Hidden Valley Lake was originated and developed by the USA Land Corp. from the late 1960s until 1972. During that time, a dam was constructed across Coyote Creek creating the 102-acre “Hidden Valley Lake.” Also during that time several buildings were constructed—clubhouse, cart barn, tennis courts and campground—and the 18-Hole “Billy Bell” golf course was installed. It's original design was as a vacation/recreation retreat. From 1970-72, the Equestrian Center and Country Club (later, Community Center) were built. Originally 3310 lots were laid out for homes. Another 695 larger lots were also laid out in a nearby area called “The Ranchos.”
In 1972, USA Land Corp. was bought by Boise Cascade. BC offered model vacation homes, regular homes and vacation rentals. BC promoted the leisure-time and recreational activities available at HVL throughout the Western USA.
Due to a variety of factors, but mostly excessive losses, Boise Cascade Corp. sold it in 1974 to a Hidden Valley Lake Association. For the remainder of the 1970s and through most of the 1980s a majority of property owners did not live in Hidden Valley Lake, holding the land for investment. It fell into receivership in the late 1980s.
By the 1990s more young families began moving in, partly triggered by Hidden Valley Lake’s then-inexpensive housing and partly by the desirable amenities. To support and maintain the amenities, property assessments were instituted in the early 1990s. It again dropped into receivership in the mid 1990s.
For most of its history HVLA has been managed by a small group of residents; not only, but primarily golfers. Somewhere in the late 1990s, apparently as association members began to realize HVLA was becoming too big and complex for them to run without outside help, they began to hire paid staff. In 1990 the HVL population was about 1960. By 2000 it had grown to about 3,780 and by 2010 to 5,580. Current estimates are around 7,500. It is no longer a little community. It’s a small city. It is now largely a “family community.” Less then 15 percent of HVL residents use the golf course.
- Honey bees are super-important pollinators for flowers, fruits and vegetables. Bees transfer pollen between the male and female parts, allowing plants to grow seeds and fruit.
- Honey bees live in hives (or colonies). The members of the hive are divided into three types. Queen: One queen runs the whole hive. Her job is to lay the eggs that will spawn the hive’s next generation of bees. The queen also produces chemicals that guide the behavior of the other bees. Workers: These are all female and their roles are to forage for food (pollen and nectar from flowers), build and protect the hive, clean and circulate air by beating their wings. Workers are the only bees most people ever see flying around outside the hive. Drones: These are the male bees and their purpose is to mate with the queen bee. Several hundred live in each hive during the spring and summer. But come winter, when the hive goes into survival mode, the drones are kicked out.
- But did you know they produce honey as food stores for the hive during winter? Luckily for us, these efficient little workers produce 2-3 times more honey than they need, so we get to enjoy the tasty treat, too!
- If the queen bee dies, workers will create a new queen by selecting a young larva (the newly hatched baby insects) and feeding it a special food called “royal jelly”. This enables the larva to develop into a fertile queen.
- Honey bees are fab flyers. They fly at a speed of around 25km per hour and beat their wings 200 times per second!
- Each bee has 170 odorant receptors, which means they have one serious sense of smell! They use this to communicate within the hive and to recognize different types of flowers when looking for food.
- The average worker bee lives for just five to six weeks. During this time, she’ll produce around a twelfth of a teaspoon of honey. Plant lavender and bluebells.
- The queen can live up to five years. She is busiest in the summer months, when she can lay up to 2,500 eggs a day!
Togetherness: The definition: “The state of being close to another person or other people” has remained the same, however, the added, “aah, how nice?” has changed a bit. The question mark is not needed. In March, after the initial shock of having to quarantine started to seep in, two weeks felt like “no big deal”. And then in April having two more weeks added was still seen as doable.
Togetherness! Bah, hum bug! I enjoy staying home. I enjoy my hubby’s company—wait for it—but, not when I am told it’s mandatory. As a stay-at-home wife/mother, I always cleaned house after everyone left for the day. I never had to ask someone to move their feet or their chair in order to vacuum, and while they were seated.
Of course, back then, I could clean the house in a day, easily. Dusting and vacuuming were a snap. I’m not talking about spring cleaning. I’m talking about the weekly clean. The other days were spent scrubbing different areas: the always cluttered refrigerator, the marked up walls, the forever windows and mirrors, the daily used stove and oven, the cluttered drawers (kitchen and bedroom), those pesty curtains, spot cleaning the carpets, scrubbing black heel marks off the non-carpeted areas, scrubbing everything in sight in the bathrooms (wondering why we had to have two of those), and then there was the vegetable garden, roses, weeding, pruning, raking. Piece of cake.
Now, I need at least a week to dust and clean the kitchen counters, another week to scrub the floor, plus the next month to clean the refrigerator, oven, stove, and the icing on the cake, empty the dishwasher. Of course, no more four acres to tend to. No more cows, horses, dogs, cats, vegetable garden. Now that is a huge, “aah, how nice!” Notice the explanation mark instead of a question mark.
All in all, life is good. Why is life good. I can still do all of the above (I’m not going to unless pressed, but I could)—and I can’t see so good, so dust? What dust?
