From time to time I reread some of my past articles and I am struck by how much I sound like a broken record (parents, you may have to explain to young ones what a record is). It seems I'm stuck on the refrain of what a great place Berkeley Lake is to live in. Well, the theme of this article remains the same. Stock market is down, unemployment is up, couldn't sell a house if you wanted to (and thankfully I don't want to). Yet, at the end of the day we can retreat to such a beautiful refuge as Berkeley Lake where we have made our home. So what am I going to rave about this time...nature or community – how about both?

Let's start with Mother Nature in the most surprisingly random way. This morning my son thought he was hallucinating when he saw Harry Potter's Patronis (young readers, you may have to explain to parents what a patronis is). But no, it was simply a buck with a nice rack of antlers meandering down Lakeshore before cutting across our driveway to our neighbor, Diane's, backyard. How cool is that?? Yet I know every one of us have had the opportunity to watch a heron glide effortlessly across the lake, a fox or coyote dart along the road just outside the headlight beam, or a turtle lumber across the road (note to self – slow down and enjoy the road - wildlife almost always loses to cars).

And though nature feeds the soul, good company and cheer provides the tonic. I am thankful we live in a community where Berkeley Lake Dads care enough to find the time to make Science Night at school an engaging success; where talented musicians open their homes to create a free-for-all jam session (some of us just create a joyous noise) and where, on a Saturday night, one can run into half of their neighbors at the Everett Brothers Barn, enjoying the sounds of the Georgia Gospelites, replete with Berkeley Lake talent (Great job Bill and Jim). Just a side note – you have to check out the Everett Brothers Barn (www.everettbrothers.com), located on the outskirts of Suwanee where on a Saturday night one can listen to live bluegrass- truly harkens to an earlier time before Ipods and Blackberries.

I guess I should write something about the lake quality. Throughout the swimming season, we tested the lake at the beach and picnic grounds seven times for fecal coliform. Every sample passed with flying colors. From an aesthetic perspective I think we struck the right balance between clarity and keeping vegetation down. One of the tasks that faces next year's Board will be the development of a long-range plan on the management of the siltation legal and technical fund. While we have accumulated enough funds to mount a vigorous legal and technical campaign against outside threats, we are many years away from having sufficient funds for a significant dredging effort. But it is not too early to plan. I encourage folks to e-mail me with input on how to proceed with the protection of our lake.

And of course the geese, the only wildlife of which I'm not particularly enamored. With the holidays fast approaching and a tough economy, I thought it would be interesting to see what I could find on the internet. While I did not find a recipe for the traditional Canadian Christmas meal, the Goose Balls recipe here was close enough.