Into the forest 2012

RETURN TO SUMMER HOME 2012

 

The day I began editing this story, summer had returned.  The temperature soared to almost 90F (30C+) and it was humid.  It was actually hotter than Bucerias.  Another day or two like that and Mrs.T would have been up in arms for me to turn on the A/C.  However it was just a one-day event and the weather is back to pleasantly seasonable levels.

 

We have our summer/winter rotation fairly well down to a routine.  Two points need to be made.  First, both locations are our homes, not just houses.  Although Ohio is certainly more of our home base, our condo is just as much a home.  Secondly, we count our blessings that we are fortunate enough to enjoy this ability to shift back and forth and enjoy weather that is better for our health – mental as well as physical.  To our younger friends we can only recommend:  work hard and live long.

 

But each time we rotate there is some new adventure or little challenge awaiting us.  This year I had the task of resolving issues related to our telecommunications.  When we discussed moving to the forest, I made clear my need for high=speed internet and decent television (and no mowing).  Both items presented challenges upon this return with the hardware and the service providers.  Our Master Geek, Nick, has also provided yeoman's assistance with the machines.  A big thank you goes to him for his efforts.

 

Here is R's story about this year's return to the holler:

 

 

 

Well we are back north.  Having heard what a warm winter they had in Ohio we hoped to return to summer.  Alas, not so.  As soon as we came back it turned cooler and rained a lot.  Sigh!!  The good news is that a lot of my flowers were in bloom.  We came back to 'a host of golden daffodils' and a lot of wild flowers too.  The dogwood and red bud trees were blooming so it was hard to be too depressed.  I immediately went out and started weeding and chopping and came down with a slight case of poison ivy, still being treated with hydrocortisone cream.  Dan, not to be outdone developed a bunch of little bites under his arm which I diagnosed as chiggers.  (Mrs.T does not have a medical degree however.  –dt) I suggested spraying a lot of OFF under his arm but he rejected that idea in favor of a long soak in the hot tub - drown those little rascals is my theory - and washing all the bedclothes.

 

Well this meant I would have to make the bed.  I hate making the bed!  We have a king-sized bed and I cannot reach the middle very well.  What happens is when I put on the fitted sheet there is always a large wrinkle in the middle.  When I tug at one side that wrinkle disappears but another one pops up.  Then I have to go to the other side and repeat the process.  Eventually I get the bottom sheet fixed and move on to the top sheet.  This sheet does not wrinkle.  What it does is hang down longer at the top than at the bottom.  When after much tugging I get the top sheet straight, it is on to the blankets which behave the same way.  The bedspread is more complicated because you not only have to get it straight all around, but you also to leave just the right amount at the top to tuck the pillows in.  Why, you wonder, don't you have Dan make the bed, or at least help me.  I have tried.  Sigh!  Any bed that he touches looks decidedly scruffy!  I am sure in my mind that he is capable of making a bed but he won't do it.  The only way I know of getting a man to make a bed is to send him to boot camp.  There is a funny story about my nephew Evan- who is a Marine- but I won't go into that.  I thought about making Dan do pushups if he did not make the bed right but decided it was easier just to make it myself.  (Making a bed is a waste of time.  And I could do it perfectly well  –dt)

 

When we came home we immediately had problems with our TV and our computer. (The internet provider actually, but that is another long story.  –dt) Dan worked very hard to solve these problems and it involved a lot of phone calls such as, "If you want customer service, push number one".  Don't you hate those phone calls?  Also, it turned out when we came home we had a 55 inch radio.  The guy finally came and took it away.  He will, we hope, return it all fixed.  Nobody fixes things here anymore but fortunately this was under warranty.  The computer problem was to use a new satellite with more computer juice. (Bandwidth on the provider's new satellite.  –dt)  Evidently we have it now and we can make Skype calls from our house.  They left the old dish and I am trying to think of something to do with it in my garden, a birdbath perhaps?  Any suggestions? 

 

Meanwhile I have been working outside with my flowers and pond.  I was happy to see all my fish made it through the winter, and even I think some new babies.  Not only that but we have a very large turtle.  I am not sure if Stinky or Sinky has returned but if he has he has grown quite a bit. (Most likely it is a completely different turtle waiting to be named.  –dt)  The turtle is quite fond of the waterfall.  Whenever I turn it on, he surfaces and gazes at it rapturously.  Unfortunately we also have a good sized black snake.  (R has the classic snakes and spiders phobias; neither bother me.  –dt)  He basks near a rock at one side of the pond. 

 

My wildflowers are blooming quite well.  When I am out driving on errands and see wildflowers blooming in unattended locations - not at people's houses - I stop and dig up a plant or two to add to my wildflower garden.  I cannot do this when Dan is with me because he thinks I will be arrested. Well I haven't been yet.  (One day….  –dt) I found a flower on some old coal mine land last week that I did not recognize but it turned out to be a flower I knew but in a color I had never seen - a blue Virginia Waterleaf; I had only seen white ones.  By the way this year I have some white forget me nots.  I always have loads of blue ones but white ones are new to me.  In addition to wildflowers our son Nick came home for a visit this past week and he and I planted trees.  He bought ten rootstocks which he plans to use to graft on starts from apple trees at our old house.  He also brought me two little peach trees.  By the time we had everything planted and protected from the deer - we hope - we were quite tired.

 

About every twenty years or so, the Catholic Church changes a few words in the mass.  Not a lot and not the main point of it all.  Oh they may throw in one big words like Constantinople; no that's not right- constitutional; no – consubstantial; anyway something like that.  But on the whole the changes are relatively minor.  I am convinced they do this to keep people like me from sleeping through church and are trying to make us sit up and pay attention.  At any rate this past year was a change year.  The first half didn't matter much because we were in Mexico and mostly mumbled our way through the Spanish responses as best we could.  This past Sunday I was daydreaming a bit and the priest said, "The Lord be with you," "And also with you" I responded automatically.  Of course everyone else responded with the new improved version, "And with your spirit."  (Which I learned originally in Latin –dt)  "OOPS!" I said out loud without really thinking about it.  Several people in surrounding pews tittered while Dan looked at me like: Who is this strange woman beside me: I have never seen her before.  Oh well.  (It is all about trying to get a more accurate translation.  NB: Mrs.T is not Catholic.  –dt)

 

With all our planting done Nick and I spent a day at The Wilds looking at animals, I thought a baby Bactrian camel was especially cute.  They come from China and are almost extinct in the wild.  They have a lot more fluffy hair than Dromedary camels and two humps.   (The Wilds – www.thewilds.org – is a unique animal reserve for conservation and research especially with endangered species.  It is on 10000 acres of reclaimed strip mined land.  –dt)

 

 

Here are some pictures around the house and at The Wilds:

 

http://www.flickr.com/photos/9151458@N07/sets/72157629598945498/

 

 

Hope your spring is off to a good start.

Dan and Rebecca

www.casa-de-terrible.blogspot.com