Great people and tacky plastic yard decor

Yesterday, a gaggle of Agave'rs met at Hotel San Jose for drinks and fellowship. It was the first time Mike and I met everyone face to face but, through the Yahoo community and everyone's blogs, I felt fairly connected to everyone already. It rejuvenated us. The building process is a pain in the arse. I guess anyone who's ever had a house built knows about all that. But Agave is a bit different. At least we know many of the great people we'll call neighbors soon.

Wendy--of Adam and Wendy--and I were talking about having the privilege of having a unique new house built alongside people you like and admire. Mike and I hold on to that as we grind our teeth through the process.

So , at the San Jose courtyard, drinking wine and getting to know new people, I tossed out the concept of The Pink Flamingo Beacon policy. Picture all of us this time next year, happily settled into the neighborhood. Let's say I discover a great inexpensive wine or cool new cocktail. Well instead of going the pedestrian route of calling everyone to come over after work, there needs to be an adopted beacon to signal neighbors to come over at leisure to enjoy a little hospitality. And that beacon, my friends, is the epitome of yard and garden flair: the plastic pink flamingo. The flamingo a little played out? Well, these are boom times for plastic yard decor. It could be anything. We just need to agree what creature will be the universal beacon. I'm a frog person, myself. Certainly, the universal beacon should be very inexpensive and widely available. Everyone should feel free to put out the universal beacon whenever they welcome neighbors to come over for drinks, food, whatever. Comments? Should we move this critical topic to the Yahoo group?

Today we met Julie at Brock and Gina's FAB house, which is our house design, to go over some issues. It does seem like they are getting their hands around this a bit more. Maybe I was just impressed with the fancy Agave info binder she gave us. Anything from Agave that's coordinated and organized is highly refreshing.