Archive for May 2012
Epic Story
Okay, I admit it, I was hooked by the History Channel‘s presentation of the miniseries, “Hatfields & McCoys.” I have always had a soft spot for stories from the 1800’s, and that alone was enough to entice me to check this out. I am also a fan of Kevin Costner, who seems to be at his best playing characters from that period. I don’t know anything factual about the events of the feud between the two named families, so I can’t judge the miniseries on total accuracy, but I think it did a respectable job of giving a sense of what life might have been like at the time.
I do know that the feud between the Hatfields and the McCoys was common knowledge when I was a kid, even all the way up in Minnesota. The combination of names, and what they represented, was something that showed up often. I remember seeing it as subject matter in cartoons.
The History Channel production included music that appealed to me, as well. Check out the music video of “I Know These Hills,” by Kevin Costner & Modern West, (featuring, Sara Beck), with clips of scenes from the show.
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Time
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the time is long past
those were the days
and what a time it was
no less these days
time marches on
running in place
in circles
insanity
dancing enchanted
underneath the same moon
fast
in a breeze
released long ago
balanced in history
between then
and now
a difference transparent
translucent
inspired
destined to be
each present moment
subtly masked
as all of the time
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New Attraction
Without a doubt, new items are what draws attention. Over the weekend, the new activity that created an urge in me to want to do it again is, stand up paddling (SUP).
Yesterday, just as I was getting ready to put bags in the car in preparation to leave, Cyndie’s brother asked if I could come down to the lake and stand on the board for some pictures. It ended up being 4 of us paddling around in front of the beach for pictures, and delayed departure by a bit more than an hour. It was time well spent.
I don’t know that I improved my technique much, but it did feel like it helped to increase my familiarity beyond the single, initial exposure to the sport, the day before. I am inspired to want to get out and do it again.
Along the same lines of new things getting all the attention, yesterday morning, after eating breakfast, it felt like I had something stuck between my teeth. I brushed. I flossed. Still, that same feeling on the tip of my tongue. Upon further review, I discovered a piece of one of my front, bottom teeth had flaked off.
My tongue just won’t leave the new edge alone. It is raw from the self-abuse. That new rough spot on my tooth is grabbing constant attention from my tongue, despite my now knowing there is nothing my tongue can do about it. What an exercise in self-control!
At least it is serving to distract me from noticing the poison ivy rash that appears to be developing on my arm.
On a more positive note, during our drive home from the lake, we visited the property that currently has all our attention as the favored choice for our future horse farm. There was nothing about the experience to dissuade us from our interest. On the contrary, the surrounding countryside appealed so much that we are even more interested in the place than we were before, if that is possible.
The distance from my current day-job is confirmed to be more than 60 miles, but there are options that may allow me to adapt to that. I will need to keep working to maintain access to health coverage and the regular income while we navigate the transition, so I am still tethered to the work in Plymouth.
If the property turns out to be as good a fit as we think it is, I believe that the long commute will be worth it. Of course, that’s easy for me to say, from here. We’ll see how I feel about it after waiting in bumper-to-bumper traffic a few times.
We have a long way to go before we get to explore any of that. There’s no guarantee that property will still be available by the time we can make an offer. My excitement meter will rise significantly when we begin to find some interested buyers for our house. We won’t be earnestly pursuing any new property until we actually sell the one we currently own.
Mad Dash
Status Report:
Work weekend at the lake has been fun, but a lot of work. We aren’t done yet, and Cyndie, Julian, and I will depart early today, heading back to the Cities to see Elysa for a brief visit. Then tend to a few errands of our own at home, before the holiday-shortened work-week kicks into high gear.
Cyndie doesn’t fly back to Boston until Tomorrow morning, and will be wearing her suit, because she will need to go directly to a meeting from the airport. Life moves pretty fast.
I brought my bike up to the lake with us, and a guitar, too, but didn’t end up using either one. It is weird to haul around my toys and not use them. It’s unfortunate, too, because I am going to wish I had more miles on the bike before I start my week-long ride during the second week of June.
I spent a good part of yesterday, cleaning the tennis court with a power sprayer. It works great, but requires an inch-at-a-time effort that will demand many hands taking turns today to complete what we started. I was working with Cyndie’s brother, Steve. I was trying to out-do him with style points, posing for the camera.
Rainy Start
Weather held just long enough yesterday for us to get primary tasks of our opening weekend accomplished up here at the vacation home association of Wildwood Lodge Club. Then it rained. Not constantly, but enough to deter further effort toward chores.
All the toys of summer are pulled out of storage, given a cleaning, and distributed to the beach or boat house. Inflatables are inflated, and surfaces are cleared of cobwebs. It is funny to witness the kid’s reactions to suddenly being exposed to all these fun devices. There is a certain amount of “see toy, play with toy,” which occurs, yet the parents aren’t too inspired about getting involved in water sports with the day overcast and the water temps still rather chilly.
With the onset of rainfall, many folks headed to town for a movie matinee.
I snapped a few shots of the new room being added to the cabin before being chased in by the rain. Then I happily succumbed to a nap that was pulling on my eyelids.
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After my nap, there was a wonderful window of opportunity to try, for the very first time, a stand-up paddle board. It was a bit of a psychological challenge to overcome the nervousness of standing up on a watercraft, and I was struggling with the aspect of trying a physical activity for the very first time. My muscles don’t have any reference on what action I am trying to get them to do, so what happens is, they all try to fire at once.
I was very tense on the surface, with my toes desperately working to grasp the board with everything they had to maintain a “safe” perch. I think it will be easier when the water isn’t cold and I’m willing to fall in, if I lose my balance.
Regardless the initial stress, it was a fun activity that I’m pretty sure my muscles will figure it out with some repetition, which will allow me to relax and get a little core exercise while standing up on the water. It is a weird feeling.
Work Day
Dragging my butt this morning… but not for having suffered any true hardship. We packed up late and headed to the lake last night, long after traffic was an issue. Doing so, meant that we arrived to the mansion that is the lake place after some people were already asleep. We received a cursory tour of the new rooms that are being added, and then Cyndie and I were assigned sleeping quarters in the new master bedroom. Pretty sweet.
Weather is iffy today, and there is no time to rest. Saturday of Memorial Day weekend starts early with breakfast at the lodge and work assignments delegated. Then we tackle the chores to clean and prepare the property for the summer season ahead.
Pictures to come. Gotta do the work, first.
Intense Training
This post is for my cycling friends.
As the date approaches for our annual June bike trip, it becomes important that I begin to prepare. I took an important step, or steps, last night, toward getting in shape.
I needed to get out of the house for a showing appointment, and I had yet to get in my daily therapeutic walk, so it was a great opportunity to take care of both issues at once. Since I had more time to kill than I usually use for my walk, I made a plan to go farther, and to add a destination as incentive.
That is where it became preparation for the bike trip week. I chose a Dairy Queen as my destination. I walked for 38 minutes to get to the ice cream treat. It went pretty well. I ordered a small, but was hardly able to finish it. I’m definitely not at peak form yet.
It’s good that I still have a couple weeks to get into shape for the trip. Looks like I’m going to need more practice.
Like Camping
When is selling a house like camping? When you enter the “showing” phase! It becomes an exercise in “leave-no-trace” living, just like camping. Of course, when camping, you only have to achieve the “no-trace” accomplishment on the day you pack up and head home.
Since the average length of time to sell a house is currently running somewhere in the range of 130-days, I could be in a mode that feels like I’m packing up from my camping trip everyday, for months!
I can already feel that my initial effort to leave the house spotless every time I leave, is most likely going to be short-lived. It seems unfortunate that, as time passes without a sale, our hopes will intensify, but my energy to make the house “show” well, will tend to dwindle.
I expect that I will become more aware, with time, of when I can slack off, and when I need to have the place looking its best. We don’t even have a “For Sale” sign posted in the yard yet. I have no idea what to expect in terms of agents wanting to schedule showings. So, for now, I am trying to leave the place looking tip-top every morning as I head off for the day-job. If somebody wants to schedule a showing, the house is ready, no matter where I’ll be.
It’s all good. I can frame this phase as preparation for the camping I may need to do if the house sells. I could end up living out of a tent for a while, until the dream property is acquired. I will be well-practiced at leaving no trace, when it comes time to pack up my tent and move on.
Photo Op
Deer can be such inviting subjects to photograph. They stand really still, and stare with their eyes wide open. When they lock on to me during my morning walks, like this one is doing, I like to mirror them and stare back as I walk, leaving my head aligned with theirs, as my body moves past them, just as they are doing to me. It becomes a contest to see who is forced to break the gaze first, because our heads can’t swivel as far as an owl’s does – though I had one try to go all the way around once. Scared me a bit. Thought I was seeing a “Linda Blair” feat, ala the movie, The Exorcist.
Relative Something 