Saturday, December 29, 2012

On the fourth day of Christmas ...

 
 
... I'm grateful for joy and fun in my life! 
 
 Big Bear Lake is really a FUN place to live!  Now perhaps you may wonder how we manage to have fun way out here in the middle of nowhere ... after all, my little town has a population of only about 5000, and it's a good hour's drive from here down to the bottom of the mountain.  But it's a major vacation destination for guests from Los Angeles, and there's always something interesting going on. 
 
 
In addition to many restaurants, a movie theater, a bowling alley, and a library, we have a golf course, two museums, an observatory, miniature golf, an indoor skating rink, an arcade, and a zoo. Our lake is big, about seven miles long, and during warm weather, any water sport imaginable is offered: fishing, boating, water skiing, parasailing, jet skiing, paddle boarding, kayaking, sightseeing cruises around the lake: we have 'em all.  During winter, we have two ski resorts and two more toboggan/snow play parks. Year round, everyone can enjoy ziplining, segway cycle tours, the mountaintop sky chair, and hang gliding.  Carriage rides, antique shopping, horseback riding and rodeo activities, mountain biking and hiking are also very popular.  Helicopter tours and off-road jeep tours are available too. 
 
We have every sort of special event and festival you can imagine: parades, Farmers Market, jazz and art fairs, flea markets, concerts, plays, lectures, a vintage air show at the airport, Oktoberfest, antique car rallys, garden and home tours, wine walks and gourmet cooking demonstrations in The Village, a Renaissance Faire and the Big Horn Mountain Men Rendezvous during the summer, an International Film Festival   ... there are at least two or three special activities every week.  This coming year will bring the 25th Annual Mountain Treasures Quilt Show put on by my guild.  And mind you, all of these activities are set smack-dab in the middle of the national forest, so it's beautiful here any season of the year. 
 
 
 My favorite activities are the plays we attend at the Performing Arts Center (we haven't missed one since we moved here!),  weekly visits to the Farmers Market, the annual Sierra Club Xeriscape Tour, high school football games, and of course the quilt show.   And often times fun means sitting on the front porch at twilight watching the bats swoop, or starting a new jigsaw puzzle.  My life is rich and full.  Every day offers another adventure!  Ha, I sound like an advertisement for the Chamber of Commerce, don't I?  Life is good!
 
Looking ahead:  We are very involved with our community, and participate in as many of the events and activites as we can.  I haven't done kayaking, and might like to try it this summer.  As always, I'll be heavily involved with the quilt show.  Someday I'd like to have my home/yard featured on one of the garden tours, although my yard needs several more years of development before that happens!.
 
Looking back: April marked the opening of the Farmers Market season.  The robins were busy on the front porch -- we had three nests this year!  I read seven books during April, and finished three lap-size and five mini quilts/runners.
 
*************** 

1 comment:

Lindah said...

My goodness, Jeanne, your town sounds like a fun place to live. I feel like putting my house up for sale and moving on down! :-) I've enjoyed the photos you show from time to time of your beautiful home and quilts.
Happy New Year!