Good morning everyone!
I managed to get in and out of the gun
show last weekend without incident. I spoke only when spoken to and kept my
conversations short. I was going to write how it appears that there is no such
thing as politically correct around here. What I’m realizing is that
“Politically Correct” really depends on your politics, doesn’t it? My good
friend George, until recently, was the most conservative, furthest to the right,
person I knew. I think if he were to parachute behind the lines here he would
be considered a “Moderate”, maybe just right of center. I have to stop
describing myself as conservative. Compared to the gun show crowd I’m a flaming
liberal even with my camouflage hat! I can’t even begin to guess where Maureen
might fit on the chart. Asheville is considered more liberal that the rest of
North Carolina but I think the liberals all must try to lay low and try to be
inconspicuous. I’m not sure but I suspect there might be a hunting season for
democrats, and everyone here hunts!
If you count from the date that I started
looking, it has taken me well over a year to find a Lions Club that actually
meets in the greater Asheville/Weaverville area, but I finally did. There is a
pleasant little group that meets in the IHOP at 6:00 PM in Weaverville on the
2nd and 4th Mondays of the month. Of course the District 31L website says they
meet at 7 PM so we almost missed the meeting. If it weren't a Zone meeting and
fundraiser planning meeting that ran late we might have missed it altogether and
dismissed that group as no longer active. Maureen and I were treated as if they
had been waiting for us all along. This Saturday the Weaverville Lions are
having their annual Car
Show fundraiser to support their main charity, The McCune Center, an
assisted living facility for the blind. During our brief discussion I
discovered that in addition to their information on the District 31L site being
wrong, this group has no website, Facebook page, or any other social media
outlet to let the public know they exist. They had no advertising for their
event this Saturday outside of a banner and word of mouth. They haven’t even
considered recruiting sponsors or pre-selling entries to the car show. If I
just introduce some of the ideas that our Corona Lions Club has been using for
decades I’m going to look like a genius. I could be half a Leroy (which I’ve
basically demonstrated I am) and still double their revenue. They’re going to
love me!
In addition to my 2nd Lions Club,
Maureen, Liam and I are now volunteering some time at the Brother Wolf Animal Rescue (our Uncle John will
be proud). Their goal is a “No-Kill Asheville.” Of course they are referring
to mostly domesticated animals. It’s been rare that we’ve walked into a house
we were interested in buying and not found at least one deer head on the wall.
And there is that suspected “Democrat Hunting Season” out there. Maureen was
looking for a hiking group for us to join to meet people and get some exercise
when she stumbled on to the “Outward Hounds Hiking
Club.” Three times a week volunteers show up to take a couple hour hike
with select shelter dogs. It helps socialize the dogs and get them out of the
stressful shelter environment for a time and hopefully make the dogs more
adoptable. They also have adoption and fundraising events all year which we may
also get involved with after Liam heads off to college. We took our first hike
yesterday (Thursday). We met a couple of veteran volunteers (I think we might
have found the liberals in Asheville) and had a pleasant hike through the Warren
Wilson College grounds. I cannot begin to describe how beautiful our random
walks are around here. We met our agent at a house a couple of days ago and it
was raining but before he arrived we got out with our umbrellas and walked the
property. Just walking into sprinkler free backyard with green grass that
transitions into a wooded landscape of natural beauty is hard to imagine after
spending over 30 years in a semi-arid part of the country. Out here it is the
norm, not the exception. Oh, by the way, did I mention we found a
house?
We have put in an offer for 66 Chickwood Trail, in
Weaverville. As promised, it has an in-law suite like area in the basement
with its own outdoor entrance and lots of parking. The good lord willing and
the creek don’t rise (I am trying to fit in here), we will own it and have it
ready for visitors before the fall colors present themselves; and Maureen and I
are expecting lots of visitors. The address is a link to a video virtual tour
and below are pictures from the realtor websites and some I took during our
visit. We are officially in escrow and our due diligence period. The first
thing I did after our offer was accepted was to try and unsubscribe to the
onslaught of Zillow.com email notices. It turns out you only have to subscribe
once, but you have to unsubscribe to each individual type of notice Zillow sends
out. I think I’ve tracked them all down but we will have to wait and see. The
front (outside) of the house is a little different but I’ve promised Maureen a
planter in front of the lower window to soften the appearance of the approach on
the lower drive. Other than that the layout of the house is perfect. The house
was built by a builder for himself, so it has many finishing touches that you
just don’t find in spec homes. This builder and his family loved the layout so
much that he has built the same exact house on a lot nearer to his family. The
house is on 1.3 acres with the better part of an acre wooded. There is a small
stream (more runoff drainage than stream) that runs down the side of the
property. There is a small tree/playhouse structure in the back which with a
little ramp modification will end up being Traveling Buddy’s home overlooking
his vast domain. It will take us a few months to get furnished and settled but
Maureen and I truly hope that all of our friends will include us in their
vacation plans in the near future. Our door is always open!
We hope this finds you all well (I keep
forgetting, it’s y’all)!
Rick, Maureen and Liam
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