We seem to have left West Virginia at a most opportune moment. As we drove across the flat farmlands of Ohio yesterday, we put more and more miles between us and the heavy rains that are the remnants of Hurricane Ida. The forecast over the weekend said our home could see 1-4” of rain by Thursday. Our day, however, was lovely. The skies were overcast so there wasn’t any blinding glare on the windshield. It was a decent 80 degrees, but still didn’t feel terribly hot out there.
For the day before a Grand Adventure, we were pretty mellow. Mr. FixIt finished mowing the back yard and did some fixit things around the house. Our house sitters came and learned the ropes and picked up all the keys. The laundry is all done and folded and either packed or put away. The footlocker we use for our camp kitchen has been restocked and is ready to load up in the back of the truck. Our totes are being filled with clothes and shoes at the last minute. The hanging clothes are waiting in the wings. Food gets picked up at a shop near our destination to keep things simple. The clean bed linens will be put on this morning as it was raining hard during the last hours of light yesterday afternoon.
We are going through our little a-frame camper with a fine toothed comb. We cleaned out the water system yesterday and discovered the hot water heater desperately needed a new anode. We rinsed out the fresh water tank and refilled it…adding a capful of bleach to sanitize it. While it sat for a while, we drove into town to one of the local camper supply places. They had exactly what we needed. After a quick stop at Walmart, we headed back home.
We awoke to partly cloudy skies yesterday with a forecast of “slightly cooler” than it’s been. While we were having breakfast, I asked Mr. FixIt if he thought we should go out to the farm and mow. We had to take his truck because the camper is still hooked up to mine. The AC isn’t working in his truck so we drove through the countryside with the windows down and the air felt so good.
I have made many FB friends since I started writing this blog. People I genuinely care for and admire. I learn from them. I celebrate their successes and mourn with them their losses. These were the people my Aunt Peeps referred to as my “pretend friends”. I mean…I can see where she was coming from. She had zero experience with technology and social media. She didn’t understand it and thought I was pretty “cuckoo”, to use her terms. But, my readers are special to me.
There are truly disasters that occur. Things that could not have been predicted that befall us and change our lives in a heartbeat. The floods in Tennessee…the terrible ice storms in Texas…the dreadful fires in the west. These are all things that, aside from the unfortunate predictability of increased global warming, are still horrifying to watch. And even more horrifying to be a part of.
Summer cruises right along and it begins to feel like it did when we were kids…like it might just last forever. Then, there’s that one evening when you look outside in shock. It’s starting to get dark earlier and it’s become noticeable. At 7:30 last night, I looked over at Mr. FixIt and said, “OMGosh! It’s getting dark already! When did that happen?!”
You could just about guarantee where my mom, brother, and I would be on any given Sunday when I was growing up. Sunday suppers at Grandma’s house was just what we did. I’d guess many of you did the same. I especially loved those meals in the summer. Grandma had a “truck garden”…the garden that’s close to the house so you can run over the little bridge to pick fresh veggies. We had “Farm to Table” dining long before it became cool and trendy.
I got back from my little impromptu camping trip in the early afternoon. It was already in the mid 80’s but as soon as I had the camper unhooked and set up, I hopped on the riding mower. I told you yesterday, with all this rain, you could HEAR the grass growing. I wasn’t kidding. It was amazing. But that wasn’t the only thing that grew fast…take a look at this mushroom!
Remember I told you we’d had an inordinate amount of rain in the last week? Well, my friend Diane sent this to me today and this verifies it. We had at least 6.5” of rain at our house in the last seven days. They don’t see that in seven MONTHS out in Colorado and other parts west! It’s crazy. Where the grass had been laying dormant…crispy as dried hay…it’s suddenly turned green again and I swear you can HEAR it growing! We’ll be mowing again this week.
