. The first of May found a spring snow falling at the lake house, with camera in hand, Pine Mountain Lake a pictorial background, Gary taking a photo for posterity feeling like he was living in Currier & Ives pictured postcard. The weather returning to normalcy , Gary, Kay and her copious Rottweiler Darian firmly sequester in the jeep, their destination Greeley Hill, a secluded area south of highway #120.. The two arriving at the wooded home of John Brooks, a retired 74 years of age projector of heavy equipment, a character of renown, having escalated much of the landscape in the county with his arraignment of bulldozing equipment for the past 50 years. A delightful person with endless stories from another era, his explorations for gold and all the discoveries he had made thru his 70 plus years of life.
. His mountain yard filled with the equipment, relics and mementos from another time. Like monuments, remains of old excavation equipment, several vintage trucks with a bygone history, an array of paraphernalia from his gold mining endeavors, including a mercury detort tube for extrapolating gold that he had invented, every conversation entailed an exponent from his life. The large gray-haired elder was an amiable overwhelming personality, his presence and vocabulary one of dauntlessness and integrity, a person that Gary immediately accepted. Kay proposing John to transport his legendary D-8, 385 horsepower, 80,000 pound caterpillar bulldozer to break the ground with a ripper blades, for the future planting of her olive tree endeavor. John agreeing to cultivate the hillside with the heavy-duty ripper, but suggesting a first attempt be made with a smaller caterpillar.
. John and his son arriving at the proposed site , readied the smaller unit for its task but soon discovering it was unable to break the hardened soil of the virgin hillside terrain. returning to retrieve the heavy-duty D-8 to accept the challenge, it’s presence being successful. Gary watched as a bystander but then called upon to journey to Jamestown in Katherine’s pickup with a 55 gallon drum to purchase diesel fuel for the Caterpillar. It was also noticeable that John would occasionally stop, dismount and inspect the furrows of the turned over ground during his 40 acre traversing, Gary was reasonably sure that John was looking for the telltale signs of gold.
. The completion of the Cottage was entailed, Mike, a friend of Katherine’s daughter Sally, (Scelestia) noted for his impeccable carpentry skills was employed. A perfectionist installing the hallmark beam ceiling for the downstairs, his work a paragon display. Brother and sister deciding to put their painting and carpentry skills to task, the access to the upstairs having required a ladder as the placement for stairs was still undecided. The two designing and structuring the yet constructed outside stairway to the second floor, notching and securing the 2 x 10’s for the steps to be installed, Jacque returning, the San Francisco contractor having completed all the electrical and plumbing projects, his final calling would be the laying of the ceramic tile that would engulf the downstairs floor. the once building relic from the past beginning to resemble a showcase livable entity.
. Gary accompanying his sister, the two journeying to the bay area, venturing to Hayward, stopping at an antiquity home built in 1888. The McConaghy House, a two-story, six bedroom mansion, now officially designated as a historical museum. It’s stairway, windows and Victorian widows walk endowed roof for some reason implanted a fascination with Kay, Gary not aware her obsession with this structural part of history would might soon turn into reality. Katherine having set another goal besides the olive orchard and the remodeling of the cottage, a project that would fulfill her entailment with the McConaghy House as a legacy. the purchase of an additional 120 acres adjoining the 90 acres, would provide a realm for a Bed & Breakfast.
. With the lake house put on the market as a rental, and a move to the cottage, their goals of purchasing an additional 120 acres instilled, the addition acreage included three houses and high delivery water well. A journeying to contracting home builder George Williams Pine Mountain Lake home, addressing him about his services and of duplicating a facsimile of the McConaghy House with a Bread and Breakfast concept in mind. After several deliberations, the contractor concurred, accepting the project, the timeline undecided but the McConaghy facsimile would be realized.
. Gary found the move to the cottage somewhat unsettling , but the Yamaha console had found a new home. At first Gary was more than satisfied with the large downstairs bedroom with french doors opening onto a porch, Kay and Don claiming the upstairs, but it was the 8 mile drive to Groveland and the habit of eating out that was the consternation. The stay at the Cottage with its remoteness, serenity and echoes of benevolent country living was becoming prosaic. there being no internet, television or outside distractions except for an occasional passing vehicle. The only nocturnal sound was an occasional cricket or the rustling of the creatures of the night, an aura and realizing beginning to unfold, that silence could be deafening. The summer found Kay’s grandchildren visiting, Gary and her erecting a large tent, the grandchildren to spent a summer month breaking the solemn stillness of the countryside.
. Gary’s labor provocations having diminished, he and sister having expended their expertise. The stay at the cottage beginning to seem like a bastion of isolation, but a reprieving call from his sister Nancy in Columbia, provided a reasoning to abrogate, she was in need of a dog sitter for Kizzy, his sister and mother having planned an extended excursion, Gary finding a reason to waiver from the solitude of nomadic life, returning to Columbia. recalling a memorable quote. “where ever your heart is there you will find your treasure.
Inquisitive Quest 
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