It's a Hell of a Thing! (or Riding Out the Storm and it's Aftermath!)

Most of you reading this know that Maureen and I spent 35 years in Southern California. During that period we lived through many significant seismic events; Northridge, Loma Prieta, Big Bear, to name a few that registered 6.0 or higher and caused significant damage in their respective areas. And most of you know that my career was in “Building & Safety.” I began my career as an entry level field inspector and retired as the Building Official/Deputy Director of Community Development. So I was trained in all levels of Emergency Management Services (EMS), from early disaster response and field safety evaluations of structures to resource management, services, and support at the Citywide level. In all those years and all of those earthquakes, wildfires, floods, Santa Ana winds, and La Nina rains and flash floods, Maureen and I were always prepared to a certain level but in reality, barely inconvenienced.

In 2013 we were making college visits for Liam and we stayed in an Air B-N-B house on the other side of the French Broad river from where we now live, literally at the edge of a cattle farm out in the country. There was an insignificant thunder storm that knocked out the power to the house for a few hours. But when you're in the country on a well, that means no fresh water, which also means limited bathroom use (can't flush toilets), and if you have all electric appliances, no cooking. So when we finally moved, Maureen insisted that we have a generator. Me, having some knowledge about such things, hired the big electrical outfit out here in Western North Carolina (WNC) to install a new service panel with a transfer switch and a 30 Amp receptacle for the generator cord to feed the whole house. Not important but I also had them run a feed to my shop and install a sub-panel for all my woodworking needs. I mean, they were already here! Anyway, in the nine years since we moved I've had to power up once for two hours, and didn't really need to but it was a good test run for the house.

They say the best things to have in an emergency are knowledge and skills. Because of the potential snowfall in the winters, Maureen got an interest for a while in being prepared. We found a “Prepper” group not too far away and attended a few meetings. They were a little on the extreme, Armageddon being what it is, but all-in-all were a friendly group. I always joked, my efforts toward being prepared was to pack up my family, move out of earthquake country, cross over past tornado alley, and stop before I hit the hurricane coast. I called us the “Reverse Beverly Hillbillys!” But we stocked on some non-perishable foods and keep fifteen gallons of gas on hand for the generator for that winter that we've yet to see. And then there was Helene! Who knew?

Thursday, September 26th, late evening: The winds started blowing and it's raining pretty good. We're not concerned because every time we see a forecast Helene is going to turn west earlier and earlier, possible even skirting WNC altogether. We go to bed oblivious to what's to come.

Friday, September 27th, early morning: The power goes out about 4:30 AM. We get up at sunup Friday morning and it's still raining to beat the band. I get out and hook up the generator and we fire up the coffee pot. A bit later Friday morning as we're standing on our back deck, we watch eight (8) trees come down that we can see from our rear deck. One in the neighbor's yard, three on my property, and the rest just off the back property line. I was a bit concerned because there are three large trees, still standing thankfully, on my neighbor's slope just between our houses that were catching a lot of the storm winds which were blowing in my direction. I think his house shielded the trees enough that the trees, thankfully, did not succumb. My neighbor and I are going to have a discussion about me having those removed in the near future. Fortunately, none of the houses in my neighborhood were hit by a tree. We have not seen an updated storm path map as of this writing, but I'm convinced the projections were wrong and Helene did not turn and we got the full force of the tropical storm and the flooding and damage up here on the mountain reflects that. If we only caught the edge of the storm I'd hate to think how much worse it might have been in the center.

Friday, September 27th, mid afternoon: Liam finally makes it home from work. Liam goes in around 3:00 AM to work everyday which was before the worst of the storm came through. The UPS Center lost power along with everyone else. When they were finally sent home, Liam, being Liam, without a sufficient amount of fuel to mess around much, offered to take a buddy/co-worker home who would have otherwise been stranded. Liam ended up trapped by a downed power line in an unfamiliar area and ultimately had to abandon his truck and run back to the UPS facility, about three miles. There was no way to communicate his predicament to me as cell service was already down. Luckily, a supervisor at UPS was able to bring him to the house.

(At this time, this next part is second and third hand information, not confirmed by me. We're still not really able to get much current news, even now.)

I have been told that the previous record for the flooding of the French Broad river was around 20 feet+ above “flood stage”. I was also told that sometime between Friday and Saturday, the French Broad crested around 30 feet+ over flood stage. I've heard the entire town of Marshall, 10 miles north of us and down on the river, was completely washed away. I cannot begin to describe the devastation of Bernardsville, within 15 miles northeast of us. They must have been directly in the path of the worst of the storm. I'm also hearing Hot Springs and Spuce Pine are also devastated, possibly even gone.

Sunday, September 29th: There is no way to get on or off the mountain. There is some level of damage on every major artery on all points of the compass. There is no consistent power to the cell towers. We get the occasional burst signal where we receive incoming texts and send out any queued up in our phones. Our entire neighborhood is doing better than probably 90% of WNC. We have banded together and have been so fortunate.

So, how are Maureen, Liam, and I, and what are we up to? I had emptied the generator gas tank and run off the excess of gas not two weeks ago because the gas, I believed, was getting old. Not thinking we were going to get hit this hard, I had not topped off my fuel supplies but I still had roughly 12+ gallons of gas on hand in my three 5 gallon cans. Also, my truck and Maureen's car were at about a half a tank each. Here's an argument for acting first and thinking about it later.

Saturday, September 28th, late morning: Liam and I jumped into my truck to head to Erwin Tennessee to scavenge some gas. We're not getting any news so we didn't know we would not get through. We stop at the Mars Hill exit, about 10 miles down the road, because there is a Shell station close to the exit. We see cars lined up at the pumps, and as we get closer we hear a generator. Our hopes are dashed when we find that the generator is for their food coolers and they are not pumping gas. However, it was a fortunate detour because I spoke to a couple that had come from Cherokee the night before and the Cherokee area had power. Liam and I turned around and headed for his old stomping grounds in Sylva, near his college, which is very near the Cherokee Indian Reservation. Eureka! Because there is no communications to speak of, word was not out. We were able to fill my truck and 5 5-gallon cans of gas, $97+ dollars worth, for a neighbor who has a generator and myself. We also raided the local Walmart for canned goods, batteries and other essentials. Liam noticed a bunch of his peers talking on their cell phones. The Sylva Walmart had a hot spot in the back corner of the store so we got our cell phones, caught up on texts and called immediate family.

Saturday, September 28th, early evening: I heard through the grapevine that the radio emergency news channel announced Saturday late afternoon, that Jackson County (Sylva) had power. Liam was encouraging me to head back to Sylva that afternoon. It was a good idea and maybe we should have gone but I was done for the day.

Sunday, September 28th, early morning: I headed back to Sylva with borrowed empty gas cans and Maureen's car. We were able to beat the crowds that were sure to follow. The convenience store gas station I visited the previous day was tapped out so I began to get a little concerned. But there was a Sheetz a half mile away that still had gas. We pulled right up to a pump, no wait. I figure they had started rationing like the gas stations closer to Waynesville. I asked the attendant; how much gas can I buy? He shrugged and asked me; “how much do you want?” I was able to fill up Maureen's car and purchase another 25 gallons of gas, $112.50 worth, for the neighborhood generators, so we were golden. Maureen and Carol-Anne came along to use the Walmart hot spot, and we all did the text and call family and friends routine. I also stocked up on toilet paper and paper towels to share with the neighbors. We tried to buy beer and wine, but it was Sunday before noon smack dab in the middle of the “Bible Belt”, so we were denied. Didn't they know there was a crisis? I'm not sure of the logic. Are they afraid if they sell alcohol too early people will go to church drunk? If you want to drink before church wouldn't you just buy it Saturday night? The ride home for us was uneventful but the news about power in Jackson County was out. The other side of the freeway heading to Jackson County was a parking lot. We're being told that power should be back on by Friday (we've our fingers crossed). I'm running my generator three times a day, roughly two hours each time, using about 2 ½ to 3 gallons of gas a day. So we can get to Friday easily.

Monday, September 30th, late evening: Liam is going to work in the early morning and we're using the camp stove to cook some hot soup for his thermos when all of a sudden a brief flame flares out from the openings. Apparently the seals on my 35 year old camp stove have deteriorated and propane is leaking into the interior of the stove housing. We have a backup burner on the grill, but whew, that was scary for a minute!

Tuesday, October 1st, 6:35 AM: We have power! When I shut off the generator last night, I meant to throw the transfer switch on turn on the main breaker just in case the power came on. Of course I forgot. When I woke up this morning and went to get my generator out I noticed lights on in an upstairs room of my neighbor's house. And sure enough, our street has power.

Immediate Aftermath: As I'm writing this section we are still in an information void. There is an emergency AM radio station doing a bunch of human interest stories and the occasional update, but we have no real news. The only pictures we've seen of the flooding and devastation are the ones I took driving to Sylva to show Maureen. If you stand on my front porch it looks as if we just had a windy storm and I need to get out and blow leaves. If you drive out of our street you see the downed trees and power lines, and the single lane paths cut through the tree trunks and branches fallen across the roads, cleared mostly by our neighbors because we're not really a high priority for emergency workers. However, we can get in and out for gas and food. Make no mistake, the damage, devastation, and human toll is every bit as tragic as you are seeing on TV. However, I want to reassure all of our friends that we were completely fine and would have still been had this lasted twice as long, or longer for us personally. Between our generator, camp stove and grill, we had water for cooking, drinking, and personal hygiene, and had at least one hot meal each day. We had more food than we could eat. Carol-Anne and Maurice emptied their refrigerators and freezers and brought it to our house, and we're sharing with our neighbors so defrosted foods would not spoil. Our house was the water station for our immediate neighbors and their friends and family. Maureen and I were able to keep one of our neighbors fed and healthy and give a friend who's husband was out of town a place to stay and not be isolated. Liam, with his big heart, insisted we reach out and check on one friend who had not shown for work and the parents of his roommates to make sure they were doing OK and getting by. We were able to provide them drinking water and water for personal hygiene.

After Action Report: What did we do right?

1. Bought a house with a well and septic. Even homes that had some access to electricity, that were on City water, did not automatically have access to clean water. Many of the water treatment plants near the river were overwhelmed and contaminated by the flooding. If the water was being distributed it still needed to be boiled and sometimes there was no power to pump water into the water towers so the water towers ran dry quickly.

2. Installed a 30 Amp receptacle and transfer switch for the generator. Nine years ago (can you believe it's been 9 years) when Maureen insisted we have a backup generator, I hired the big electrical contractor to change out my service panel and provide me with a safe connection to my generator that powered my whole house, including the water/well pump. Many of my neighbors that were able to acquire a generators after the storm could only run extension cords to refrigerators and lights but could not power their house and wells. So they still had no fresh water. Some found ways to back-feed through existing receptacles but that can be less than safe if you're not careful.

3. Purchased a Honda Black Max generator. This was just dumb luck, it's what Sam's Club had in stock nine years ago. I've had that generator in my garage since. I run it quarterly to makes sure it will be there when I need it but it has otherwise remained untested. OMG! That thing was a beast! The only time I had to pull the starter cord more than once was when I forgot to toggle the on switch. It also was efficient in my opinion. I have nothing really to compare it to but we ran it roughly 6 hours total each day and used less than 3 gallons of gas per day. Consider this a 5 Star endorsement.

4. Had gas cans with gas on the property. I could have done better but we didn't lose any food even from day one. That's all I'll say about that.

5. Had three months of emergency, non-perishable food on hand. We did not have to tap into that ultimately but it's piece of mind.

6. Reacted quickly when opportunities arose. Being “Johnny on the spot” made up for what I lacked in preparation. It's always better to be doing something than waiting for something to be done.

7. Started talking to my neighbors early about security. The rule of 3s. You can survive:

a) 3 weeks without food;

b) 3 days without water;

c) 3 hours without shelter;

d) 3 minutes without air; and,

e) 3 seconds without security.

In a disaster, everyone is focused on food, water, and fuel. However lack of security can be the thing that you have the least amount of time to react to/recover from. It did not become an issue for us and there was minimal looting of residential neighborhoods reported, but we suspect a couple of the unfamiliar vehicles that drove to our cul de sac and back out may have been scoping to steal a generator or looking for empty houses. We made it obvious that our group was looking out for each other.

After Action Report: Things I can do better?

1. Take potential weather event notices more seriously. Watching the weather reports it looked as if Helene was migrating west before Asheville so we were complacent and caught by surprise. I guess Helene didn't get the memo. It's better to be prepared unnecessarily than be caught unprepared.

2. Make sure all of the vehicles gas tanks and gas cans are full if a weather event is suspected (See no. 1 above).

3. First opportunity I get, I'm buying at least 5 more gas cans. They can sit empty until the next storm warning. If I fill them and the storm passes as a non-event I can always use the gas in our vehicles. But I won't have to beg and borrow gas cans to have extra fuel on hand.

4. Two is one, one is none! That's an old prepper adage that we learned the true meaning of when my 35 year old camp stove blew a seal and we had to stop using it. I don't know that I need two of everything but I'll probably look around and at least get backups for the oldest and most essential equipment.

5. Look into satellite internet. As I'm writing this we still don't have any reliable communications. Cell service is down. The few texts I've been able to send and received have been burst connections and are completely unreliable. All of our information is from the grapevine, word of mouth, second and third hand. We have been chasing rumors of hotspots around town trying to let family know we've been OK.

6. Have an emergency meet up or pickup plan in place. During that brief period when we didn't know where Liam was we didn't dare leave the house in case he might find a way home, which he eventually did. I have a nice 4x4 and could likely find a way to get out to get him if I only knew where to go.

I'm wrapping this up incomplete without the ability to fact check without internet. Maureen and I are out today to find a hotspot (found one) and I'm sending this as is for all of you to see how we are. I'll edit again when we have service. Please rest assured, Maureen, Liam and I are GOLDEN for now!

Our Whirl Wind Tour of Spain & France

First, this post is much later than I would have liked. A couple days after we returned from Europe, I acquired what I thought was a head cold, which turned out to be a sinus and ear infection, and have been off my A-Game for more than a week. Thanks to the discovery of penicillin, I'm back amongst the living and trying to get back into the swing of things.

I have a very good friend who, despite the fact that I'm on my fourth (soon to be fifth) US passport with several Visas and multiple entry stamps, and my second (soon to be third) Irish (EU) passport, gives me zero credit for ever having crossed my threshold on the way to exiting the United States with the intent of entering a foreign country. Well, Maureen and I just returned from a 20 day whirlwind tour of Spain and France. Actually, it wasn't all of Spain and France, details to follow. And at the risk of being accused of "Photoshopping" myself into a European vacation, and there is that possibility I might be accused of such a transgression based on past experience, I've included some pictures. You can also view Maureen's Facebook page (linked here) for a more complete photo history of our trip.

Now, on with the trip. We flew into Madrid with our good friend Scott flying the first officer seat, and were able to meet him and his flight crew for dinner that evening. Funny, until the day before the flight, neither of us knew the other was on the same flight. Maureen and I stayed the night at a great hotel. I was not confident that Maureen had not booked us into an albergue or hostel for which she has grown very fond. Thankfully, the hotel was quite nice. We arrived in Madrid early enough for our Pueblo Ingles orientation (more on that later) and entertained ourselves with a Free Walking Tour of Madrid. The free walking tours are always fascinating. Basically the tour guides work for tips. The first free walking tour we ever did was in Edinburgh, Scotland a few years back (pre-covid). I don't know if anything the Edinburgh guide told us was true but he was hilarious! Maureen and I have tried to make time for the walking tour in each city we've visited since. The tour in Madrid was great, and we had walked a bit of the city prior to the tour. Our next stop, La Alberca, Spain.


Our real adventure started the following day when we loaded onto a bus for La Alberca, Spain and the wonderful Hotel Abadia De Los Templarios Resort. On the bus were most of the native English speaking volunteers and Spanish speaking English students. Oh, did I mention, Maureen and I volunteered to help Europeans trying to learn or improve their English though an immersion program run by Pueblo Ingles. We paid for our own travel and incidentals but were provided a room and meals for our time and efforts.

So, each of us volunteers paired up with a student for the ride and off we went. We spent the 4 hour drive getting to know some of the students who were mostly young adults, professionals, sent by their companies to improve their English. When we arrived at the resort, Maureen and I were put up in a nice two bedroom villa, one student upstairs and us downstairs. It was much nicer than a hostel, however we did have two single beds in the room and Maureen had me washing my "unmentionables" in the sink for a week. That was just another day traveling for the veteran Camino pilgrim, Maureen. I personally wasn't crazy about that arrangement but I survived. The Pueblo Ingles immersion program is very intense, 11 hour days (9:00 AM to 10:00 PM, minus 2 hours mid-day for a siesta). 9:00 AM breakfast, 2:00 PM midday meal, and 9:00 PM dinner, and all meals were mandatory (as part of the socialization). So, we earned our keep.

Maureen and I like to travel for very different reasons. I describe her travels (inaccurately I'm sure) as a quest to discover all of the ABCs. Another Beautiful Cathedral or Another Beautiful Castle. I much prefer to travel to visit family and/or friends. And as it happens, we have family and friends all over the world; Brazil, Argentina, Ireland, France, Thailand, Taiwan, and Canada, just to name the countries off the top of my head. Maureen and I have had a number of exchange students from around the world over the years that still think of us as "mom and dad." And I have an exchange student "sister" from Brazil, currently living in France, and her daughter, our "niece" still living in Brazil. That sort of family! This part of our trip with Pueblo Ingles worked for both of us.


Our group was very small, six students and 8 volunteers. I understand that 20 to 50 students and an equal number of volunteers is more typical, but we were at the resort in the off season, early February. The program is very structured. There are one-to-one student/volunteer sessions. Group discussions with 4-6 group members, half volunteers, half students. Mock phone and conference calls and individual presentations by both the students and volunteers. And last, but not least, theater (small skits prompted by Lord Samuel, our program director). Because the group was so small, and because the volunteers outnumbered the students, it was impossible not to learn a great deal about each other's families, dreams, likes and dislikes. So you can imagine, there was a bit of bonding going around. We arrived as strangers but left as friends and family. So now I have several more "Friends and Family" to travel to visit in the future, and I'm being encouraged to hit Duo Lingo and polish up my (actually learn more than 19 words of) Spanish so I can do just that.

Mock news cast made by my group! (Watch to the end for outtakes).

After our week with our new friends, we were back in Madrid for a day.

Maureen and I were up early that Saturday morning in Madrid, and after a relaxing two and a half hour train ride, we arrived in sunny Barcelona, the high speed train averaged 297kmh (roughly 185mph). Maureen and I jumped off and headed to our apartment, which was another good find by my personal travel ninja, Maureen (primarily because it had a clothes washer, but no dryer). The apartment was a little less than an hours walk from the train station, and so with everything on our backs, we hoofed it across town.

Did I mention we walked everywhere? If it was within reason and we had no connections or appointments to make, we walked. Just in the 4 days we spent in Barcelona (as I'm writing my notes for this blog), I've walked more than 77,000 steps, which roughly works out to 40 miles+, averaging about 10 miles per day. And that included about 1/4 of my Saturday spent on a train. Also, as a side note, Maureen bought backpacks for her and I (I got mine for Christmas) to use on this trip. The packs were small enough to take on planes as carry-ons, which turned out to be a great idea. However, because of their compact size, what we could carry for a three week trip was extremely limited. And that's all well and fine until you consider that we traveled in February, which means we had to be prepared for cold and rainy weather, which meant we needed some bulky winter items. I'm just grousing, we managed just fine, and it was good experience for planning our next trip.



During our week in Barcelona, Maureen and I took a free walking tour (of course) of the Gothic Quarter, which turns out NOT to be Gothic; and, took tours (not free) of Park Guell, Casa Batillo, and the Sagrada Familia, Antoni Gaudi Projects. The Sagrada Familia, which started construction in 1882, has yet to be completed. However, they do have an anticipated completion date of 2033. Everything Gaudi designed used constructs of nature and had loads of religious symbolism. So I believe that even if they could finish before 2033, they will not, because Jesus lived to be 33 years old, and that's just the sort of thing Gaudi would do!

Thursday, we were up early for our 5 hour bus ride to Carcassonne, France. The main attraction is the fortified castle that is the Medieval City of Carcassonne and a couple of medieval cathedrals (ABCs). There is also a medieval canal that is part of a network that traverses France from the Mediterranean Sea to the Atlantic Ocean. Our apartment in Carcassonne was the best yet, at least after we figured out how to get the hot water going. This apartment had a washer and dryer!

A little disappointing, but due to our off-season travel, there were no Unofficial Walking Tours offered in Carcassonne. Not to be denied, Maureen and I did avail ourselves of the paid self-guided tour of the castle and ramparts. We also stumbled upon Saint Michaels of Carcassonne, built in the 13th century. Maureen and I spent our couple of remaining days walking the city, medieval and new, and strolling along the canal. We managed to locate a favorite coffee shop that was always open when we needed an espresso and danish. Seems Maureen forgot from her extensive travels in Europe that absolutely nothing is open on a Sunday morning, except our coffee shop of course.



With our trip nearing it's end, all that was left was the travel home. Of course that didn't mean the adventure was over. On Monday, we got up, packed and had a leisurely coffee and breakfast and just had to kill some time until our 1:30 bus from Carcassonne to Barcelona. Just one problem. We had been traveling on a 24:00 hour clock since we arrived in Europe. It didn't occur to either of us that our tickets for 1:30 meant 01:30 AM. Which meant, Maureen and I were standing on the side of the road wondering why; 1. we were the only two there, and 2. why there was no bus? After a brief discussion with the bus driver headed in the opposite direction, we discovered our error. We did manage to secure new bus passes for that evening and still managed to get into Barcelona that day, but not without a little anxiety to liven things up! After all that our flight out of Barcelona was delayed 3 hours impacting our connecting flights all the way back to Asheville. We did a little finagling and managed to get home a couple hours earlier than we would have otherwise.

Soooo.... After a missed cross country bus out of Carcassonne, France, a three hour delay on our flight out of Barcelona, Spain to NY that ultimately resulted in us rerouting through Miami, a missed opportunity to stand-by for an earlier flight to Charlotte, but a successful stand-by in Charlotte that got us to Asheville after 22 hours of travel (instead of 24 hours), we arrived back to our home the same day (barely) we started our return trip.

Now Maureen and I are safely back home relaxing in our den with Buddy curled up between us. And of course, Maureen is in the planning stage for her next walking trip (Camino) trying to figure out how to convince me to meet her in Italy this fall (good luck with that!). I think I might just get back into my Duo Lingo app, brush up on my Spanish, and make a return visit to see my new friends in Spain. Maureen can meet me in Madrid.

Boy Was I Off By A Mile! (+ Title/Description Change And Catch Up)!

First the title and description change. Before my blog there were emails. And the purpose of the emails and this subsequent blog was to share with our friends en masse our family's transition and experiences in a new place, environment, and culture. Well, if we've not transitioned by now I doubt it would happen. As it turns out, we love it here. We love the seasons, the entertainment opportunities, the outdoor recreation, everything. The population of Corona is more than 50% larger than Asheville (159k vs 94k), yet Asheville has theater, music venues and great music in the pubs almost every night (almost a smaller Nashville), hundreds of hiking trails, many local and unique restaurants, and a real airport on a hill that doesn't flood. And while we truly miss our friends left behind, we have made new special friends in our new hometown. And so we are "Happily Imbedded In Western North Carolina" and you can expect future postings to be more like episodes of Seinfeld (a show about nothing)! Now for the title story:

Boy was I off by a mile!

This is me doing a little yard "clean-up". Our home sits on an acre and a third, about half of which I maintain with the remainder a natural wooded area. This picture is the potential firewood I've collected from just the area I maintain and the immediate perimeter. And this isn't all of it. I have an existing woodpile in the back that I started when we moved here for our outdoor fire ring. While working with my log splitter I discovered that termites had infested my existing stockpile. My Terminix guy suggested that I just get it off the ground. I have my little woodshop so, no problem. I measure my current woodpile, do a little mental calculations and off to Lowes. A load of pressure treated 2x(s) and a bit of "design build" later:

AND VOILA!!!

My woodpile was roughly 2 1/2'h x 8'w, so I made my firewood crib about 50% larger (4'h x 8'w). That should be plenty for what I had cut and collected this go around. Little did I know... My 32 square foot crib ended up being about half what I needed. I filled it up, base to brim, and still piles of all sizes laying in my yard and on my woodpile. We had a big "Snow Event" predicted for overnight so my quick and dirty solution to get the remaining wood off the ground:

After filling up my auxiliary wood crib I still had limbs and miscellaneous bits of wood on the ground. I'm fairly confident that what remains is destined to be dragged into the surrounding woods and left for the termites. Funny, I never had this much trouble cleaning up my yard in Corona.

And Now, A Little Catch Up!

My last post was October 7, 2020, my 60th birthday. Quite a bit has happened since then. Covid was well underway with the initial vaccines still months away. I shared everything I had done, built, arranged, for our family to entertain themselves for the months, which turned into a couple of years, of isolation ahead of us. Almost three years and four vaccinations later I finally caught up with "the Covid" (or rather it caught up with me). Liam brought it home from some of his friends and I stayed away from him (but wouldn't wear a mask in my own home) and caught it anyway. Maureen wore her mask in the house and slept in the guest room, and so she has yet to have the pleasure. Liam had a headache for the first two days and a fever the first day but that was the worst of it. I had a runny nose and that was about all.  Liam was OK in about a week and a half but I continued to test positive for about 3 1/3 weeks.  What a pain!  Next time someone in the house is sick I'll wear the mask.

My main Covid project during the winter of 2019/2020 was a trailered camp kitchen/chuckwagon that we eventually used with our new Smittybilt rooftop tent. If you're interested here is a link to my original trailer build share album. For my 61st birthday Maureen helped me check off a bucket list item by taking me to a Packers home game at Lambeau Field. We attended a tailgate party, the game, had a stadium tour, and Hall of Fame tour. Maureen and I camped our way up to Wisconsin, and then after our "Packers" experience headed up to Mackinac City and Island and camped our way back through Ohio and back to NC. Although Maureen had never camped before she took to it like a fish in the water. Maureen's only critique was that "it would be nicer if the tent were on the trailer" which would make it easier to use the truck after we'd set up camp. Which resulted in my 2021/2022 winter (more like a 2022 spring) project, Rooftop Tent Trailer 2.0:

This is the link for my Version 2.0 Trailer Share Album. Version 2.0 made a trip up through Ohio, down through Sioux City Iowa, back through Oklahoma to visit friends, through Nashville and home. Maureen and I also attended a three day Rooftop Tent Rally in Virginia last fall.

Other adventures, Maureen, late last year, spent two months circumnavigating eastern Europe and down through France and Italy with one of her friends. And more recently, 10 days in Germany with a couple more friends. I've been bowling frequently with my friends. My last blog entry I shared I had a 213, one pin shy of my personal best. Since then I've had many 200+ outings and my new personal best...?

I've also been practicing my golf out back as weather permits but I don't get to play much. Only 9 holes occasionally with friends at the local muni. There aren't really any good courses available in my area, I guess the downside of living on the side of a mountain.

I think Maureen and I will be getting out with the tent and trailer a little more this spring and summer. So far we have reservations for a week at Hunting Island State Park in March and we're discussing some longer ventures up to the northeast and maybe even Canada this year.

It's been so long since my last update I'm sure there is more I could share but I think I'll save that for another time. Until then... Best to all y'all!

R-

Thank You For All The Great Birthday Wishes!!! So How Does It Feel To Turn 60?

First I'd like to thank everyone for the texts and FB posts wishing me well on my Birthday!  I cherish all my friends and wish I could visit with more of you more often.

So how does it feel to turn 60?  I wish I had a good answer for everyone.  If I had to choose one thing I've noticed, and this has not been an overnight thing, I'd have to say it's that I don't heal like I used to.  The little nagging injuries that are not really that big of a deal but just don't seem to go away, at least not in a timely manner.

It hasn't been that long ago I was running with teenagers, high schoolers and young adults as a soccer referee.  Something I've been doing for years more than and (I hope) better than many younger than I.  I know I've lost a step or two but I'm still out stepping which is a good thing.  My racquetball career pretty much ended with Covid.  No surprises there.  And to be honest, I'm losing interest in some of the more strenuous activities I've enjoyed in the past.  I'm still walking 18 at the local municipal golf course fairly regularly.  And don't forget I live on the side of a mountain which makes that a bit more challenging.  My local social bowling group is starting to take a few small group trips to the alley. I bowled a 232 yesterday.  And, I'm still cutting my own lawn, about 3/4 of an acre with a push mower.

So how was my birthday?  Maureen always works hard to make sure "Our Day" is what we would like it to be.  Our friends Joe and Marilyn took Maureen and I to the indoor range in Hendersonville for a bit of recreational shooting.  Maureen capped it off with a great dinner and a bit of carrot cake, my favorite.

For those of you still with me, the Packers' Jersey was one of my birthday gifts.  Everyone knows I'm a big Packers fan, but not many of you know why.  And with all the great Packers players over the years there is a reason I wanted the Bart Starr jersey.

I believe it was Christmas, 1967, the Packers were on their way to their second Super Bowl win and I had just turned 7.  My dad wasn't a big sports fan and I don't remember watching any football on TV.  However, when 7 year old "Ricky" (my name growing up, and still to some in my family) opened his presents Christmas day there was a boxed Green Bay Packers uniform set, including shoulder pads and helmet.  And I'm certain that my jersey was.....you guessed it, number 15, Bart Starr.  And for no other reason, I'm a Packers fan to this day!

And last, many of you know that I purchased a 2019 Tacoma to replace my 2002 Tacoma.  Maureen has been helping me trick it out and it looks great.  I purchased that truck knowing there was a recall on the fuel pump (the reason I was able to get a deal).  I've been waiting patiently for the replacement part until this week.  I couldn't get any updated information so I started to make a little noise.  And guess what, the squeaky wheel does get the grease.  I got a call today, my part was ordered, will be in tomorrow (Thursday), and my truck is already at the dealer waiting for the repair first thing in the morning.  It really has been a great day all around.  And, I'm still getting a party with many of my friends this coming Saturday!

So how does it feel to turn 60?  To be honest, the difference between how I felt day 364 of my 60th year and how I feel day 1 of my 61st year was completely unremarkable.  But having friends to share the day with and people who love and care for me.....That feels wonderful!

Thanks again for all the great birthday wishes and I hope the same for all of you!!!

R-

Working Around The House, Plus: What I Learned From My Uncle John (Spoiler; A Possible Reliable Covid Self-Test?)

 

So we've been sequestered pretty much since early March and during this time, aside from our normal yard work and just generally helping around the house, I've been fairly successful at avoiding new projects.  All that ended last month.

Maureen has talked about having a walking path around the one side of the house that is fairly level.  And It's a good idea especially now that we are having our guests meet us out back where we have room to physically distance in the yard or on our decks.  When it's wet out, and we're in a temperate rain forest area that gets 50 to 60 inches of rain each year so it's frequently wet out, it would be nice to have an all weather path to walk around the house.

At some point Maureen decided that she wanted to install the pavers herself, which of course was fine with me.  Liam and I have both tried to help until she shoos us away, but Maureen is making progress, a little each day.  I'm more of the mind of our Uncle John.  Uncle John (and we can all appreciate this) will help with any project; "as long as it can be done in one day!"  I recall a couple of projects where I needed the extra hands, knowledge and experience; once where a water heater failed, and once when I had about 40 feet of fence that blew down.  In both cases, Uncle John showed up, we did demo, purchased materials, and completed the jobs before the end of the day. When we replaced the fence, we even poured concrete footings for the posts that day and still had the job done the same day.

Here is Maureen's path.  She is planting two or three stones each day.  She should be done by the end of the week weather permitting.  The wood pole border along the house was Liam's and my job.  And yes, it was done in a day, actually in just a few hours.  I do have a confession.  The last section of pole, per one of my earlier Uncle John-isms, I measured twice...........but made a huge gaff.  I'm embarrassed to admit how far off I was.  I can't even back into how I made the mistake.  Needless to say, from now on I'll be measuring twice and double checking again before I make that cut!   

Maureen's July project was our new fire pit.

And again, Maureen insisted on doing the lion's share of the work.  I was hands on a bit but for the most part I did what I do best, I supervised.

I don't believe I've ever done any advertising before but there is a first for everything.  I was looking for a face shield but didn't like the options with the hinged head bands.  I tried to find a baseball cap with an attached shield but found that everything I looked at had a poor review.  Problems with attaching the shield and having the shield stay attached.  About that time an ad for Instashield popped up on my Facebook page. 

The shield is designed to attach easily to the bill of a baseball cap that you already have.  The shields are $3.00 each as opposed to $10-$20 per for other options.  If you are tired of wearing a mask even around friends and family that you are sure are being careful, this could be an option.  Or if you follow Dr. Fauci's advice, he's suggesting that to be more safe, we should all be wearing masks and face shields.

And Now, this installment of "What I Learned From My Uncle John!"**

While we're talking Covid, I was on the phone with our Uncle John this past week and he told me about a Covid self-test he'd heard about.  Two of the more common Covid symptoms is loss of smell and taste.  So for the test you get your favorite whiskey, bourbon, or scotch (I also imagine wine would work).  Pour your beverage of choice into a glass, and raise it to your nose and sniff.  If you can smell it you likely don't have Covid.   But to be sure, drink the contents of your glass.  If you can taste it then it's almost positive that you are not infected.  I'm investigating this method myself to test the validity.  I've self-tested six times today and so far my ability to smell and taste has been perfect...and I feel great.  I think I'll continue my test trials. (**Disclaimer: Not intended to be taken seriously!)  

I hope this finds everyone healthy and safe!  I'll leave you with a link to my drawings page.  I've done a couple of Disney water towers for a friend and they turned out OK.

Take care,

Rick

This Joke is an Oldie but a Goodie!

(Make sure you read through the joke!) 

If you don't think your vote is important think about where we are now. Politicians promising Universal Health Care and the protection of preexisting conditions and then working to dismantle the only public health care option we've ever had and specifically focusing on eliminating the protections for preexisting conditions. Promising tax cuts only to vote in a thinly veiled tax raise on what remains of the middle class to fund their corporate giveaways (think corporate socialism). Promising to "build a wall and have Mexico pay for it" only to try and plunder our military and homeland security budgets so that US tax payers pay for what amounts to an ineffective eyesore on the landscape and a weakening of our military and border protections. 

I think this old joke sums it up nicely: 

While walking down the street one day, a politician is tragically hit by a truck and dies. His soul arrives in heaven and is met by St. Peter at the entrance who welcomes him. “Before you settle in, it seems there is a problem to address. We seldom see a high official around these parts, you see, so we’re not sure what to do with you.” “No problem, just let me in,” says the official. “Well, I’d like to but I have orders from higher up. What we’ll do is have you spend one day in hell and one in heaven. Then you can choose where to spend eternity.” “Really, I’ve made up my mind. I want to be in heaven,” says the politician. “I’m sorry, but we have our rules.” And with that, St. Peter escorts him to hell. 

The politician finds himself in the middle of a green golf course. He sees his friends and other politicians who had worked with him. Everyone is very happy and dressed in evening attire. They run to greet him, shake his hand, and reminisce about the good times they had while getting rich at the expense of the people. They play a friendly game of golf and then dine on lobster, caviar and champagne. Also present is the devil, who really is a very friendly guy who has a good time dancing and telling jokes. They are having such a good time that, before he realizes it, it is time to go. Everyone gives him a hearty farewell. Next, the politician goes over to the doors of heaven where St. Peter is waiting for him. “Now it’s time to visit heaven.” So, 24 hours pass with a group of contented souls moving from cloud to cloud, playing the harp and singing. They have a good time and, before he realizes it, the 24 hours have gone by and St. Peter returns. “Well then, you’ve spent a day in hell and another in heaven. Now choose your eternity.” The politician reflects for a minute and then answers, “Well, I would never have said it before, I mean heaven has been delightful, but I think I would be better off in hell.” So St. Peter escorts him to the elevator and he goes down, down, down to hell. 

Now the doors of the elevator open and he’s in the middle of a barren land covered with waste and garbage. He sees all his friends, dressed in rags, picking up trash and putting it in black bags. The devil comes over to him and puts his arm around his shoulder. “I don’t understand,” stammers the politician. “Yesterday I was here and there was a golf course and club, and we ate lobster and caviar, drank champagne, and danced and had a great time. Now all is a wasteland full of garbage and my friends look miserable. What happened?” The devil looks at him, smiles and says, “Yesterday we were campaigning… Today you voted.” 

The moral of the story is "Beware of false campaign promises" and in November "Get out and vote for what you know is right!"

Poison Ivy - Song by the Coasters (1963)

Poison Ivy - Song by the Coasters (1963)

(Click on the link to hear this old classic)

So why do I have this old Coasters song for you to reminisce with?  I needed a clever lead in to this edition of the Brooks Family Blog!

That's right, I'm currently covered from wrist to elbow with; you guessed it, Poison Ivy!

For those of you who have visited and received a personal tour of my modest acre and a third, I may have pointed out that a good third of the property is wooded and covered with brush.  I also most likely pondered about clearing the underbrush from the narrow east and south strips to the property lines.  There is just too much jungle on the west side to even consider clearing over there.  I don't have any great before pictures:

Lots of underbrush, downed logs, trash left behind by the previous owner, including old tires, building materials, old shooting targets, etc... you get the idea.

When we first moved here the first thing I did was haul off the biggest junk, the old tires and a couple of full size archery targets, a Styrofoam deer and turkey.  Just recently, my neighbor on the east side decided to hire a crew to completely clear his back and side properties, including our adjacent property line, of all the undergrowth.  His crew actually came across the property line and did about 90% of my work for me, at least on that side.  So with that to motivate me, Liam and I got after the last 10%.

At different times in my youth I've had bouts with poison ivy.  Not all that different from my battles with yellow jackets.  I've mentioned my yellow jacket encounters a couple of times.  Since we've moved here I've had multiple stings from yellow jacket swarms three times.  As I've worked around the yard, occasionally I'll pick up a spot or two of poison ivy, not really even a rash.  This time however, one of the things I'm tackling head on is the poison ivy.  What does poison ivy look like?  This meme appeared on my Facebook page recently:

It seems I have this proposed "TP" substitute on about a third of my trees.  I've been chopping sections out of the vines at the bottom hoping to kill it all over time.  I'm trying to use rakes and shovels so I don't handle the vines at all but apparently it only has to brush you to transfer the oil.  I've been washing my hands up to my elbows after every work session.  Of course, the first little bit of rash started just above my wash line.  So what does a poison ivy rash look like?

It's not too bad but yes, it itches.  It usually takes a week or so to run it's course.  I'm sure I have at least the better part of a week to go, arrrrg!

Anyway, here's what my side and back property lines look like now.

East Property Line between the houses.

Rear Property Line

I still need to hit them both with the mower and spread some shade tolerant grass seed but at least all the trash and building materials are gone.  I found enough joist hangers to build a new deck.

That's all for now, at least until I find something more interesting to write about!

Take care and stay safe!

R-