Good afternoon all!
I love driving to the dump! Some of you (if you are old
enough) may remember, 35 years ago when I first came to California the freeways
were lined with trees, and some like the 10 freeway into Redlands had oleanders
so thick down the middle that you could not even see the opposing lanes of
traffic. Yeah, my drive to the landfill is nothing like that! By comparison,
that drive through Redlands 35 years ago was akin to a barren wasteland and is
even more so today. But let’s start at the beginning. As with any new house we
were looking into all of the utilities; electric, cable/internet, water, sewer
and trash. We happen to be on a private well and septic tank so that just left
trash. In the city everyone is required to subscribe to the city’s trash
service. In the country you have a choice. I’ve attached a satirical article
describing the general consensus of the quality of service you can expect from
the local trash collection vendor (And don’t overlook the “Briefs” on the
side). So after looking into our garbage collection option I chose to just load
up the truck and hall all of our trash, packing material, and cardboard boxes to
the dump myself. After we are done with our unpacking and setting up the house,
with just Maureen and I in the house, we shouldn’t be generating all that much
trash and the landfill fees are very reasonable. As the crow flies the landfill
is only about 4.5 miles away but it is a 17 minute drive (according to my GPS).
But the drive is incredible. Once I cross over the main highway I’m meandering
through farmland and eventually following a stream out to the French Broad
river. I get to follow along the river for a couple of miles before I turn off
and head up the hill to the landfill. The tree covered slope on one side and
trees lining the road on the other are just getting into their full fall
regalia. The French Broad river 30 yards away is not so much obstructed by the
trees as it is framed by them. And on my trip back I always find an excuse to
run by Lowes, the grocery store or the post office, because then I get to drive
along the river for a little more than twice the distance. And this is just my
drive to the dump! The week I wrote this (paragraph) we took a drive down a
section of the Blue Ridge Parkway out to the Arboretum. Except for not having
the river at my side, the Blue Ridge Parkway drive at this time of year is just
incredible, better than my drive to the dump. Buddy also loves the trip to the
landfill. Not only does he get out and about riding in the truck with me, but
the attendant at the landfill always has a dog treat in the tray for
him.
Maureen and I have made a ton of progress unpacking our
stuff. I was talking with a neighbor yesterday and said it was my goal to have
all the cars in the garage before the first snow. That’s when my neighbor
informed me that the first snow last year came on Halloween! I guess we better
get cracking. Not that it matters because I’ve been informed that if snow is in
the forecast I need to park at the top of the hill in front of our house because
there is no way I’m going to be able to drive up that grade. Actually,
Halloween came and went this year with no snow. It did rain lightly but we sat
out in the driveway with our candy at the ready in front of a nice fire as we
always have for the past decade or so. We had exactly two trick-or-treaters. I
think they may have been lost. The harsh reality is this is not a good
Halloween neighborhood. The hills between the houses would be daunting for
small children and the driveways are long. The best I can offer is that you
would not have to be concerned about your kids gaining weight from the candy
after traversing our neighborhood. They would make themselves sick before they
could eat enough candy to offset the calories burned by walking this street and
up and down the driveways. By contrast, the town of Weaverville is relatively
flat and is a much more target rich environment. I understand that is where all
of the Halloween action is.
We can’t seem to get Liam to respond to our texts in a timely
manner. I can’t convince Liam that in his mother’s mind, if he doesn’t reply
immediately to our texts, he must have been kidnapped by terrorists and shipped
off to a foreign land to be sold into slavery. And I can’t convince Maureen,
just because he didn’t reply immediately, doesn’t mean Liam has been kidnapped
by terrorists and shipped off to a foreign land to be sold into slavery. Maybe
if Liam wasn’t such a knucklehead Maureen wouldn’t worry so much. Liam’s cross
country season is almost over. The
Southern Conference Championships were held Saturday at Furman
University.
Liam improved his time by over a minute for the
Furman University’s course, set a personal best
time for an 8K (4.95 miles) of 25:13.5, finished 16th overall out of 82 athletes
from 10 Division I schools, and made the Southern Conference All-Freshman team
with the second best freshman time in the Championship race. Coach Williamson
has informed us that he is only sending a couple of the cross country athletes
to the NCAA DI Regional race November 13th, in Charlottesville, VA, and that
Liam will be one of them. All in all, not a bad first season. Liam also seems
to be keeping his grades up so Maureen and I are happy, except for the whole;
“kidnapped by terrorists and shipped off to a foreign land to be sold into
slavery” dilemma! Oh, I almost forgot. Liam had to submit 15 names and email
addresses for a fundraiser for his track team. I’ve already apologized to the
15 victims that randomly came to mind first. I thought we might be past all of
that team fundraising burden but apparently not. Anyway, if any of you did not
receive my “apology” email last night but would like to support Liam and his
track team with yet another fundraiser, please let me know and I’m sure his team
will be more than happy to include you in this latest effort to extort
funds.
As much as we miss our friends Maureen and I are making a
concerted effort to make new friends here. I’ve still not tackled that
invisible fence so Buddy gets multiple walks each day and that is how I’m
meeting my neighbors one at a time. So far I’ve met Stella and Chris, the older
couple that pointed out who we can invite over that drinks and who doesn’t
drink; Alan, my immediate neighbor who’s letting me encroach on his property
with Buddy’s invisible fence and who’s girlfriend I thought was his daughter
(and yes, she was very flattered by that); Reid and his son Easton who, based on
the look on his face every time I stop by, is still not too sure about that old
guy that’s always walking that little dog down the street; and a couple of
others including the WCU alumni at the entrance to our street, who’s name I
can’t recall just now, and who I’m going to have to explain why I didn’t
actually go to the WCU homecoming football game a couple of Saturdays ago.
Anytime we’re out at a pub Maureen and I make a point to talk with the person,
couple or group next to us. And we’ve met some interesting people just doing
that. Just last week we were in Blue Mountain Pizza, the local Weaverville
watering hole and it was packed. Maureen and I ended up at the end of the bar
with the cash register in front of us leaving us about 6 inches of counter space
for our beer and pizza. We ordered anyway. Just about then I noticed one open
table with a sign; “Reserved for parties of six or more.” I told Maureen we
should go out on the porch and grab two other random couples and petition for
that table. It couldn’t have been two minutes later when some guy walked up and
asked if I were Rich? I told him “I used to be rich but I just bought a house
and a bunch of furniture and stuff to put in it and now I’m not rich anymore!”
I had put my name in for a table under “Brooks” so I wasn’t the Rich he was
looking for but he had the same idea as I and was randomly looking for a couple
to join his party of four in order to snag that table for six. Maureen and I
did sit down to dinner with them and we had a great time. Can you image that
happening at the Olive Garden in Orange or a Chilli’s anywhere in
California?
I think that the local Lions club is a bit put out
with me. Maureen and I introduced ourselves early on but then I took on this
volunteer soccer coaching job with the local high school and the team’s weekly
Monday night soccer matches conflict with the Lions meetings so I haven’t been
to a single Lions meeting in a couple of months.
We are watering the lawn again today. Not to rub it
in but here is the view out my back deck. And yes, at some point I’m going to
have to rake those leaves!
I’ve been using the rain today to practice “Activity
Avoidance.” I have a fire going in the den with the door open to the back deck
and Maureen and I are enjoying some reading time. In truth I’m waiting for a
call back from the CA DMV but that is just reinforcing my excuse to not actually
accomplish anything productive.
And last, for those of you attending Shirley’s Christmas party
this year, I’m just going to apologize now for the excessively wrapped gift for
Shirley’s party game. Shirley was worrying that even though I was last years
winner I wouldn’t come through so I spent a little extra time and effort so as
not to disappoint. The package should be arriving any day now!
Best to all!
Rick & Maureen
No comments:
Post a Comment