Spring has fully arrived in Hot Springs Village as the trees have all leaved out, golf fairways are greening, dogwoods are blooming, turkeys are gobbling, more butterflies are arriving. In this last regard, we have seen several Falcate Orange Tips, several Easter Tiger Swallowtails, one Giant Swallowtail, and perhaps a Zebra Swallowtail (couldn’t get an identifying look).  But, except for the lone male Ruby-throated Hummingbird we saw last week, no others have been seen.

Our week was full, but uneventful.  We walked about 10 miles of trails as part of the HSV April trail marathon event, worked out at the fitness center several times, and made trips to Hot Springs and Little Rock, the latter for Kay to pick up a Big Green Egg from Sam’s Club, about $300 cheaper than the nearest retail outlet!  In addition to the Big Green Egg purchase—part of our SKI Club activities (SKI Club:  Spend Kids’ Inheritance)—we were hit by a deer in the Expedition on Saturday, without any significant damage to either the SUV or the deer.  Fortunately, we were not in the Honda as it may have done considerable damage, and the deer hit us, not the other way around.  The deer hit the driver’s door as we were traveling about 40 mph.

We also attended the HSV Two-Steppers dance on Friday night; we met some very nice folks, but the dance was just okay as a play list of canned music was used, and it wasn’t really our kind of CW music.  Also, we hosted son Ron for a few nights as he sold his house and is homeless for a few days.  Kay, Karyn, and Acker—three generations—visited Garvin Gardens on Thursday enjoying a beautiful display of flowers.

The HSV house is progressing ever so slowly, but actually nearing completion—not uncommon—as we are literally watching paint dry.  Last minute items are underway and minor fixes, repairs, additions, and changes are being made.  The cleaning folks were there Friday and Saturday morning, doing a great job, and the house looks different.  Kay thinks it looks larger, but I think it looks smaller.

This week saw March come to an end and April begin, along with a fast-starting spring.  Winter struck here the last 3 weeks in February, completion of the Hot Springs Village House has consequently been delayed.  Of course, the domino affects have rearranged all our plans as well.  Much to our dismay, we’re getting booted out of the rental house before our house is finished, and Kay struggled to find another place to live for a few days—we ultimately resorted to our standby, a one room efficiency apartment that won’t even hold our clothes from the motorhome—as this is the heart of golf season with lots of corporate rentals of houses.  And all the stuff we’ve been accumulating at the rental house to go in the new house has to be moved again, now to an almost overflowing storage room, before it is moved once more to the new house. Combined with Kay’s son selling his house this week, buying a new house in a couple of weeks, and getting married on May 2, seems like everything is happening at the same time.  Out of desperation, Kay called Brandon Tedder, owner of Renaissance Homes, Inc. on Monday morning requesting a closing date no later than April 28 to accommodate delivery of furniture from two different companies and moving two storage facilities’ worth of personal goods, all before Kay’s son’s wedding on May 2.  Brandon completely understood and offered a completion date and closing for April 24.  It was a tremendous relief for us, and one could see the months of built-up stress disappear from each of us.  And as a bonus, with the end of spring break, we saw significant action at the house by the subcontractors.

As if to signal that all was well with the world, a  dogwood tree near the new house burst out in bloom on Wednesday, April 1, no foolin’.  To continue with signs of spring, we saw our first Ruby-throated Hummingbird, a male, on the morning of April 2, and leaves are appearing on many of the trees in the area, it is a sign that spring is definitely here. 

We are focusing most of our energy these days on getting ready to move in to the new Hot Springs Village house; so golf has taken a backseat.  It’s just as well since springtime work is ongoing on most of the courses, and there are still wet spots on many of the fairways.  Greens were aerated and sanded on the course adjacent to the rental house, and the other courses will soon follow.  We bought televisions at Sam’s Club in Hot Springs on Wednesday evening and drove to Little Rock on Thursday to take care of business and continue purchasing things for the new house.  We also dropped by Maumelle to visit Karyn, Acker, Ridge, and Matt.  Friday, I drove to Hot Springs to have new brakes installed on the ’04 Expedition, pick up a mattress at the UPS store shipped from Costco, make returns from shopping the day before, and visit Sam’s Club.

Saturday, Ridge came to hunt eggs at the Hot Springs Village sponsored egg hunt, and was accompanied by mom, dad, and little sister; he had a blast and picked up two-thirds of a bucket of plastic eggs.  He came prepared to stay with KK and DD, but regrettably we had commitments on Sunday morning.

And finally on Easter Sunday, we joined our fourth church together, Christ of the Hills United Methodist Church, here in Hot Springs Village.  After a lunch of leftovers, we hiked 3.1 miles on one of the many great trails in the Village.