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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-
