December, 2023

 

The project

Last month I wrote about the big kitchen reno we undertook during our season here this year. So this was the 'Black Galaxy' granite tile that came from India that we had before.

Before

Obviously, this was the during

TA -DA!

Before

During

The wine fridge replaced the trash compactor. The farm sink was a new addition.

Every time we return for our season here, there are always some substantial bits of maintenance that we must see to. Not always very showy or sexy, they still need serious attention. Every 5 years for instance, we have to get the septic tank pumped out and the Palm trees trimmed. Not my favorite idea on how to spend money but it's got to be done. Then there are concrete terraces that need re sealing, a deck that needs to be re stained and on and on and on.  We are thrilled that we have 3 acres of privacy here but man, this stuff doesn't get done on its own. We need minions to give us a break.

Our Palm trees getting a haircut.

Janice has been busy doing a little landscaping clean up.

Post 'hard labor' cocktail by the waterfall on the lower patio

We do remind ourselves of how fortunate and blessed we are to live here. I know we brag about our different locations but really, how can we not? Check this 1-minute-long video of our coastline and beaches immediately below us. Do make sure to view it full screen. We feel your pain as you will soon begin to shovel the snow out of your driveway :)

or:       https://youtu.be/AJwnqCsd3f4?si=UgQ_phBB44OQll7q

Sunset from our upper deck

Just another day in paradise. My kind of weather.

So, you thought that we were kidding when we said we were living in abject poverty. How would you like to haul your bark for landscaping in this 'Jed Clampet, Grapes of Wath' like trailer? I had to humiliate myself 5 times in getting load after load to cover over 3000 sq Ft (280 sq meters). It is not an easy life we lead.

Food for thought

The Epistle is not an advice column and Ann Landers doesn't work here. * I only started writing this years ago to keep in touch with our kids and a few friends. (*Ann Landers had a newspaper column to help people with relationship issues)

I recently viewed a TV series on very rich historical figures and was struck by how many died having passed the torch of their immensely successfull lives on to their children without having said a proper goodbye. No such luck for my kids, but what stayed with me was the importance of saying goodbye before it was too late.  I am not planning on pushing up daisies anytime soon, but we never know when we will be circling the drain.

I guess my point here is that I want to be very deliberate and aware that the people I am with (kids, friends, whatever), I might never see alive again. I am not trying to be morbid here and I am not suggesting tearful goodbyes. I guess what I am thinking is that I don't want to take for granted that there will always be a next time for them or for me. If I have something to say or to share, I better not assume I can always do it later. When they or I die, I want them to know how much I loved them because I will have TOLD them, and not in a casual way. OK, onto more pleasant subjects...

We are DONE

Done Done

no really...DONE!

I am usually quite reluctant to share something until it has happened or is done. People often talk about what they are going to do and sometimes, it just doesn't happen. Janice, on the other hand, is enthusiastic and likes to let the cat out of the bag before we have a cat or the bag. 

In August of 2022, I wrote that we had bought a property next to our villa in France and we wanted to have a pool built on it. Figuring that we had paid for it and signed the legal agreement to purchase and that our homeowners association had voted to sell it to us, we were good to go. The fact is that we only became the actual LEGAL owners (signed, sealed and delivered) just a few weeks ago. It would be impossible to list the number of delays in the procedures that we had to navigate and circumvent (or the extra fees and costs that kept being piled on and invented) to bring this to its conclusion.

This is our 3rd property purchase in France since we stated coming here 21 years ago and to date the process has been an absolute nightmare in 2 out of the 3. The roadblocks to finalizing the purchase seemed deliberate at times and our trust and confidence in not only our lawyer but the surveyor was shattered. This is a family publication so I will hold back on how I really feel about them and restrain myself to only describing them as bottom feeding, scum sucking, incompetent, bed wetting, thieving, swindlers. There now, that feels better.

I went Mario Puzo on them, but being 6000 miles away, they just blew me off and made up more reasons to delay. Getting them to act was like trying to nail Jello to a tree. French friends themselves say that their administration is breathtakingly glacial. Finally, a few friends with a little pull (one who refers to himself as my cousin), put his 2 cents in and the ball began to roll. A testament once again to the fact that its not what you know, its who you know. Oh, and and the fact that I really do need to keep my mouth shut until things are a truly a done deal. 

Would we buy another property in France? I think we will call this one good enough.

Meanwhile...

Christmas is upon us, and all of us here at the EPISTLE would like to wish you a Merry Christmas, Happy Hanukah, Mucho Batswana or whatever you celebrate at this time of the year. That is all of us including our entire staff, our writer, editor, investors, groupies and hangers on, followers, friends and family, the gardener and maintenance crew. 

I apologize if I missed anyone as I am trying to be diverse, equitable and inclusive. If you believe that I have swamp land in Florida to sell you.

November, 2023

 

Wedding Bells

No, it is not me and no, I did not show up dressed like this.

Our big event this month was to fly to Kalispell Montana, to attend our first grandson's wedding with wife Caitlin. It's been ages since we have attended a conventional wedding. This one had a serious Viking theme to it. The last one was a Scottish extravaganza.

We took advantage of the trip to visit #1 son Wesley and daughter in law Amanda and daughter Amy and grandkids in the area.

Team Rubicon (Again)

Last month I wrote a ditty in the Epistle about my deployment to Florida to respond to a hurricane disaster that had occurred there. The Epistle has the good fortune that a regular reader just so happens to be the editor of the online Thousand Island Life magazine, and was requesting to be able to reprint the story in large part in this month's edition. You know the old saying... " it's not what you know; it's who you know" so we get a lot more attention than we deserve. 

We maybe Californians as well as 'Rivierans' but after 23 years we are also regular Islanders. Anything unusual that occurs in the area or anything that a 'local' does that is a little off the wall draws the editor's and the magazine's interest. There are a number of 'snow birds' that travel to Florida in the winter as well as Floridians who spend the summer in the islands so it was thought that there would be some common interest. In any case, this month's edition of the magazine and the improved version of the story can be found by clicking HERE or on this link: https://thousandislandslife.com/team-rubicon-operation-not-forgotten-taylor-county-florida/

 10...9...8...7...

One of the really fun things about where we live is that we are only 30 miles (48Km) from the Vandenberg Air Force Base Space Launch Complex. From our deck, we can watch many of the launches of rockets, both military and civilian. A few days ago, we watched a Space X Transporter-9 Falcon 9 launch that carried 90 payloads. We check the launch schedule regularly but they are notorious for changing the times and dates on a moment's notice. Probably to keep the Russians guessing. Still, very cool when we do catch it.

Contrail of the Space X rocket launch as seen from our upper deck

Also, we are in line sight of the beach where we get to watch the whales migrate.

Other stuff

We got off to a good social start by having lots of friends over for a visit this past month. Partly because it has been a while since we have seen their smiling faces and partly because we now have to put the frivolities on pause because of our latest project. We are doing a serious reno of our kitchen with new granite countertops, a new 'farm' sink, wine fridge and window. In short, we have torn up the kitchen.

Regretfully, I am at a time in my life when anything that happened some time ago happened no more than 6 years ago, in my mind. This is our 4th kitchen reno since I built the house (6 years ago, right?) when our 44 year old daughter was 4. Hmmm...? Anyway, I know I put these counters in 10 years ago (I am trying to be more accurate) when my daughter told me she remembered me doing it when she was in high school 20 years ago. Hmmmm.....!

One of 2 (Brazilian Typhoon Bordeaux) granite slabs we got for the kitchen remodel. They are to be cut up and installed as needed. Each is 6 1/2 feet tall and 10 feet wide (2M 50 X 3M 30) Not your favorite? Bummer.

Janice's ambition and enthusiasm to have me replace, renew, upgrade, change pretty much everything and anything everywhere can be taxing (to say nothing of expensive). To be honest, she is right, and the end result is that all of our homes are pretty much as updated as can be and all look like they were recent builds. Nobody looks at this place and says..."Ugh! It is soooo 40 years old!" With any luck, we will have something to show you next month.

Meanwhile I am back on a tear to de-clutter the place. Not the inside of the house so much, but my workshop. It has been where all the magic happens in DYI, but regretfully, also been the storage place and repository for anything we don't want to keep in the house. As such, over 40 years it has accumulated a number of things that I had great ideas as to what I would do with them. Projects and what not. I am not a hoarder but I could be accused of keeping things long after I realistically should.

I had a daughter recently tell me that I will probably only live until I am 85. She clearly did not get the memo that I am bulletproof and that someday I might get old, but clearly not today. I do have to be realistic though, knowing that I am probably half way through the number of days I will be on this earth. Still, it got me thinking that the last thing I want, is to be pushing up daisies and have the kids clean out all of my saved little treasures and think "What was that crazy old fool saving all this crap for?" ( X 3 for different homes) You get emotionally attached to stuff you had plans for, but It's time to get real and move it along. The donation centers are loving me.

A new $4B Panasonic Electric Vehicle battery factory in Kansas requires so much power that the facility will need its own coal plant to run. A coal-fired power plant in Kansas that was slated for closure will remain open after all to provide needed power for... a new electric vehicle battery factory producing clean energy storage products.

No worries though, if your electric vehicle breaks down, the Tesla mechanic is on his way... as soon as he fills up. You just can't make this up.

.

October, 2023

 

Operation "Not Fogotten"

Taylor County, Florida  

Here we go again. Another hurricane, another disaster and many more lives ruined. I got the call to grab my ‘GO’ bag’ (the other two are in France and in California) and head to the airport to join a strike team with Team Rubicon to 'save the world, one hurricane at a time' :) When we landed, I was surprised to see many people heading towards us. I stopped one to ask what was going on and she said they were running away from a disaster.

We were running towards it.

Disasters pretty much all look alike after a while

It was named because this is the part of Florida that does not attract many tourists and tends to be 'forgotten'. Of course the damage done by Hurricane Idalia, with maximum sustained winds of 125 MPH (205 Km/h) was staggering. There were downed communication towers, structural damage, major flooding along the coast from substantial storm surge, and downed trees from high winds. The hurricane had done it's thing and we were there to deal with the aftermath. Same old story for us, mind numbing shock for its victims. We were at ground zero, mere miles from Perry, Florida, on the 3rd wave of this operation. 

You get the idea

Each 'wave' works for a week then is sent home and is replaced with a fresh group. Disasters anywhere become old news to the rest of the world after a few days as there are more interesting things to report on. But not for these folks. Out of a total of 8 deployments, this was my 4th to Florida, this time in the panhandle, again. That is, the North West corner of the state on the gulf side. I really like Florida but I am beginning to think it is a little disaster prone.

For the first time, I was not in the flood zone but in an area where 10's of thousands of large, tall, old growth trees had been blown over as their root ball was shallow and in sandy soil. I could tell you the whole truth in that there were hundreds of thousands of these trees but I would understand that you would not believe me. Even weeks after the hurricane had hit, we were cutting trees that had fallen over people's wells and pumps, making it impossible for them to be repaired so they were still without water. 

One man had a tree fall over his cattle pen and was unable to load his stock to take them to market. He was quoted $16,000 by a local firm to remove the enormous trees and was getting ready to take the money out of his retirement savings. We sent 3 saw teams and a skip loader and the deed was done in a day. In all, we had $80 million of logistical equipment on site to service 70 Team Rubicon members rotating one wave at a time. This, including FEMA shower trailers, toilet trailers, massive generators and housing trailers.

Meanwhile, back at the island, Janice was holding down the fort. With friends checking in on her, picking her up to take her to social events and generally just living it up, she probably hardly noticed I was gone!

The transition

Man, if there seems to be some repetition to this, it is because there is. We pull up stakes every 4 months and move on to a different lifestyle in a different country and / or continent. We have been at it for a while and we realized the other day that this is the 57th time we have done this since I retired. When anyone asks, we jokingly say that when the bills come in, it's time to pack our bags and skip town before they can catch us. We love where we are but love where we are going too. We return to where 8 months ago we had set up and organized the things we want to get done when we return. 

Still, transitions, especially here at the island, are no walk in the park. Pulling boats out of the water, winterizing and servicing engines, having our pontoon boat shrink wrapped, tarping the jet ski, covering Tecumseh, our Birch bark canoe, the BBQ, bringing all the outdoor furniture indoors, draining the entire water system so pipes don't burst when they freeze, removing all canned goods and the printer (the ink cartridges would freeze) and on and on... Whew! Then there are all the indoor tasks like emptying the fridge, tossing all the partially used condiments and food items only to buy them all over again in 24 hours when we land in California.

It is not an easy life we lead. Is it all worth it? Absolutely!!

A part of the outdoor furniture that is brought in on the porch

Canvas to cover the entry to protect it from the sun and falling branches

Birch bark canoe covered to protect it from the snow

RV antifreeze to protect the plumbing system

BBQ covered

Cover the chimney to keep the critters out

Jet Ski dock sheltered in Pirate Bay

Tecumseh is off duty until next summer

Little flower boat

Runabout boats

Jet Ski boats

Boats, boats and more boats.

Finally, all tucked in for the winter. See you in 8 months. 

Next stop, the airport and home sweet dome

As usual, we found the house in great kit. We are extremely fortunate to have a great property manager and couple of friends who constantly rescue us when little emergencies show up as they regularly do. As great of a job as they all do, when we show up after having hosted a few hundred guests over the past 8 months, there is a lot of maintenance to do to put Humpty Dumpty back together again.

Meanwhile....

Now I ask you, what could possibly go wrong?

September, 2023

 

Incoming...

So, last year I meet a couple while on deployment with Team Rubicon and Janice and I visited them at their home in Florida last winter while driving cross country as we were on our way to France. Then, Keith and Lisa accepted our invitation to visit the Bee and spent several days with us this past month.

Applying to be a new recruit at Fort Henry. 

Probably going to have to lose the shorts...

We made the usual rounds of "must see" places, including Singer Castle (of Singer sewing machine fame), the Parliament buildings and the Canadian museum of history in Ottawa, Fort Henry (built in 1832 in Kingston (the original capital of Canada), plus some island touring. Not bad for 4 days.

Singer Castle

Canadian museum of history

This was followed by a visit from my aunt for a couple of days. Nice time altogether.

Then we had a visit from daughter Kami from New Orleans who spent several days with us. She had a few of her friends drop by also.

Cocktails

One of the fun things we have taken to lately is to get on our new boat (well, a year old) in late afternoons and go get lost in the middle of a bunch of islands. There, we turn off the engine and drift for an hour or so as the wind or current takes us while we visit, read and have cocktails. The US boating laws allow for the consumption of alcohol while boating (obviously not being under the influence) while Canadian law does not. So, technically, since our island is a mere 20 feet (7 M) from the border, we could drink in the bow (front) but not in the stern (back) as our boat is 22 feet (7M) long. 

I don't think I would want to test the authorities on that theory, but we usually avoid that behavior on the Canadian side in the first place. 

Usually.

Most often. 

But areas with names like "Lost Chanel", "Molly's Gut", "Needle's eye", "Horse Thief Bay" and Fiddler's Elbow" are just too cool to pass up. Meanwhile, as an alternative, we have done a little work on the new island we acquired next door to ours. We call it Pirate Island, although unlike Honey Bee, it is an unofficial name. With a friends help, I built a small dock on it, created a path to the top of the island and built a viewing platform. This gives us yet another option for a place to take in the beauty of the undeveloped back bay, no boating traffic and yes, another option for enjoying a cocktail. Crimeny, you would think that all we do around here is drink! Honest, we don't!

                            Viewing platform on "Pirate Island", our new 2nd island

Projects

We did manage to sneak in a few minor improvements around the place. Nothing earth shattering but nice little additions. I put up a couple of live edge shelves (one in the kitchen) laid a bit of flagstone at our entry, prepared an entry point on our new island (Pirate island) to a new swimming hole, and built a refueling station for our boats at our dock which will make my life a lot easier.

Live edge shelf

Flagstone entry

Secret swimming hole

Floating refueling station for boats