Our community is saddened by the recent loss of Sydney Ward (Sid) Bowen, Lot #193, who passed away in the Phoenix, AZ area on February 24, 2020. The former U.S. Marine is survived by his wife, Patricia (Pam) Bowen. Sid and Pam have been members of Timber Valley since 2008.
The members of Timber Valley extend our condolences to Pam and the family. Please contribute any stories or memories you have of Sid in the comments below.
This came out today from Douglas County
It was just a year ago that we were working on the park’s water system – replacing the water service riser on every lot. That project was completed at the end of April last year. As many of you know, we’ve also been measuring the park’s water usage on a daily basis since before the project started. Now, with more than a year’s worth of data, we can now do some meaningful year over year comparisons.
The graph (below) shows our average daily water usage in gallons for every month since September of 2018. The blue dashed line is the last few months of 2018, before the water project. The red line is 2019. And the green line is 2020. On this graph, February of 2020 is reporting only a partial month.
The last four months of 2019 and January of 2020 are the most interesting on this graph in that we can see and compare this year with last year. What these five months tell us is that our usage is down for every one of those months. In some cases, down substantially.
Take September as an example. In 2018 we used an average of 15,236 gallons of water every day. In 2019, we used an average of only 10,173. That’s more than 5,000 gallons… every day! Clearly, the project to tighten up our water supply system is paying big dividends. At roughly a penny per gallon, saving 5,000 gallons is saving $50 every day… Or $1500 for that month.
So, as the months and years go by, our savings will grow and recover the cost of the project in short order. And, remember, if we hadn’t done the project, the leaks would have continued to get worse and the cost of eventually doing the project at a later date would have grown too.
This graph is always available to our members on our website… on the member’s only page.
I’m sure everyone got them in the correct order!
Once again the generosity of our members is remarkable.
Here a a few photos from Rod Z and a link to more.
This is where they went from here.
More photos here.
Thanksgiving dinner was a resounding success thanks to Linda Essex organizing and planning the event. We ate in the large room at the 
clubhouse and served from the smaller room; excellent idea Linda. The cooking crew worked for two days to get the preparations completed. 
Special thanks to Linda Essex, Rod and Linda Zebb, Trish and David Hall, Valerie Knowles, Ann Bowman, 
and Janice Edwards. Then there were other members of the park who contributed great 
dishes, Wonderful time had by all.
Thank you Rod Zebb for photos and text.
David Hall, Bob Johnson, Del Healy, and Don Warburton
It was cold, threatening snow,but 40 propane tanks of all sizes were lined up to be filled. It was the day before Thanksgiving and members were wise to make sure their tanks were full before the long weekend.
As the men pumped tank after tank, Randy was on the phone ordering more propane. He knew demand will be heavy when predictions of snow are in the air.
It is cold miserable work and Timber Valley is lucky to have hearty volunteers taking care of us.
At the last Board of Directors a motion to build a small shelter for the propane volunteers was approved. This will be positioned to protect the crew from wind and rain. The marks on the ground are the beginning strokes of that shelter.
Costumes, Mummy Wrapping, Rock Races, 50/50 Drawing, and of course Food. 50/50 drawing netted $40.00 thanks to Jerry & Marilyn for donating their half. Funds went to the Food Pantry. Thanks to all.
Here are some photos and you can see more here: Halloween Pics
Uncertainty. Is “uncertainty” a basic human emotion? Well, if it isn’t (and it isn’t) maybe it should be. Check out “basic human emotions” on the internet and you get this: love, joy, surprise, fear, sadness, disgust, shame and pride. H’mm.
Right now I’m dealing with uncertainty and it sure feels like it’s basic! Let’s get the story straight before folks start asking “What flowers did she like?” or begin planning my memorial service. (Got your attention, did I?)
I planned to leave Oregon and head for Quartzsite Oct. 22 but my plans were waylaid by an innocent letter that came late Friday evening. “Your recent mammogram…requires additional imaging studies for a complete evaluation.” All medical offices are closed late Friday evening so I waited until 8:01 a.m. Monday and started calling. After much pleading, a repeat evaluation was scheduled for Tuesday morning and it resulted in an ultrasound Tuesday afternoon. A very young and handsome doctor talked with me after the study and the result is I’m awaiting a biopsy next Monday. I won’t know the results til Wednesday.
Uncertainty!! A report of negative (that means no cancer) or positive (yep, cancer) hangs in the balance til then. Making this doubly difficult is my almost insane desire to get down to Quartzsite before the winter snows choke the mountain passes (two of them I must traverse.)
It might be easier to deal with the eight basic emotions listed. But uncertainty? Being a rational person I tell myself that fear and sadness are not appropriate; certainly the other basic emotions aren’t appropriate. So where am I? In limbo.
Limbo? My old dictionary habit, now replaced by Google, rears its ugly head and I check the internet. “An intermediate, transitional, or midway state or place.” Sheesh! Intermediate? I’m a little too old for that. Midway? Between what and what? That leaves transitional; which really isn’t so bad. Every day of our lives is a transition. We move from childhood to adult hood and all the gray areas in between. This is just another transition; the only problem is I can’t see the end of it. But then have we ever seen the end of a year, a week or even a day?
So, Quartzsite here I come…maybe. We’ll see. Uncertain, that’s all.
By Jackie Deal
Weird noises. Car? Motorcycle? What time is it? 7a.m.! Stagger to window. Open shades.
And there before me—two humongous, orange pieces of scooper/scraper machinery be-bopping around.
Lunch time and an interview request with Randy Bice, Manager, and Machinery Operator:
“Five minutes?”
“Nope, gotta get back to work.”
“Aw, com’on. Five minutes?”
”Oh, Okay.”
The big boys happily playing with big boys’ toys are Randy Bice, George Boykin and James Lowe. They’re operating Timber Valley’s front end tractors and a rented excavator. Shelly Gingery drives up with load after load of dirt that’s being dumped and leveled out behind the new wall fronting Hillside. Randy estimates 40 yards of dirt have been transferred from the drainage ditches in the storage area to the wall.
Randy says, “A host of people have worked on this wall since day one. After we smooth it, the Landscape Committee will cover it with plastic for the winter and then next spring they have a plan for fixing it up.”
Afternoon found our “cowboys” relegated to hand labor as they smoothed out the clods of dirt and swept more dirt from the road. A day’s hard labor and what do they get for it? Our gratitude and our thanks. And, oh, yes, a little more money left in our wallets come Annual Maintenance Dues time. Thanks to all who have contributed their time and effort. We do appreciate you.
_____________________
And now, a few words from the Landscape Committee…
After a very busy summer full of projects for PCM, it’s time to return to the Wall Project. Randy, Shelly, George Boykin, James Lowe and others have been busy grading ground above the wall in preparation for landscaping in Spring. Penelope Hepworth has helped Dar Hoch develop a landscape plan that will soften the wall’s stark straight appearance. Plantings will snake along the mid and upper portion with spring blooming yellow forsythia, contrasting with crimson barberry, variegated green/yellow/white Euonymus and blue accents of caryopteris (bluebeard). Over the wall’s edge, cascades of color from creeping phlox and thyme will continue to soften the wall’s sharp edge.
A big THANK YOU to those who have worked to prepare and lay the groundwork for next spring’s planting.
Dar Hoch – Landscape Co-chair
IFPL III
