers get settled into sites. One day I had to go to one of the park’s remote campsites. We took advantage of the scenic route to ohh! and ahh! at the lake and take pictures. Hilda was fascinated by a lizard and while she took a picture of it, I took a picture of her.

Upcoming Labor Day

It’s count-down until the Labor Day camping rush hits. We expect to be completely full. I’m just hoping that the majority of campers will be respectful of others and keep their sites clean. Wish me luck!

It’s raining now, so I’ll end this. Here are some wise words written by Author Johann Wolfgang von Goethe

"One ought, every day at least, to hear a little song, read a good poem, see a fine picture, and if it were possible, to speak a few reasonable words."