The transition: part II
Last month, I left off with you when we were visiting
daughter Kami in Los Angeles. From there we drove up the coast to our home in
Arroyo Grande and to stay with Janice’s mother and husband Vern. Every
transition we have made over the past several years in May and November between
Europe and the Island has involved this ‘side trip’ to the west coast.
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Goofing off with Vern to tour a B 17 Flying Fortress at our local airport.
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We start
in California which involves a combination of staying in touch with patient
friends who wonder how much longer it will be before we come home, doing basic
maintenance on our home that is currently rented out ( but not for much longer)
and just enjoying the endless sunshine after a less than sunshiny winter in
Brittany.
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| Visiting with our friend Michelle |
Maintenance on the house…? What maintenance, we have been
asked? Just little stuff really. This time for instance, Janice refinished the
entry doors and helped me by replacing some 3 bar corral fence. I mowed most of
the 3 acres (1.2 hectares), repaired some drywall and got serious about saving
our 11,000 sq ft (1,000 sq M) asphalt driveway and parking area.
I am loathe to admit that I have been a very bad boy in
neglecting to provide the care it has sorely needed for several years and it
reached a point where I either had to get real and save the sucker or plan on
having it redone. I was not
left with a dog’s breakfast of choices but fiscal constraints guided me to clean
up, sweeten up and show up to take care of business.
Over several days I spread 100 gallons (400 Lt) of driveway
filler and sealer to bridge the spider web of cracks that had developed and
were threatening to cause the whole house of cards to crumble. Heck, I hadn’t
had this much excitement since the Avon lady came by! The good news is that I
determined that I had done enough to salvage the situation. The bad news is
that it will require twice as much still to put it back in first class shape. 
Mom and Amy
Our next stop was Seattle Washington, to drive up to
Anacortes Island to visit daughter Amy, favorite son in law Vance (he’s
dreading the day when there is competition) and the five little hooligans.
Finding them all healthy upon our arrival, the situation seemed to change
quickly with fevers, sweating and other signs of impending contagious ickyness.
We decided to wimp out and left a day early to avoid the possibility of passing
anything on at our next stop, daughter Cassie and little Kayla.
Still, in our short visit, I spent a day with Vance cutting
logs that he has recovered from trees that he had harvested on his property and
wanted to turn into fence boards and siding for an out building. I got a shot
at running the one man sawmill and as cool as it was, I discovered yet another
occupation I would not like to pursue. If this keeps up, I will never find
another job again and will be condemned to remain retired for life.
Heading south to daughter Cassie’s, we spent a few days with
her friend Marc and his family at their lake house north of the Oregon state
line. Returning to their place in Longview, Cassie followed the tradition of
all our visits to our children, by handing her father her “you must do this for
me” list.
Marc and I got busy and installed a food disposer, ceiling
fan and lights, a garage light sensor, a heater thermostat, a closet pole,
knobs and handles on all kitchen cabinets and patched drywall. Then we broke
for lunch.
Finally, Janice and I kissed the babies, drove off and flew
to the Bee. We were home.
Home, Sweet Island
Arriving home after 6 months is not exactly a turnkey
operation. Boats need to be launched. The fridge and pantry are as empty as the
day you moved into your home. The water pump needs to be dropped into the river
and all treatment systems need to be fired up. Outdoor furniture has to be taken
out, phones, internet and satellite service reactivated and of course….the
leading edge of the Thousand Island Air Force needs to be checked (the plane is
fine)
Several scheduled dental and various yearly medical appointments were seen to, including follow up's for Janice's cancer treatments (all clear, all is well)
However, Janice is scheduled for another surgery. I am told that all I am authorized to write here is that it is for "feminine plumbing issues". This will occur in the next few days and she will be homebound for at least a month. Of course I will be here the whole time with her.
Before she goes in, I should have completed my ground school but all other flying questions can be answered by re reading the above paragraph. I will try again in August.
