When Smoke Gets In Your Eyes, the classic beautiful ballad by the Platters comes to mind every time we step out our cabin door lately. The forest fire that started a month ago in the Chattahoochee National Forest with a single bolt of lightening has now burned over 21,000 acres of land and is only 20% contained. They don't expect to have them totally controlled for at least 2 to 4 weeks yet if we don't get any considerable amounts of rain. Since that first fire started, there have been many other fires that have also taken off. Unfortunately, they are finding that some of the more recent fires that have started have been set by obviously deranged people. Thank goodness, they have already found a few of these criminals. I know that forest fires can be a cleansing thing to happen to forest land- burning up old dead wood and allowing new growth to come up from the forest floor fresh and new. I understand that, and I don't have a problem with it as long as the fires are able to be contained inside the boundaries of the forest and not have any ill effects on any homes in the area. My only problem at this point is breathing the sooty and smelly air that is constantly surrounding us and our entire town. Since we don't have a garage at our cabin, my car and Mountain Man's truck are constantly covered in a layer of gray powdery soot. Not good for the lungs! Since the smoke is getting heavier and more consistantly in our area, Mountain Man went to the local big box store and got us some masks to wear. I must admit, it's not a very becoming style, but it does make breathing a bit easier!
As with most tragedies and catastrophies, there is always a bright side. The bright side in this story is the outpouring of love and generosity that is coming from ours and all of the other surrounding communities. We have firefighting teams from all around the country and Puerto Rico, Sky Crane Helicopters with their flight and mechanic teams, and tanker airplanes with their crews that have all come here to help us control and extinguish the fires. Even though most of these heros are being compensated for their time spent here working on these fires, there are also countless numbers of volunteer firefighters that are actually taking time away from their full time jobs so they can be here to help. All of the communities that are being affected by the fires are so grateful to all of these people that the local restaurants are providing free meals, people have been preparing food and bringing it to the fire departments, collecting water, toiletries and other necessary items to keep these firefighters as healthy and comfortable as possible while working on these wild fires. To be a part of and a witness to this southern hospitality makes me proud of my community and happy to be a resident of Georgia.
As I mentioned in the last paragraph, there has been a Sky Crane Helicopter, which is equipped with a snorkle to suck up 3,000 gallons of water in 45 seconds that can then be dumped on the fires, stationed at our local airport. This past Sunday, Mountain Man and I were making a trip the Walmart to pick up a few things. The road that leads to the Walmart passes by the end of the runway. We could see that the helicopter was there as we drove by so on our way home we decided to stop in at the airport and see if we could meet crew and thank them for risking their lives to save our forest. We pulled up to the operations center at the airport and Mountain Man went in to ask if we could meet the crew. I am still not totally used to small town living, the operations manager at the airport told us to go ahead and drive across the runway to see the copter and the crew! Yes, you read right, drive across the runway. Well, he did tell us to be sure to look both ways for landing planes! Good enough for us, off we drove across the runway. When we got to the other side, the copter and crew were all just hanging out waiting for their next call. We were able to have a nice visit with the whole crew and much to Mountain Man's delight, he was able to cross another thing off of his bucket list. He not only got to get his picture taken in front of the giant flying machine, but he also was able to get up inside of it and have the captain give him a lesson in how to start up and fly the big bird. Needless to say, it was one of the great highlights of recent times for my Mountain Man. To be able to watch him getting to experience something that brings him such joy and to see his childlike awe brings me such great joy, there are just no words.
So, until next week, wash your cars, clean your windows, forget your umbrellas, do a rain dance and most of all, pray for rain!
Thursday, November 17, 2016
Tuesday, November 8, 2016
Green Acres, We Are There!
There is definitely a "slow southern style" way of living here in these mountains. There is an inbred politeness and kindness that just about every soul in this area carries with them. Case in point: nearly everywhere that I have been in this country I have seen No Littering signs. They are usually matter of fact and are accompanied with a threat of fines. On the roads in our community, we also have similar signs. The only difference is that they are polite reminders. These signs say "NO TRASH PLEASE". As we were taught as youngsters, please and thank you goes a long way. I'm not sure whether there is just more pride and respect in our community or whether people appreciate the manners, but either way, it is rare to see any trash along our roadways.
We also have, as most other communities do, community online yard sales. I have taken to reading these posts on Facebook, not because I'm in need of anything. Heaven knows I've got way too much stuff already. I ready them for the pure entertainment value. As the oldest of my chillin' called to my attention, most of these people have no filters. Everything from phone numbers to personal information as to their whereabouts is openly shared on these sites. You can tell that this is a small, trusting community because you could never get away with these things in big cities. Here are a few of my favorite posts from these sites. I hope that you will also see the humor and innocence in them.
The first one that every caught my attention was a desperate woman with an unemployed man. This ad read something like this: "My boyfriend needs work now. The baby's coming soon and he needs to be working. he will do almost anything. Please call me at --- ----." The way I read into this is that he will do almost anything other than look for a job!
The next one was a man trying to sell his truck. He was also including the wench. Yup, you read that one right. So did a lot of other people. The first person to pull the trigger on that one wanted to know if she works and what does she look like and is it legal to sell wenches in Georgia. The gentleman that placed the ad soon saw the error in his spelling and corrected it promptly!
Sometimes people aren't looking to make money on their items, sometimes they just want to trade. There was this one gentleman who was looking to get rid of his car. He wasn't interested in cash he only wanted either a truck or weapons! There are no words!
The last one for today is a lady that was interested in getting rid of some of her farm animals. She had the usual goats and chickens for sale, but the one that caught my eye was the silky chicks. She said that she had a whole batch of silky chicks for sale, but they were too young to be sexed. My question is: How old does a silky chick have to be to be sexed???
Now for my Green Acres moment. Last week, Mountain Man was trying to make a phone call. When he picked up the land line, he heard a man's voice on the other end. After a few confused moments, he found out that the phone line was being worked on and he would have to wait to make his call. I was starting to feel a Green Acres moment coming on. If any of you are old enough to remember Green Acres, you'll remember that the Douglas's had to climb to the top of the telephone pole to make their phone calls. After they would climb all that way, they had to talk to the operator if no one was using the line so they could make their call. Later that day, our middle chile called us. The only problem was that when she called, the person that answered the phone had an unusually thick southern accent. Her, knowing her Mountain Mama like she does, thought that I was playing around with her so she just refused to say anything until Mama straightened up and talked right! The voice on the other end again said hello, can I help you? Now, realizing that this isn't the Mama, she looks at her phone to make sure that she hasn't dialed the wrong number. Reassured that she had indeed dialed the correct number, she, now wondering who exactly is in her parents house, said, "I'm trying to call my mom." The kind voice with the strong southern drawl then politely informed her that he was working on the phone lines and that she should try back in a few minutes. When I did finally talk with her, she asked if the lineman had given me the message that she had called. I told her no, but that wasn't his fault. I only waved and kept on driving when I passed him. I'm sure that if I had stopped and said hello, he would have given me the message! That's just how things work down here!
We also have, as most other communities do, community online yard sales. I have taken to reading these posts on Facebook, not because I'm in need of anything. Heaven knows I've got way too much stuff already. I ready them for the pure entertainment value. As the oldest of my chillin' called to my attention, most of these people have no filters. Everything from phone numbers to personal information as to their whereabouts is openly shared on these sites. You can tell that this is a small, trusting community because you could never get away with these things in big cities. Here are a few of my favorite posts from these sites. I hope that you will also see the humor and innocence in them.
The first one that every caught my attention was a desperate woman with an unemployed man. This ad read something like this: "My boyfriend needs work now. The baby's coming soon and he needs to be working. he will do almost anything. Please call me at --- ----." The way I read into this is that he will do almost anything other than look for a job!
The next one was a man trying to sell his truck. He was also including the wench. Yup, you read that one right. So did a lot of other people. The first person to pull the trigger on that one wanted to know if she works and what does she look like and is it legal to sell wenches in Georgia. The gentleman that placed the ad soon saw the error in his spelling and corrected it promptly!
Sometimes people aren't looking to make money on their items, sometimes they just want to trade. There was this one gentleman who was looking to get rid of his car. He wasn't interested in cash he only wanted either a truck or weapons! There are no words!
The last one for today is a lady that was interested in getting rid of some of her farm animals. She had the usual goats and chickens for sale, but the one that caught my eye was the silky chicks. She said that she had a whole batch of silky chicks for sale, but they were too young to be sexed. My question is: How old does a silky chick have to be to be sexed???
Now for my Green Acres moment. Last week, Mountain Man was trying to make a phone call. When he picked up the land line, he heard a man's voice on the other end. After a few confused moments, he found out that the phone line was being worked on and he would have to wait to make his call. I was starting to feel a Green Acres moment coming on. If any of you are old enough to remember Green Acres, you'll remember that the Douglas's had to climb to the top of the telephone pole to make their phone calls. After they would climb all that way, they had to talk to the operator if no one was using the line so they could make their call. Later that day, our middle chile called us. The only problem was that when she called, the person that answered the phone had an unusually thick southern accent. Her, knowing her Mountain Mama like she does, thought that I was playing around with her so she just refused to say anything until Mama straightened up and talked right! The voice on the other end again said hello, can I help you? Now, realizing that this isn't the Mama, she looks at her phone to make sure that she hasn't dialed the wrong number. Reassured that she had indeed dialed the correct number, she, now wondering who exactly is in her parents house, said, "I'm trying to call my mom." The kind voice with the strong southern drawl then politely informed her that he was working on the phone lines and that she should try back in a few minutes. When I did finally talk with her, she asked if the lineman had given me the message that she had called. I told her no, but that wasn't his fault. I only waved and kept on driving when I passed him. I'm sure that if I had stopped and said hello, he would have given me the message! That's just how things work down here!
Tuesday, November 1, 2016
A Walk In The Forest On An Autumn Eve
Well, the work on the mountain cabin has all but been wrapped up. After a few more deliveries and a new HVAC unit going in this coming week, we will be all settled in. The rooms have all been painted, cleaned and decorated and the place now feels like home, our perfect little mountain cabin. We will now have time to relax and enjoy our beautiful surroundings before heading back to Ohio in a few weeks. We will be going up to celebrate birthdays and Thanksgiving with the Ohio Mountain Chillins. I am looking forward to seeing them all again, along with all of our extended family and friends that we left behind. With all of the modern technologies that we have now in our lives, it is so much easier to stay closely connected to our loved ones, so even though there are over 600 miles between us, I can still talk to them almost daily and see their face. It does help with the homesickness. Still, nothing is better than a good hug! I'm looking forward to lots of those!
Since we have more free time now, we have been taking advantage of having the Chattahoochee National Forest in our back yard. There is a beautiful, gently sloping trail that leads through the mountains that we have been walking. With each walk that we take, we have ventured further up the mountain. With Mountain Man being a hunter, we normally can navigate the trails looking for signs of all of the forest creatures and sometimes even stumbling across a few without making a peep. With this years drought, though, there is no such thing as a silent step. The beautifully colored leaves that carpet the trail are so dry that the crunch of our footsteps is almost deafening. There is absolutely no chance of quietly coming upon a feeding doe or any of the other small wildlife scampering about. They are able to hear us long before they see us. Just as when we are sitting on our deck, we can hear them making their way along the well worn trails long before we can see them. Autumn in the mountains is so different from Autumn anywhere else that I have experienced it. The air is cleaner, the sky is so clear and blue that I sometimes feel like I'm looking at it through a high definition camera lens. The leaves vary much so in color that I'm sure there are not even names for some of the beautiful shades that they turn. If you stop long enough and sit quietly, you can hear the birds and critters calling out to one another in their own personal conversations that we are blessed to be able to eavesdrop in on. The wonders of nature are truly here in these North Georgia mountains. I'm not wishing my life away, but I am living in anticipation of the spring, when hopefully the drought will subside and the creeks and rivers will once again be filling and the sounds of the babbling waters flowing down the mountain. Since I am a water baby by nature, I do miss having the water around me.
After a light dinner this evening, we trekked back out into the woods to collect some wood to turn into walking sticks and curtain rods. We hiked up the hill across from our cabin, selected the perfect saplings; a hickory for me since Mountain Man says that a hickory is a lady's stick and a mighty oak for him. In true Mountain Man nature, he used his handy little ax to cut them down. No chain saws for this Mountain Man! As we were dragging our saplings back up the road to our cabin, I secretly hoped that none of the neighbors would drive by. You see, the hickory that I was dragging was nearly 20 feet long and the Oak was every bit of 15 feet. Oh, and, I forgot to mention that since this wasn't a planned adventure, I was wearing my slippers. When you are alone on a mountain most of the time, you tend to forget that, on occasion, other people are around! We were almost back to our driveway when we heard a car coming up the road, I didn't realize how fast I could move in slippers dragging a big stick. I felt like I was doing the mountain version of Cross Fit! I beat the car, so no explanation needed! Mountain Man then cut the sticks to length, skinned them both and they are now drying so they can be sanded and oiled. This will make our hikes quite a bit easier. Plus, having it made with love, just for me, makes it even more important. I will be making curtains for the basement windows when the fabric comes and I will have enough of the saplings left to use as curtain rods. This living off of the land thing is fun. Now every excursion into the forest will surely provide more decorating ideas and materials!
Since we have more free time now, we have been taking advantage of having the Chattahoochee National Forest in our back yard. There is a beautiful, gently sloping trail that leads through the mountains that we have been walking. With each walk that we take, we have ventured further up the mountain. With Mountain Man being a hunter, we normally can navigate the trails looking for signs of all of the forest creatures and sometimes even stumbling across a few without making a peep. With this years drought, though, there is no such thing as a silent step. The beautifully colored leaves that carpet the trail are so dry that the crunch of our footsteps is almost deafening. There is absolutely no chance of quietly coming upon a feeding doe or any of the other small wildlife scampering about. They are able to hear us long before they see us. Just as when we are sitting on our deck, we can hear them making their way along the well worn trails long before we can see them. Autumn in the mountains is so different from Autumn anywhere else that I have experienced it. The air is cleaner, the sky is so clear and blue that I sometimes feel like I'm looking at it through a high definition camera lens. The leaves vary much so in color that I'm sure there are not even names for some of the beautiful shades that they turn. If you stop long enough and sit quietly, you can hear the birds and critters calling out to one another in their own personal conversations that we are blessed to be able to eavesdrop in on. The wonders of nature are truly here in these North Georgia mountains. I'm not wishing my life away, but I am living in anticipation of the spring, when hopefully the drought will subside and the creeks and rivers will once again be filling and the sounds of the babbling waters flowing down the mountain. Since I am a water baby by nature, I do miss having the water around me.
After a light dinner this evening, we trekked back out into the woods to collect some wood to turn into walking sticks and curtain rods. We hiked up the hill across from our cabin, selected the perfect saplings; a hickory for me since Mountain Man says that a hickory is a lady's stick and a mighty oak for him. In true Mountain Man nature, he used his handy little ax to cut them down. No chain saws for this Mountain Man! As we were dragging our saplings back up the road to our cabin, I secretly hoped that none of the neighbors would drive by. You see, the hickory that I was dragging was nearly 20 feet long and the Oak was every bit of 15 feet. Oh, and, I forgot to mention that since this wasn't a planned adventure, I was wearing my slippers. When you are alone on a mountain most of the time, you tend to forget that, on occasion, other people are around! We were almost back to our driveway when we heard a car coming up the road, I didn't realize how fast I could move in slippers dragging a big stick. I felt like I was doing the mountain version of Cross Fit! I beat the car, so no explanation needed! Mountain Man then cut the sticks to length, skinned them both and they are now drying so they can be sanded and oiled. This will make our hikes quite a bit easier. Plus, having it made with love, just for me, makes it even more important. I will be making curtains for the basement windows when the fabric comes and I will have enough of the saplings left to use as curtain rods. This living off of the land thing is fun. Now every excursion into the forest will surely provide more decorating ideas and materials!
Sunday, October 23, 2016
Not So Random Acts Of Kindness
Up until just a few months ago, I have lived my entire life in or within a few mile radius of Akron, Ohio. Most of the people that I know have also lived their entire lives in that same area. I know, or at least am acquainted with, many good people with big hearts that have always been kind, caring, compassionate and generous with not only us, but anyone else they come in contact with. But working in the public venue for most of my adult life I have also come into contact with just as many, if not more, selfish, rude and impolite people. Here's where I'm going with this... in the few short months of living here in these beautiful mountains, I have witnessed more of what most people would call "random acts of kindness" than I have in the past few years of living in Ohio. As a matter of fact, I would even be tempted to retitle them Common Acts of Kindness. Some are so touching that they will bring a tear to your eye. Some are actually kind of comical. One of the funnier ones that we were witness to happened just yesterday in the parking lot of our local Walmart. We were waiting behind a car to turn down an aisle to find a parking space. The car was sitting still for what seemed an extra long amount of time waiting to make its left turn. As there were no cars coming the opposite direction, Mountain Man and I began looking around to see what the holdup could be. There, standing at the end of the row of cars, was an elderly gentleman with a cane. You could tell by the way that he was standing that to walk was a chore for him. We realized that the lady in the car ahead of us was waiting and waving him across the crosswalk in front of her. After two waves and no movement on his part, she rolled down her window and kindly told the gentleman that she was waving him across and he was free to go. He then told her, I understand that, but I'm not crossing, just waiting here for someone! It brought to mind the old show Laugh In where the boy scout would pick up Ruth Buzzy, who was dressed as an old lady, and carry her across the street when she didn't want to go and she would end up beating him with her purse. This instance wasn't as animated or as violent for that matter, but still made us giggle. We have witnessed and been a part of so many acts of kindness here that there are just too many to mention.
On Friday of this week, Mountain Man was invited by one of our new friends to go with him to check out the hunting grounds in our area. Always up for a hunting adventure, Mountain Man gladly took him up on his offer. After a good four or five hours, they returned to our house to fill me in on their adventures. Expecting only to hear about the trails they found and the animals that they saw, I was only slightly excited to hear the tales they had to tell. Well, I couldn't have been more wrong. The tale that they had to tell was about one of the most emotional acts of kindness that I have ever heard. You see, our new friend is of Cherokee decent. He was raised not to be proud of his heritage, but to not acknowledge that part of who he is. Therefore his children were also not raised to be a proud descendant of the native people. A few years ago, after learning much about his descendants and his heritage, he decided that he would like to have a statue erected in Meeks Park, our local community park, to honor the tribes of our area. He started a small fundraising campaign to obtain the $32,000 that it will cost for the statue to be commissioned. It will be sculpted by Daniel Horse Chief, who is of Cherokee, Pawnee decent and is from Oklahoma. This started out for our friend to be a tribute to his people who were not only stripped of their land, but also of their lives, to acknowledge that this is their home. This plan seemed to take on a life of its own. It has now gone way past the statue. Our friend is now waiting to be able to meet with the congressmen from here in Georgia to get approval from the federal government to officially welcome the tribes back to their original homes here in the four county area of the North Georgia Mountains. This might not sound like a big deal, but it would be the first time in our country's history that the native people have been officially welcomed back to the land that was stolen from them so long ago. In case you are wondering, this has nothing to do with the so called "Indian Casinos". This would be a much more personal welcome. No one thinks that there will be a mass exodus of the tribes that were displaced to Oklahoma back here to Georgia. After all, the people have lives and careers and homes where they reside now. What it will do is to open our communities and towns to anyone who would be interested in relocating, opening businesses and making a life in their true native land. There would be help set up to assist these people in reestablishing a life here in their mountains.
Mountain Man and I have always felt a strong connection to the native tribes. I'm not sure if it is just from our history lessons or if we were part of these tribes in another lifetime. Either way, I feel that this act is long overdue. Mountain Man and I feel blessed to have a friend that has sacrificed so much of his heart, time and not to mention personal funds, to extend this kindness to the most deserving of people.
If you are interested in learning more about this endeavor, please check out the webpage at We Are Still Here. It is a little outdated since it has taken longer to raise the funds and obtain the meetings that need to take place to make to make this happen. And until next week, let's all go out and commit some acts of kindness!
Mountain Man and I have always felt a strong connection to the native tribes. I'm not sure if it is just from our history lessons or if we were part of these tribes in another lifetime. Either way, I feel that this act is long overdue. Mountain Man and I feel blessed to have a friend that has sacrificed so much of his heart, time and not to mention personal funds, to extend this kindness to the most deserving of people.
If you are interested in learning more about this endeavor, please check out the webpage at We Are Still Here. It is a little outdated since it has taken longer to raise the funds and obtain the meetings that need to take place to make to make this happen. And until next week, let's all go out and commit some acts of kindness!
Monday, October 17, 2016
Sunday Morning In the Mountains
We have yet another beautiful Sunday morning here on our mountain. Sunny, cool breeze blowing, birds singing back and forth with one another, the mountainside is a little more kissed with the colors of autumn. Even though we are in a drought and desperately need rain, I still appreciate these beautiful mornings. This is my religion. This is my peace.
The eldest of our three mountain chillin' and her hubs came and stayed with us for a few days. We not only celebrated her birthday with a beautiful trail ride through the mountains, we put them to work. Mountain Man and I are blessed to have a wonderful family that is always willing to help each other with whatever needs to be done. Whether it is as simple as raking leaves to as complex as remodeling a house. It is awesome because there is no one keeping track of who helps the most or the least, it's just let's do this and get it done! This weekend, it was a major kitchen organization and painting a cathedral ceilinged living room. Thank goodness for tall kids and hubs! We were able to get a great deal done in a short amount of time which still left enough time for play. They also brought our grand puppy with them. It was so nice to have a dog's energy in our house again. This is something that I've missed since our Bailey found her time had come to go and live in another dimension. Her spirit is always with us, but it is also nice to be able to physically snuggle with a puppy.
Today we will slow our pace back down to mountain time. It's funny how quickly you acclimate to the slower pace of life here. It now feels more natural to me to take my time and relax as I do things instead of rushing. I feel that my body and mind are more in sync with my creator and the earth this way. I may not get as much done as quickly, but I feel that I do it better and more thoughtfully.
The only thing that is a must on our to do list today is to repair the sliding screen door that goes out onto the deck yet again. You see, it is a bad habit that Mountain Man and our oldest chile have acquired. They either ignore or forget about the doors. The oldest chile has actually given herself a pretty severe case of whiplash by walking into a patio door. More than once! Mountain man has also perfected this bad habit. Once while in Florida, I witnessed him walking into a glass patio door with such speed that I could actually see the glass bow. All I can say is thank goodness for hurricane and Mountain Man proof glass. Today's event was much more minor. After going inside from the deck, he closed the screen door behind him. A few minutes later, as I was sitting on the swing, I heard a crash and looked over in time to see the screen door come flying off the frame and into the deck rail and Mountain Man hot on its tail with a look of great shock on his face. I am grateful that the deck rail is a strong one, or he would have been testing his flying skills. There were no injuries incurred in this latest event, so feel free to laugh now! I have decided that I will not only buy an extra repair kit for the screen door, but I will be buying a few screen hangers to put on the screen in hopes of catching people's attention and warning them that the door is indeed closed!
This week, we will be working on the guest bedroom and bath. Check back next week to see what fun that brings!
The eldest of our three mountain chillin' and her hubs came and stayed with us for a few days. We not only celebrated her birthday with a beautiful trail ride through the mountains, we put them to work. Mountain Man and I are blessed to have a wonderful family that is always willing to help each other with whatever needs to be done. Whether it is as simple as raking leaves to as complex as remodeling a house. It is awesome because there is no one keeping track of who helps the most or the least, it's just let's do this and get it done! This weekend, it was a major kitchen organization and painting a cathedral ceilinged living room. Thank goodness for tall kids and hubs! We were able to get a great deal done in a short amount of time which still left enough time for play. They also brought our grand puppy with them. It was so nice to have a dog's energy in our house again. This is something that I've missed since our Bailey found her time had come to go and live in another dimension. Her spirit is always with us, but it is also nice to be able to physically snuggle with a puppy.
Today we will slow our pace back down to mountain time. It's funny how quickly you acclimate to the slower pace of life here. It now feels more natural to me to take my time and relax as I do things instead of rushing. I feel that my body and mind are more in sync with my creator and the earth this way. I may not get as much done as quickly, but I feel that I do it better and more thoughtfully.
The only thing that is a must on our to do list today is to repair the sliding screen door that goes out onto the deck yet again. You see, it is a bad habit that Mountain Man and our oldest chile have acquired. They either ignore or forget about the doors. The oldest chile has actually given herself a pretty severe case of whiplash by walking into a patio door. More than once! Mountain man has also perfected this bad habit. Once while in Florida, I witnessed him walking into a glass patio door with such speed that I could actually see the glass bow. All I can say is thank goodness for hurricane and Mountain Man proof glass. Today's event was much more minor. After going inside from the deck, he closed the screen door behind him. A few minutes later, as I was sitting on the swing, I heard a crash and looked over in time to see the screen door come flying off the frame and into the deck rail and Mountain Man hot on its tail with a look of great shock on his face. I am grateful that the deck rail is a strong one, or he would have been testing his flying skills. There were no injuries incurred in this latest event, so feel free to laugh now! I have decided that I will not only buy an extra repair kit for the screen door, but I will be buying a few screen hangers to put on the screen in hopes of catching people's attention and warning them that the door is indeed closed!
This week, we will be working on the guest bedroom and bath. Check back next week to see what fun that brings!
Tuesday, October 11, 2016
Gushing Water and Falling Leaves
Reading the title of this chapter of my blog probably brings to mind a beautiful autumn scene of a roaring waterfall amid colorful leaves gently falling from the forest of trees. You may even be able to imagine the cool mist of the falls along with the gentle breeze carrying the leaves. Yeah, well, you wouldn't be further from right! One day last week, after a full day of working to paint and update the master bathroom, I was getting cleaned up in the guest bathroom to make yet another trip to our local Home Depot. We are on a first name basis with most of the cashiers there now. As I said, I was getting cleaned up and Mountain Man was out on the deck working on one of his many projects. I finished in the shower, stepped out and turned off the water. I no sooner had the cold water shut off, turned to grab my towel and heard a whoosh and a thunk. I turned back around to see a torrent of water coming out of the wall so hard it was hitting the back wall of the shower. It was coming out where the cold water faucet used to be. I was grabbing at the shower curtain to try and contain as much of the water as possible in the tub while yelling for Mountain Man to shut off the main water valve. Being on the deck, he couldn't hear the water, only my desperate calls for help. MM came running in toward the bathroom, thinking that I had fallen in the shower. Once he saw what, looking back at it now, was quite a sight, me in all my glory battling an uncontrollable gush of water, he knew he was headed in the wrong direction and made a B line for the basement. Thank goodness, just the day before we had looked to see where the shut off valve for the entire house was, so he knew right where to go. I don't know if I ever told you this, but, Mountain Man's nickname is Mr. FixIt, so in a matter of minutes he had figured out that the entire cold water stem had unscrewed itself, or had never been properly screwed in. Either way, he had everything fixed quickly and was helping me sop up all of the water that managed to escape the shower.
A few days later, we had purchased a new toilet for the master bath and were installing it. I don't know how toilet savvy you are, but we had no idea that the new toilets come with a pump system instead of the old flapper system. They say that it gives you a much more powerful flush with much less water. I don't know about that, but I do know that it was more like working on a spaceship than a simple toilet! After much analyzing, reading, and rereading the directions, the unit was finally installed. We were ready for the "maiden flush"! Never having seen a "pump" toilet work, we decided to leave the lid off so we could watch the "super pump action" that this unit was advertised to have. That was our first mistake. Our second mistake was taking too literally the instructions saying not to over tighten the tank to the seat because it would cause cracking and breaking of either or both parts. So, with the excitement and anticipation of a child on Christmas morning, we flushed! No where in the installation instructions did it say that if the toilet is flushed without the lid on that the water will spray straight upward like a geyser. And you can imagine where the rest of the water went since the bolts for the tank were obviously not tightened enough! This time, I was the runner to get every available towel while Mountain Man shut off the water to the toilet and tried to contain the water that was quickly making its way toward our bedroom. After rereading the directions AGAIN and resecuring the bolts, all the while holding our breath that we wouldn't hear any cracking noises, we were ready for the longed perfect flush. As we are fast learners, we put the top on the tank this time and proceeded to flush. And the perfect flush it was. Not an errant drop of water anywhere. We were back in business!
After all of that excitement, I was ready for a break. On the back of our house we have a 40 foot long, 20 foot high deck that overlooks the mountain that we live on. With being up so high, I am able to sit and watch at eye level the leaves flutter on the trees and every once in a while, I am able to see one as it comes loose of the tree and floats to the ground. You always hear people talking about mindfulness. This is a perfect example of being mindful. Having
your mind relaxed and empty enough that you can totally, without even trying, focus on that one beautiful leaf's journey from limb to ground. Noticing nothing else around you. This is why I am here. This is why I love this place. To be able to take the time, calm my crazy mind and focus on the incredible perfection that is nature. To see all of the gifts that my creator has given to me so abundantly and that I rushed through life and totally missed out on until now. As my journey continues, I am anticipating many new and amazing experiences, even some wet and maybe less that perfect experiences and I am so honored to be able to share them with you. Thank you!
A few days later, we had purchased a new toilet for the master bath and were installing it. I don't know how toilet savvy you are, but we had no idea that the new toilets come with a pump system instead of the old flapper system. They say that it gives you a much more powerful flush with much less water. I don't know about that, but I do know that it was more like working on a spaceship than a simple toilet! After much analyzing, reading, and rereading the directions, the unit was finally installed. We were ready for the "maiden flush"! Never having seen a "pump" toilet work, we decided to leave the lid off so we could watch the "super pump action" that this unit was advertised to have. That was our first mistake. Our second mistake was taking too literally the instructions saying not to over tighten the tank to the seat because it would cause cracking and breaking of either or both parts. So, with the excitement and anticipation of a child on Christmas morning, we flushed! No where in the installation instructions did it say that if the toilet is flushed without the lid on that the water will spray straight upward like a geyser. And you can imagine where the rest of the water went since the bolts for the tank were obviously not tightened enough! This time, I was the runner to get every available towel while Mountain Man shut off the water to the toilet and tried to contain the water that was quickly making its way toward our bedroom. After rereading the directions AGAIN and resecuring the bolts, all the while holding our breath that we wouldn't hear any cracking noises, we were ready for the longed perfect flush. As we are fast learners, we put the top on the tank this time and proceeded to flush. And the perfect flush it was. Not an errant drop of water anywhere. We were back in business!
After all of that excitement, I was ready for a break. On the back of our house we have a 40 foot long, 20 foot high deck that overlooks the mountain that we live on. With being up so high, I am able to sit and watch at eye level the leaves flutter on the trees and every once in a while, I am able to see one as it comes loose of the tree and floats to the ground. You always hear people talking about mindfulness. This is a perfect example of being mindful. Having
your mind relaxed and empty enough that you can totally, without even trying, focus on that one beautiful leaf's journey from limb to ground. Noticing nothing else around you. This is why I am here. This is why I love this place. To be able to take the time, calm my crazy mind and focus on the incredible perfection that is nature. To see all of the gifts that my creator has given to me so abundantly and that I rushed through life and totally missed out on until now. As my journey continues, I am anticipating many new and amazing experiences, even some wet and maybe less that perfect experiences and I am so honored to be able to share them with you. Thank you!
Monday, October 3, 2016
I've Got The Music In Me...Again!
Anyone who has known me for very long knows of my love for music. It started at a very young age. Some of my earliest memories of music in my life are my mom playing the huge wooden console radio that sat in the corner of our dining room. WAKR was the station and that was back in the day when they played all the top hits. As she would lay out sheets on the dining room table and sprinkle them, one of her favorite songs would come on the radio. As she would be ironing sheets, I would be playing on the floor near her and we would sing "Red Roses for A Blue Lady" by Dean Martin. To this day, I can't hear that song without that vision coming to my mind.
On my brother's thirteenth birthday, I was three and I remember him getting his first record player. It was a portable in a red and white leather case that you had to take the top off of to play records. I think that I loved that gift even more than he did. A few of his first records were some of my favorite. One in particular, Lemon Tree by Peter, Paul and Mary was my absolute favorite. Looking back, I feel bad for my poor brother, every time the record player came out, I would beg him to play that record for me. He finally got so sick of it that he either threw out the record or gave it to a friend. I was never sure which, but I missed that song. From there, I learned the words to most of Frankie Valley and the Four Seasons songs. I still love their music.
For my first five years of school, I went to St. Paul's Catholic School. They never had much in the way of music class. In my fifth grade year, after having five long years of not fitting into the catholic school dogma, my parents finally put me in public school. Much to my delight, they had choir! A class where I could actually get to listen to music and sing for the whole hour! That quickly became my favorite class. From that point on, all I wanted to do was to be able to sing and play instruments. Unfortunately for me, I had relatively little talent in either area, but that never stopped my love and desire for music in my life.
I was never able to take piano or dance like most of my friends did, but that never stopped me! I would tag along with them to their lessons trying to pick up pointers as I sat quietly and watched. When my friends would get new dance costumes, I would gladly take their old ones and I would have them teach me the steps to the dances that they used them for. This led to my love of feeling the music move through my body and moving me to dance. This was one of my requirements when Mountain Man proposed to me. Will you always dance with me? The answer was obviously yes. We've been dancing now for 26 years.
All through the rest of my schooling, I always participated in choir and Singers. I've never figured out if the instructors had pity on me since I had such a sincere love of music or whether they were that desperate for bodies and voices. Either way, I loved every minute of it. I even got to sing a few solos throughout my high school years.
In my early adult life, my love of music stayed strong. I was now able to buy all of the albums then eight tracks and then onto cassettes and CDs that I wanted. My choice of music was widely varied. Once my Mountain Chillin' came along, I made sure that they had a variety of music in their lives also, starting with classical when they were newborns.
As life progresses, as it does sometimes, some of your favorite things fall by the wayside. Life gets too busy to make time for yourself and the things that you love most. This is what happened with me and music. For the last 10-15 years, sadly, music was not high on my priority list. I felt as if I had lost a close friend. A part of me was missing.
As Mountain Man and I are settling into our new house and our new community a little more, we are finding something that I had known in the past but I had not really thought about. The people of the south have music in their souls. They have a great amount of talent, a love and appreciation for it, and a desire to share it. Since we have been in the mountains, my old friend, music, is coming back to live on in my soul again. Every Friday and Saturday evenings, there is a free concert somewhere to enjoy. Fridays are usually at the old court house with a wide variety of music from blue grass to jazz. Saturdays are where everyone of the local bands is playing. The rest of the evenings are a step back to my childhood. We sit on the porch swing and listen to the radio. I still have all of my music collection. The only things that I have gotten rid of were the eight tracks. I was sad about that, but I had nothing left to play them on. I have replaced most of them with either cassettes or CDs.
I am so happy to have my old friend back again. My music fills me up. It moves my soul and more times than not, my feet. Welcome home, my dear friend, welcome home!
On my brother's thirteenth birthday, I was three and I remember him getting his first record player. It was a portable in a red and white leather case that you had to take the top off of to play records. I think that I loved that gift even more than he did. A few of his first records were some of my favorite. One in particular, Lemon Tree by Peter, Paul and Mary was my absolute favorite. Looking back, I feel bad for my poor brother, every time the record player came out, I would beg him to play that record for me. He finally got so sick of it that he either threw out the record or gave it to a friend. I was never sure which, but I missed that song. From there, I learned the words to most of Frankie Valley and the Four Seasons songs. I still love their music.
For my first five years of school, I went to St. Paul's Catholic School. They never had much in the way of music class. In my fifth grade year, after having five long years of not fitting into the catholic school dogma, my parents finally put me in public school. Much to my delight, they had choir! A class where I could actually get to listen to music and sing for the whole hour! That quickly became my favorite class. From that point on, all I wanted to do was to be able to sing and play instruments. Unfortunately for me, I had relatively little talent in either area, but that never stopped my love and desire for music in my life.
I was never able to take piano or dance like most of my friends did, but that never stopped me! I would tag along with them to their lessons trying to pick up pointers as I sat quietly and watched. When my friends would get new dance costumes, I would gladly take their old ones and I would have them teach me the steps to the dances that they used them for. This led to my love of feeling the music move through my body and moving me to dance. This was one of my requirements when Mountain Man proposed to me. Will you always dance with me? The answer was obviously yes. We've been dancing now for 26 years.
All through the rest of my schooling, I always participated in choir and Singers. I've never figured out if the instructors had pity on me since I had such a sincere love of music or whether they were that desperate for bodies and voices. Either way, I loved every minute of it. I even got to sing a few solos throughout my high school years.
In my early adult life, my love of music stayed strong. I was now able to buy all of the albums then eight tracks and then onto cassettes and CDs that I wanted. My choice of music was widely varied. Once my Mountain Chillin' came along, I made sure that they had a variety of music in their lives also, starting with classical when they were newborns.
As life progresses, as it does sometimes, some of your favorite things fall by the wayside. Life gets too busy to make time for yourself and the things that you love most. This is what happened with me and music. For the last 10-15 years, sadly, music was not high on my priority list. I felt as if I had lost a close friend. A part of me was missing.
As Mountain Man and I are settling into our new house and our new community a little more, we are finding something that I had known in the past but I had not really thought about. The people of the south have music in their souls. They have a great amount of talent, a love and appreciation for it, and a desire to share it. Since we have been in the mountains, my old friend, music, is coming back to live on in my soul again. Every Friday and Saturday evenings, there is a free concert somewhere to enjoy. Fridays are usually at the old court house with a wide variety of music from blue grass to jazz. Saturdays are where everyone of the local bands is playing. The rest of the evenings are a step back to my childhood. We sit on the porch swing and listen to the radio. I still have all of my music collection. The only things that I have gotten rid of were the eight tracks. I was sad about that, but I had nothing left to play them on. I have replaced most of them with either cassettes or CDs.
I am so happy to have my old friend back again. My music fills me up. It moves my soul and more times than not, my feet. Welcome home, my dear friend, welcome home!
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