4/26/10: Adam, Teco, and Seera arrived in the rain.

5/1/10: A few snow flurries and frost while we were here, but on Thursday it warmed up into the 70s and all the bugs came out. I guess the bats aren’t up yet. Back to VT, back to work.
Adam

5/28/10: (1) Apollo 13.
(2) Don’t ask. Just don’t ask.
– Sean Blinn

6/2/2010: Tues. after Memorial Day weekend. Sean, Jason’s friend, had arrived on the Thursday before & finding the gate on the Grade Rd. closed & locked, had to hike in & find a way into the house by a window. He turned on the pump & hot water & all was well — until morning. No water! What to do? Cancel the weekend! Off he went to Wash DC to join Jason there.
No solving of this problem for the next three days.
On Tues. am. Mr. Eby called to say he was baffled by the problem. He could not make it work. However, he noticed water bubbling out of the driveway when the water was on — it stopped when he turned off the water. How strange. Ken needed to go to the lake — from Phila, a 4 hour trip — and help to solve this problem (before Masha arrived on the following Friday) & before summer began.

On Ann’s advice, Ken picked up Bob at the store and the three of them — Eby, Ken, & Bob — solved the mystery. Bob deftly used the backhoe, dug down 3 feet in the middle of the driveway, found a water pipe CAPPED, but broken, (headinng towards the barn!) Surprise, surprise. Who had put this there? Did Lynn Myers who built the barn, do it? Did PopPop or Dale suggest it? Well, Eby capped it, Bob refilled hole, and Ken drove 4 hours back to Phila.

June 4, ’10: Ken, Joanne & Masha (11) arrived late, after a long trek on jammed highways & foggy roads. The grandfather was totally exhausted.

6-11-10: I had a great time as always—kayaking, wandering. It was just me, gramma, and pop for the week so it was very quiet. I built a lower ___ to the fire pit big enough for one or two ___ people to fit in. There was two familys of geese living by Lucy’s house. We saw them swimming—___ five little ones and mother running in a line the other family too but with two little ones—while eating dinner after the ___ ___ ___. So the last two mornings I kayaked down to Lucy’s house to see them. We played an ongoing game of Kismet every evening. Scores: Me–1591, gramma–1537, pop 1393. It is so stress relieving to be at the lake with it’s miles of wilderness. My mom says hello to the lake and wilderness.
—Masha

(I forgot to mention that I discovered a lot of wild strawberries…)
—Masha

July 7, 2010: This wonderful home and land has been a cool (mostly) haven in the midst of a strong heatwave. The best part has been being with my good friends throughout leisurely days. As usual, interesting activities abound – walks, the longest being to the big Norway spruce to measure diameter of the giant (also the diameter of a venerable black cherry), nightly Bananagrams and Scrabble, easy conversation, a grand tour of the area including the canyon Vista rock area and Elkmont, helping Joanne remove invasive water weeds, watching sunset and first three stars appear above the dock. Thank you, dear friends, and I wish you a wonderful summer with visiting family and friends. Love, Donna

Bird List

• Eastern Phoebe
• White Breasted Nuthatch
• Belted Kingfisher
• Red Eyed Vireo
• American Robin
• Crow
• Chipping Sparrow
• Canada Goose
• Cedar Waxwing
• Heard – Eastern Towhee
  Yellow Throat
  Hermit Thrush
  Black capped Chickadee

July 14th: Magical Sanctuary! Love the forest. We visited the giant spruce and cherry. Took a walk along the shore to Poppop’s pool and up to the quarry and back to the house. We canoed around the lake and saw the beaver and many fish jumps. At dusk we went down to the dock and caught a 12″ bass on our third cast! Dinner was excellent, with many courses prepared by Paul. Thanks so much Joanne & Ken and the rest of the boys. See you soon to paint the chimney mural. Love Brian & Juliana

7-17: I loved the view of the lake. I loved konodles, especially the twister. I loved seeing my grandparents and playing monopoly.
Casey (9 year old)

7/23: I loved kayaking and the big tree. I finally could climb a tree. I also liked hiking and fishing. The experience was amazing.
Taylor Myers

7/23: 10 days later and I have had 100 days worth of fun. Kayaking, Fishing, hiking, biking, and swimming. Colin was so nice to invite me, I hope to write in this log again!
Daniel Myers

7/23: Wow!!! It was fun and exciting, thrilling, and amazing, but most of all the best place to spend with family and friends. It was very relaxing (especially the second half). And many thanks to gandma and pop for letting me bring my good friends Taylor and Daniel along. This year I stayed the longest as far as I remember (almost 2 weeks). My friend and me caught 9 bluegill and and sunfish that were of good size and many more that were too small. I loved it this year and I hope to enjoy it more next year.
Colin Ford

7-29-10: Steven’s first time in this house!!! He seemed to enjoy it, insomuch as you can tell what a nine-month old likes.
Abby and I agreed to put together the Baumunk family reunion in 2015. Enjoyed the 2010 reunion a few days ago.

Steven made it to the lake! He loved it — crawled all around, played with the toys, swung in the hammock, swung on the swings, strolled to the Grade toward Wheelerville. –A good time was had by all!
Also Baumunk Reunion and lots of loves with Gramma and Pop
—Abby Ford

8/13: Keith & Emily Richards — Thanks for a good time!

8/14: Caroline, Thomas, & Daniel spent a week swimming, boating, Apples to Appling, riding rides at Knoebel’s, baking yummy desserts, catching frogs & bugs…

8/22: Nina, Mark, Isaiah and Naima were here July 31 – Aug. 22 — long time! Nina and Mark took a two-week trip to Bulgaria in the middle of this.
Nina

8/22: I found 14 salamanders, I saw 1 bear, I found 3 snakes, 4 frogs and 4 Monarch Caterpillars. I had a lot of fun.
Isaiah (7 years old)

8/29/10: Wonderful wonderful place & people! Thank you so much Charlie, Ken, Joanne & Adam – Cara O.
P.S. Well worth the Pleasant Stream route!!

8/30/10: Another way-too short visit and i feel like i’m always saying the same thing in this book. My friend cara came from Cleveland for the weekend—another too-short visit. I’m off for the marathon drive to drop Charlie off in Brooklyn, then on back north to Vermont. Dogs are sad to leave.
–Adam

8/30/10: A lovely 2 weeks here after a long summer working in Washington, D.C. Before that, I spent the school year in Argentina. I swam, boated, and biked a lot, getting the mental rest I needed before returning to my senior year in New York.
Charlie (age 21)

9/3/10: Summer events included the following: All the lake property, ~ 1000 acres, has been leased to an oil & gas company, Carrizo. Preliminary rillings of small holes around the area have been done by a fleet of Geokinetics workers. This included huge packets of cables carried around by helicopters — some across the lake. This is a mixed blessing to the area.
— The watershield plant, which has taken over about a third of the lake, was mowed by a huge machine. It (the plant) immediately popped up again. So, that’s a problem to be solved.
— A bear walked by, as Pop & Isaiah were eating dinner.
— Bald eagle sighted
— Adam made a bench for ken to rest near the gate. (to inspire walking!)
— Naima & isaiah were here for two weeks without their parents.
— Two caterpillars to Monarch butterfly events.
— Major work in the big room: new ceiling with recessed lights!! (It’s not quite finished as I write)
Joanne

9/6/2010: Jason, Abby, & Steven
THANKS!! This was great. It reminded me of my grandparents place when I was a child. The perfect place to grow-up. Steven will love it.
Enjoying the “How to Commit a Murder” game. Jason, you’re a natural actor. Thanks again
–David Baggett (Dad Baggett)

9/6/2010: Steven’s first time with my friends in Shunk. It went well! Great weather! Welcome first-timers David and Reid.
– Jason

9/7/2010: Steven, Abby, and Jason
Thanks for everything! I had a great time during my first Shunk experience. Thanks also to Damaris, Sharon, Sean, David, and Daniel for being superb compatriots (and special thanks to Smokey for her cuddliness). Activities included communal meals, canoeing, swimming, hiking, spading, frisbeeing, Cataning, and just hanging out.
Gracías por todos, Reid Gustafson

9/7/2010: It was worth the flight from Utah! (Not that I had any doubts.) What a great weekend. Good friends, good food, good fun
Sharon Nielsen

9/7/2010: This trip had everything I associate with Shunk: good food, great company, communal games, deep fields of stars, sunshine & rain, canoeing, walks around the lake, and much use of the porch swing. I had a little less time for reflection than usual but maybe that’s because I was enjoying the company so much! Shunk is always a reminder to me that things that were fun as a kid are often still fun as an adult. As always, many thanks!
Damaris Christensen

9/14/10: The ceiling is finished! Leaving on a lovely day.
Joanne

10/3/10: House is shut down. I’ve got to find a way to spend more than a day-and-a-half here. teco and Seera would certainly love it.
Until spring… –Adam