I Love To Go A Gardening
Growing Our Life in Northern Michigan
Storm Stories
After the day EJ and I had Saturday trying to get our beater truck up north, we were exhausted and planned on having a quiet, restful day on Sunday. It didn’t exactly go that way. In fact, in a different way Sunday was just as wild as Saturday.
My Sunday started very early (4 a.m.? 5 a.m.?) with Timmy rubbing against me, scratching, and poking me and sometimes EJ. I was so tired that I kept falling asleep, but Timmy didn’t stop until I was fully awake. Later, when I saw Timmy sleeping, I poked him. “Hey, Timmy! Wake up! Wake up, Timmy!” I figured he had interrupted my sleep, so paybacks were fair. Poke, poke, poke. “Wake up, Timmy!” EJ saw me and laughed. After that, whenever EJ saw Timmy sleeping, he’d poke him and say, “Wake up, Timmy!” Laugh.
I was so wore out from Saturday that my body felt sluggish and EJ felt much the same. Instead of working hard and taking brief breaks, I told EJ that I was going to rest and do brief amounts of work. I walked down to get the mail. Tesla ran after me while Danny waited at the top of the hill. Later, I started working on getting the laundry done. EJ began unloading the old truck, which I have named ‘Ol Nellie.
Then the day got exciting.
Storm clouds began moving in. I took pictures of the clouds, then checked the radar and saw that a very severe storm was heading right for us. I was about to go tell EJ when he suddenly yelled at me to come out “Quick!” I paused to grabbed my camera and ran out but missed the funnel cloud EJ said that he had seen forming right over our house. He had prayed, “Please, G-d, I can’t handle anymore” and the funnel dissipated.
The sky growled as lightning flashed and the rain poured from the skies. Our power went out so EJ and I sat on the porch and watched the storm. We love storms although we don’t like them when they cause damage.
The sky cleared briefly and we got our power back, but then another storm moved in. It wrapped our Enchanted Forest in a beautiful misty rain.
The second storm moved on, but on radar we could see that a more massive and severe storm was coming our way. It was a monster. We sat on our porch and watched it moved in with very black ominous clouds that swirled around and were lit with a strange green light. The wind picked up and it began to rain so hard that we could see only a little way down the driveway. We heard the cracking of trees breaking as hail bounced on the ground. Our power went out again. The rain got harder and leaves were swirled around in a mad dance. EJ said, “I think this might be a tornado!” and he yanked me back into the house.
We watched the rest of the storm from inside the house.
After the storm passed, we walked outside. The torrential rains had made deep gullies like miniature Grand Canyons along the sides of our driveway and also split the driveway in one place. EJ dragged the park benches across the driveway in front of the gully so JJ would not attempt to drive across it. Further down the driveway, the sand had washed across the road down where the deer usually cross. It looked like a sand mudslide.
When JJ got home, he had his own storm stories to tell. JJ knew that it had been raining but as he looked out his company’s windows, he saw the sky quickly changing from gloomy to pitch black to bright florescent lime green. The wind kicked up and blew shopping carts across the parking lot, occasionally crashing into cars. The rain came down so hard that he and his co-workers couldn’t see out of the window. The HR director returned from lunch and described watching tree tops flying by. They all heard a boom from thunder and another boom from a substation or transformer getting hit. Then the power went out and they set everyone home.
JJ said that on his way home, he saw many large trees down across the road, some of them had fallen on the power lines. At times JJ had to drive off the road a bit to get around fallen trees. He saw a lady in a pink polka-dot house dress raking away debris out of the road so cars wouldn’t hit it. He said our little town of Anatevka was chewed up, with trees and power lines down everywhere. He also saw smoke from fires, and many emergency vehicles out and about. He said it was like a disaster movie.
As the sun began to set, its rays made the light golden and our grass looked red. (I would have taken pictures, but my camera battery was low). JJ remarked, “It’s very beautiful here.” Later, without power, the darkness was very, very dark. I had called our power company and a recording said that our area was among those that were hardest hit and we probably wouldn’t get power until Wednesday. We thought, “Well, at least we are in a beautiful area” and we sat in the living room and talked and joked and laughed.
I looked out the front door at the darkness and saw large flames in the forest across the road. “Whoa! I hope that’s not a forest fire!” “It’s probably just the neighbors having a bonfire?” “But what if it’s a forest fire?” While EJ got dressed (we had thought we were staying in for the rest of the night) JJ and I took the flashlight and walked down the driveway to make sure it wasn’t a forest fire. It wasn’t. It was a huge bonfire. We walked back and met EJ halfway up. It was fun walking in the Enchanted Forest at night.
We are glad our power went out now, when it’s summer. It reminded us that it would be a very good idea to get a generator in case our power goes out during winter storms. It gets COLD up here in the north.
We decided to go for a drive Monday morning to survey the damage. Before we left, I let Danny out. We were planning to leave him home as soon as he had completed his “business” but he stood by the Buggy with such a hopeful look on his face that I got his leash and let him in the vehicle.
Our area was chewed up, just as JJ had described. There were large trees and lines down everywhere. Through the middle of one forest was a path of pine trees that had been snapped in two. People were lined up at a water pump in a park in Anatevka filling jugs with water. Most businesses had no power. A couple of gas stations were opened and people were getting their tanks filled and bags of ice. We bought gas and ice on the way home so the food in our fridge and chest freezer wouldn’t thaw. My camera battery needed recharging, but JJ let me take pictures with his smart phone. He isn’t finished uploading them, but maybe I can share some later.
JJ doesn’t have to work until Wednesday but in the excitement of the storm, he had forgotten to check the hours he has to work so we drove to his company and he went into the dark, powerless store to check his schedule while we waited outside. A couple of his co-workers were sitting at a table set up outside selling water and batteries. Danny whined for attention so one employee came over to give him lovings. I let Danny out of the car and the woman grabbed a water bottle and poured some water into her cupped hand so Danny could drink. I thought that was sweet.
As we entered the house after returning home from our journey, the power came on! Yay! However, we still didn’t have Internet. I called our Internet Service Provider today and was told that the power is still out in a lot of places and they had no idea when Internet service would get back to normal…although it was possible that we could have it tonight. Up here in the north, some people build their own wireless towers and allow the ISP to use it. Between us and the ISP’s tower, there are several (three? four?) such privately-owned towers. In fact, our neighbor across the street built one of the towers that connects us. If there is a problem with any one of those towers then we have no Internet. The ISP company said that one man was trying to hook up a generator to run his tower but they weren’t sure if he was going to run it constantly or for only a little while. So we have Internet for now, but we don’t know how long.
Just before EJ had to leave for work, the local insurance agency called to inform us that the agency downstate was blocking their attempts to transfer our account. EJ said to me, “I got nothing,” meaning he had no energy to deal with this. He had struggled with back pain all weekend and was exhausted, we had a depressing time at our old house, we had a grueling trip home, we had a monstrous storm…and I had had enough of this difficult insurance agent. I told EJ that I would handle it if he wanted me to. He said ok.
Ok, here’s the thing about INFJ personality types. We are extremely empathetic, compassionate, understanding, and patient people. We forgive far longer than most other personality types do. It takes a lot for us to get angry. In fact, we get angry so seldom that many people think we are mousey wimps. However, if a person is so repeatedly difficult/abusive that he finally gets to the end of our patience, we become very fierce fighters, especially where our loved ones are concerned. The downstate Agency had reached the end and crossed the line. He was causing my weary, stressed family even more stress.
When the agent answered the phone, I reminded him that we had moved out of the area, we have been trying to transfer our policies to a local agency, and they kept blocking the transfer. He told us that the new agency had acted in unethical ways, that’s not how it was done, etc. I could have argued that at the recommendation of our mortgage officer, we contacted a northern agency to handle the insurance for our new house because they understood the unique housing market up here, that they had politely tried to contact Steve, and that it was he who had started the unpleasantness when he had screamed at them, etc, etc, etc. Originally, we were only getting our new house insurance up here and would have kept our auto policies with him for a bit longer. But I didn’t want to get sidetracked from the main issue. 
When Steve said, “For your information, we have clients all over the state….” I interrupted and said emphatically, “I don’t CARE about your other clients. WE don’t want an insurance agency that’s hundreds of miles away. WE want a local agency to handle our insurance. WE want our policies transferred to this other agency, and WE want it done NOW.” A short time later, Steve said, “I’m transferring your policies as we speak.” FINALLY! I don’t know why he couldn’t have done what we asked the FIRST (and second and third) time that we (very nicely) asked.
My Second Worst Drive Ever
Today was My Second Worst Drive Ever.
Yesterday we had to get up early to pick up JJ’s car at the shop in Eureka. When we got back home, we had to drive downstate because we were meeting with a realtor at the old house. On the drive down, we stopped at a gas station for caffeinated drinks because neither EJ nor I had slept well the night before. I had awakened early and couldn’t get back to sleep and EJ had only time for a three-hour nap after work before we had to get up. Usually we drive downstate with not much sleep.
At the gas station, EJ bent down to pick something up and his back suddenly spasmed, went numb, and he almost passed out. After a moment or two, he was mostly ok although from then on his back hurt so much that he could barely function. He pressed on anyway.
We made it to the house ok….five minutes before we were scheduled to meet the realtor. She was already there. We took her through the house and it was a really depressing ordeal. The real estate market in our area is in the toilet with a lot of houses empty and for sale. Also, I think our house looked quite cute when all the furniture was in it, but we were always working on it, and we have a number of major projects unfinished, and we aren’t going to be able to get the projects finished, especially with EJ’s back the way it is, so we aren’t going to get much for the house even though we installed a new furnace, are leaving a nice new washer and dryer (we only got it when JJ went through chemo), and are also leaving the stove and refrigerator and wood stove. One realtor told EJ on the phone that we might want to put carpeting in the living/dining room but if all the nice appliances aren’t going to affect the price, I doubt carpeting will either. Besides, I’m done spending money on the place.
The house feels like a heavy burden and I really just want it gone. I think we will have to make a few more trips to finish a few small (or probably not so small) necessary projects, and we still have stuff in the garage and basement to move. I think we are going to have to beg for help–although I’m not sure who we can ask. Moving all that stuff is just too hard on EJ’s back.
We were dismayed when we took the realtor through our yard because it was all overgrown and junglely. We had hired one of EJ’s former co-workers who is starting a new lawn care business, but (I later found out from our neighbors) they had only been there once. There were weeds taller than my head.
After the realtor left, it was mid-afternoon and we could have worked at the house, but EJ’s back was in agony and he was tired and not feeling well so we went to a nearby town and got a hotel room. The woman who checked us in gave us a discount on the room because she thought EJ was hilariously funny and he “made her day.” While EJ lay down in the room, I used the public computer in the common area to message local friends who do lawn care in our town. They called shortly afterwards and we arranged to meet at the house so I could show them what needed done. I left EJ at the hotel room and drove back to the house and the friends and I walked through the yard. They promised that they will faithfully mow our lawn every two weeks, as I asked. After they left, I walked over to our neighbors across the street to leave our house keys with them and we had a nice visit.
We had planned to have a friend drive our old truck up here on our first moving day, but he couldn’t get it started. It’s a beater truck, but we plan to use it only to plow our driveway in the winters. We woke up early this morning, bought a car battery and some cleaning supplies, and drove to the old house. I cleaned, pulled some of the taller-than-my-head weeds in the yard, and loaded some stuff in the suburban while EJ put the battery in the old truck. Then he loaded a bunch of stuff in the truck. And this is when we began my second worst drive EVER.
Ok, I don’t understand the technical stuff, but the truck is stick-shift and hadn’t been driven for a while, so EJ attached a chain to the truck and Sub, and I had to get in the Sub and pull the truck backwards (to give us room to maneuver). Then I had to drive the Sub in front of the truck. EJ attached the chain from the back of the Sub to the front of the truck, and he got in the truck and I had to gently drive the Sub forward until there was no slack and then drive 25-30 mph and pull the truck until it started. I had never done this before so it was stressful because I was afraid I would do it wrong and totally destroy two vehicles.
The truck had a low tire so we had to go to the local gas station so EJ could get air in it. As he was pulling out of the gas station, the truck died, so EJ had to put the chain back on so I could pull him until the truck started. Yikes! The Village policeman pulled up while EJ was getting ready to attach the chain, and he parked behind us with his lights on to protect us until we got the truck going again.
EJ said that once he got the truck running, everything would be fine as long as we didn’t turn it off. I’m not sure why. I think it’s an old beater stick-shift truck kind of thing.
So EJ drove off with me following him. We went the slower back way, which led us through towns. After awhile EJ stopped at a gas station and bought two different kinds of stuff (cleaners, I found out later) to put in the gas tanks. He said the truck was fine as long as he drove along at a constant speed, but there was a problem with the fuel delivery (or something) and it was struggling to accelerate whenever we had to stop.
We reached a larger town with hills, and we had to wait for several stop lights. One of them was on a steep hill, and EJ suddenly started to back up a bit and I had to back up a bit too or he’d have hit me. He backed up more and I had to back up more. I said to myself in panic “Eeeek! Stop! You are going to hit me, you are going to hit me!” It was a busy intersection and there were cars behind me and I was getting close to them as I tried to back away from EJ. I turned on my hazard lights and finally the person behind me realized something was happening because she pulled out around us and that gave us a little space. EJ called me and he said he couldn’t get the truck started, and I needed to let him hit me. So I did. It was a just a little bump but the pallet hanging off the back of the truck a little went “SCCRRREECH” on the hood of the Sub, scratching it a bit. Then EJ said I needed to push him forward so he could get the truck started. So I went forward (a little too hard, but not bad) and we went around the curve, but I backed off too soon and EJ said, “You need to do it again.” I was rattled and said, “I CAN’T!” and he replied, “YOU MUST!” So I did and the truck got started and we drove off. But a little ways down the road I heard a bendy sound, so I called EJ and we pulled off the road and he removed some sort of part from the Sub. I didn’t know what it was, but the Sub was fine after that. EJ said later that it was the foglight.
So we drove for a bit and then EJ made it through a light but I didn’t. Usually when that happens EJ pulls off the road and waits for me because I get lost so easily, but this time I didn’t want EJ to wait and have more truck problems, so I called him and said, “Just keep going. I’ll catch up!” I figured he was going slow enough that I could easily find him. However, the light was VERY long, and when it finally turned green I didn’t see him ahead of me. Not long afterwards, a highway sign indicated that I had to turn right. EJ had told me the route he was going to take before we left, so I followed the sign, but although I could see down the road a long distance, I couldn’t see EJ, so I began to wonder if I was not supposed to have turned. My sense of direction is so bad that usually whichever road I choose is the wrong one. So I pulled into a parking lot and called EJ to ask if I was going the right way, but he didn’t answer (because he was busy trying to keep the truck going). I turned back to take a look at the sign, and I figured I WAS going the right way, so I continued on the way I thought I should take.
But now EJ was far, far ahead and I was alone in my lostness with no GPS to help me. (Viki was in JJ’s car.) Furthermore, the speedometer in the Sub didn’t work. I didn’t worry about it as long as I was following EJ because I knew he knew his speed, but without him I had no idea how fast–or slow–I was going. I felt like panicking. I felt sure I must smell of stress and fear.
Then I came up behind a truck with a trailer. It felt like he was going a bit slow, which meant EJ was getting further and further ahead of me, but I wasn’t ever able to pass him–either there was a no passing zone or traffic was coming in the opposite direction. So I stayed behind him, and when he put his turn signal on to turn, I was sort of glad to be rid of him. Then I noticed that I also was supposed to turn. I think that if I hadn’t been behind the guy in the truck and trailer, I would have missed the sign and my turn, which would have been disastrous. So I was glad that I was behind him, and I decided to keep following him–as long as he stayed on my road. He went a little faster and it felt like he was going the right speed. I followed him for about an hour, and he always made turns that I was supposed to make. Finally I thought I could see EJ far, far, far ahead–even so far away it was difficult to miss the loaded up truck. Slowly, slowly, we got a bit closer to EJ. When we had caught up to EJ–and only then–the stranger I was following turned into a gas station, almost as if he had purposely led me to EJ and then handed me over to him. I thought, “That guy will never know what a big help he was to me.” And then I thanked G-d for the gift of the stranger and asked Him to tremendously bless him in some way.
We didn’t have much trouble after that, although every time we had to stop I prayed that the truck would start again, and every time we started up a hill, I prayed that the truck would make it up. The farther north we got the bigger the hills were and it scared me. We finally made it home, but while EJ was trying to back the truck into a place next to the garage, it conked out and started going down the steep drive and he discovered then that when his friend had worked on the brakes, he had removed the back brakes without telling him. When EJ later told me that, I felt faint with fear because if the breaks had given out on the huge mountainous hills, EJ could have been killed. When I saw EJ sliding down the driveway, I began praying, “Please don’t hit a tree. Please don’t go in a ditch! Please be ok!” EJ had to race down the drive to get the truck started and then labor back up the driveway. He was halfway up the driveway when the truck quit again and he slid back down, but the second time he made it up. When he finally had it safely parked and stopped, the muffler fell off.
With the truck up here, EJ can work on it. It will stay on our property and only be used as a plow truck.
When we were both parked safely in the driveway, EJ got out, opened the door of the Sub, and asked, “So, how are you doing?” I said, “Well, I sort of feel like I need to go cry, but I’m mostly ok.” EJ said I was a trooper–and I didn’t cry after all. Instead, even though we were really tired, we unloaded some of the essential stuff from the vehicles and then left the rest for tomorrow if EJ can move. His back is killing him. Good thing he doesn’t have to go to work tomorrow.
I’m so glad we are home. I’m praying that the old house will sell SOON and we can stay up here forever.
So if that was my SECOND worst drive ever, I bet you are wondering about my very worst drive? One winter when JJ was a baby, EJ called me after 11 pm. to tell me that he had run out of gas and I needed to come pick him up. The car was also just about out of gas and the local gas station was closed for the night. EJ had told me that there was a gas station in the next town about 10 miles away. So I drove toward it with JJ in his car seat, watching the fuel gauge dip lower and lower and below E, praying all the way that we’d make it to the gas station. As we neared the gas station, I saw that it was closed. Yikes! So I drove on to the next city, desperately praying that we wouldn’t run out of gas because I didn’t know what I’d do with a baby in the middle of the night in the winter if the car ran out of gas. On the way to the city, we encountered a “Road Closed” sign and had to detour miles before we got back to our route. We finally found EJ and we didn’t run out of gas, and we were able to get both vehicles filled with fuel, and we got home again. A good ending, but it was the most hellish trip ever.
Taking Care of Business
This has been a week of taking care of business. It has given me a headache.
Tuesday morning EJ contacted realtors downstate to sell our house. His sister , who was once a realtor, advised us to call three realtors and to reject the one who wants to list the house for the highest price because he (or she) probably isn’t concerned whether it will sell or not, and she said to also reject the one who wants to list it for the lowest price because he probably just wants it gone, and to choose the one who wants to list it for the middle price because he (or she) is probably the most realistic and will work hard for us. So we contacted three realtors and only one bothered to call us back. We plan to meet with her tomorrow. I’m really praying our house sells FAST. I’m tired of having to make the long journey south. I want to enjoy life up here.
JJ got his new computer put together in the wee hours of Tuesday morning. He was briefly discouraged that the mega-special graphics card didn’t work, but he contacted the company and they told him how to package it and return it to them. It had to be packaged just right or the company said it wouldn’t replace it, so Wednesday morning we drove to a UPS store in the Emerald City and paid UPS to both package it and ship it. Other than that, JJ’s computer works well and is super powerful and fast. It amazes me that he was able to build a computer that actually works. I mean, I’m not amazed that HE could do it, but I’m amazed that anyone could, and that JJ had so few problems getting it to work when he’s never built a computer before. I told JJ he ought to be proud of himself because it’s quite an accomplishment.
Before we stopped at UPS on Wednesday morning, we first stopped at a PNC bank to close our account. When EJ was hired at his company in the Emerald City, we thought it was a good idea to open an account at a bank that had branches in both areas, north and south, so we could both access our funds. It was a great idea in theory but not in reality. I had a bad feeling about the bank when we walked in, but we were super busy and pressed for time so we opened the accounts anyway. The friendliness of the employees felt gushy and fake, and they put a lot of pressure on us to sign up for various services. (These, by the way, are INFJ characteristics: We have deep intuition but don’t always listen to it and we know when people are being fake.) As soon as we bought our new house, we opened an account at a nearby friendly small-town bank, which reminds us of the friendly small-town bank we had in our village downstate before we switched to PNC. Anyway, PNC charged us several fees without notifying us, which took our balance below zero. They also charged us $25 for closing our account. I read reviews of PNC after we opened our account and I saw very few reviews above one star (out of five). I very, very, extremely rarely (like maybe one or twice in my life) write negative reviews about companies, but when we got home, I wrote a negative one-star review of our experiences with PNC because it left such a bad taste.
When JJ got a job in the Emerald City, he also opened an account at PNC for the same reasons as us. However, he was told he could only have a Virtual Wallet account, which means he could only use the ATMs. If he went to a teller at the counter, he was charged a fee. I think its ridiculous that a customer can’t do transactions with tellers inside the bank–especially since the bank was pretty much empty every time I went there.
And then there is the continuing saga of the insurance company. An agent at the new insurance company called this morning to ask if we had called the old agency because none of our insurance had been transferred to them yet. Since we are remaining with the same company but just switching agencies, we were told that it’s usually a simple matter that’s completed minutes after a client requests a transfer. So EJ called the old agency AGAIN to tell them we wanted our insurance policies transferred to the northern agency. The agent he talked to told us again that SB, the senior agent/owner, was not in the office but he wanted to talk to us first. This is the THIRD time this week EJ has told the southern agency to transfer our policies, and SB is never in the office–we were told he would be gone all day Wednesday and now he’s not going to be in the office all day tomorrow. The only time SB has tried to contact us was at a time when EJ specifically told the agency he could NOT take calls. EJ called the new agency back to update them on the situation and they said that they can initiate the transfer themselves. Usually they don’t like to do it this way because it’s sort of like forcibly yanking a client away. However, SB is not listening to us or complying with our wishes so we are doing it the hard way. Grrrrr.
Although I very, very, extremely rarely write negative reviews about companies, when we got home, I found myself writing another negative one-star review–my second in two days.
JJ’s car has been shifting hard so EJ and I left the house early this morning to take it to the shop in the larger town that we have nicknamed Eureka. It’s not as quirky as the town in the science fiction series, but the name fits for other reasons. Anyway, I think the problem with JJ’s car is not real major–but they did some preventative maintenance stuff–and they have offered to do the recall work on it as soon as the parts they will order come in. We will have to pick up the car early tomorrow morning before heading south.
I’m also busy contacting Cancer Services at the Emerald City hospital to find JJ a support group. He wants to find a group with younger people in it, but it’s difficult to find such a group. Most groups are for women with breast cancer or has parents or grandparents in it.
Yesterday afternoon JJ and I drove to a library we have just discovered in a picturesque little town not far away on the coast. We have nicknamed the town “Haven” after a coastal town in a science fiction TV series. Our town doesn’t have the strange Troubles (that we know of) that the town in the series has, but it’s just as pretty. We seem to be collecting library cards: We have a card for the library in the Emerald City. That library is huge and very beautiful, but it’s quite far away, and we have only limited services because we aren’t in their county. We have a card for the library in Eureka, which is a medium-sized library that is closer and in our county so we have full use of all their services. And we are trying to get a card for the library in Haven, which has a nice little library which is even closer–just around the corner and down the road a bit. It’s actually in a different county, but we can still use all it’s services without cost. JJ and I were not able to get the library card yesterday because their computers were down but we talked to the friendly librarian and explored the library a bit. I drove to the library this morning but there was a sign on the door that said the computers were still down. I will not give up!
Enchanting Forest Flutist
This morning EJ and I went to the Secretary of State–in other states called the Department of Motor Vehicles–to get a license plate for the “new” Suburban and get the title in our name and all that sort of thing. EJ also called the insurance agency in the Emerald City to get the Sub insurance, and transferred all our vehicles to their agency. They remembered that when we asked them to insure our new house, the agent down south had a horrible unprofessional fit, even calling the corporate office to complain that the northern agency was “poaching” his clients, which was not the case at all. EJ called the old agency today to tell them we were transferring our vehicles to the northern agency. Our agent wasn’t available so he talked to an assistant who said he understood that we were moving everything up here because our life is moving up here. However, the owner of the agency wants to talk to EJ and I’m sort of expecting–and preparing for–unpleasantness.
I was almost out of cat food so while EJ put the new license plate on the Suburban, I went to the nearby grocery store that was located in the same plaza as the Secretary of State office. I had never been to this particular grocery store before. There is a nice little grocery store closer to us that I often go to, but this other store was a bit bigger and had more items and more variety so I will probably do some of my shopping here–at least until the much bigger grocery store that is being built is completed. It’s nice to have a selection of grocery stores not too far away.
After we had bought pet food and a few other things, we drove to Anatevka, which is “our” town, and stopped at the post office to mail the old license plate back to EJ’s nephew. He nicely let us borrow it until we could get our own license plate. We then went to the hardware store a few miles away to get a large garbage can with a lid so we could securely store Danny’s food in it. We are trying to get a surplus of necessities. I don’t want to run out of pet food or other essentials when we get snowed in this winter.
Today was really hot–the hottest day we have experienced so far in the Enchanted Forest. We opened the windows and turned on all the fans. Still…it doesn’t feel as hot as it did in the south. The lakes keep things cooler and less humid here in the north, and we have a nice breeze.
JJ used his earnings to order computer components so he could build a really nice gaming computer, which he has always wanted. The last of the items arrived early this afternoon so he set up a spot in the garage to build his first computer. Since JJ had never done this before, a friend talked him through it, step by step, over the phone. JJ has been working with determination in the hot, stuffy garage for hours and hours. Sometimes he’s gotten a bit discouraged, sometimes he’s been exultant, he’s tired, but he’s still at it. I’m proud of him and glad he is working at something he is interested in.
For the last few weeks, EJ and I have been hearing a mysterious flute-like song echoing in our Enchanted Forest. We have wondered what bird was making such a hauntingly beautiful sound–the most beautiful bird song we have ever heard. However, since we never saw it, we didn’t know how to identify the singer. I was beginning to imagine it wasn’t a bird at all, but maybe some beautiful mythical creature wandering through our forest playing her magic flute as animals scampered around her.
I videoed the beautiful song yesterday evening. You can hear the flute in the background of the video:
EJ and I looked through our Michigan Birds book to try to pinpoint birds that might sing like flutes, and then we went to the Cornell Lab of Ornithology – All About Birds website to listen to bird songs. Cornell has a wonderful site filled with pictures, information, and audio of various bird songs. Still, it’s difficult to identify a mysterious bird that we’ve never seen. Then I came across a page on their site called How to Listen to a Song, which advised beginners to listen to the rhythm, pitch, repetition, and tone of a bird song. They gave audio examples of each. Under “tone” there were examples of whistles, harsh sounds, trills, mnemonics, and liquid or flute-like. Flute-like! I listened to the examples and found the song of our mysterious forest flutist!
It is a Hermit Thrush. The website says that it is “An unassuming bird with a lovely, melancholy song, the Hermit Thrush lurks in the understories of far northern forests in summer and is a frequent winter companion across much of the country. It forages on the forest floor by rummaging through leaf litter or seizing insects with its bill.” How cool to be able to identify the birds who sing so beautifully! I’m so glad we can enjoy the fluting melody in our Enchanted Forest. Now we just have to identify the other songs we hear….
Oh, when we crossed the Mackinac Bridge, we saw Cormorants for the first time.
Mackinac Adventure
We didn’t go south this weekend. We had an adventure instead.
It’s really hard to leave our northern home, especially when we hear stories of storms, high temperatures and humidity, and a Biblical plague of mosquitoes in the area where we used to live. That’s not exactly motivation for going south.
Still….we would have gone, except Friday we had to go to EJ’s nephew’s house to pick up the suburban he was selling us. With all the snow our area will get in the winter, having 4-wheel drive SUVs is a necessity. The drive to our nephew’s house was a lot longer than we anticipated so it was almost dark when we got back home and we were stiff and tired. However, the scenery we drove through was gorgeous and the fragrance of the pine trees was so heavenly that both EJ and I agreed that we both drove home (me in the Buggy and he in the Sub) like dogs sticking their noses out the car windows.
Usually EJ and JJ don’t have the same days off work so it’s been hard to explore our area together. I had declared that when EJ and JJ both had a day off together, we’d go have fun. Today they both had the day off, so we had to go adventuring. I’m sort of the Planner of Fun Activities, so I decided that we would go to the Mackinac Bridge. FYI: The French pronounced Mackinac as “aw” but spelled it “ac.” The British heard it pronounced “aw” so they spelled it that way. Whichever way it is spelled, it is always pronounced “aw.” So Mackinac Bridge and Mackinaw City are both pronounced the same.
Just in case you don’t know, Michigan is actually two peninsulas: The Lower Peninsula and the Upper Peninsula–or the UP, pronounced yoo-pee. The Mackinac Bridge spans the Straits of Mackinac and connects the two peninsulas. When it was first opened in 1957, the 26,372-foot bridge was the longest suspension bridge in the world. The Mackinac Bridge website says it is currently the fifth longest suspension bridge in the world and the longest suspension bridge between anchorages in the Western hemisphere.
We took the scenic route along the coast to the bridge, and we exclaimed with excitement whenever we caught a glimpse of Lake Michigan, one of the five Great Lakes. I took pictures as we drove along, of course. When we saw a breathtaking view of sailboats, EJ pulled into a parking lot so I wouldn’t miss the shot. The boats were all grouped together so we kind of wondered if they were getting ready to race or something.
We loved crossing the Mackinac Bridge! Please overlook the shakiness of the video. It was hard to hold the camera steady.
After we crossed the bridge into the UP, we stopped at a pasty shop for an authentic Michigan pasty (pass-tee), which is a meat pie that was introduced in the United States by Cornish miners who immigrated in the 1800’s hoping to earn a good living in newly developing mines. We took our pasties to a scenic park to eat.
After we ate, we drove to Castle Rock, which is a geological limestone stack and tourist attraction located 3 miles north of St. Ignace. According to its website, it is considered to be one of the oldest lookout points near the city of St. Ignace, and was known as “Pontiac’s Lookout” by the Ojibwa Tribe. Clarence Eby opened Castle Rock for tourists in 1929, and it has remained a popular tourist destination ever since. Castle Rock rises an astonishing 195 feet above water level and about 183 feet above I-75. The summit of Castle Rock offers a scenic and inspiring view for up to 20 miles, featuring Mackinac Island, Lake Huron, downtown St. Ignace, and wildlife habitat. The lookout point is equipped with viewing binoculars for a truly spectacular view of the area.
It cost only $1 to climb Castle Rock. Once we had paid the fee, we were told to follow the giant footprints through the gift shop, through the door, and to the stairs leading up to the lookout. I had been so focused on my anticipation of the view at the top, that I never really considered how many very steep steps we had to climb to reach it. It was TIRING, and we huffed and puffed up the steps. We sat down at the bench located halfway up the steps in order to gain strength for the rest of the climb. But, oh, my goodness! The view at the top was breathtaking! After the climb, we bought hats–we felt we deserved them after successfully reaching the top of Castle Rock–and the store staff gave us stickers celebrating our accomplishment.
This is the view when we finally reached the top!
Although there are many, many things we’d like to see in Michigan’s UP, we couldn’t see them all today. So we drove back across the Mackinac Bridge. We decided to visit Fort Michilimackinac, which was an 18th-century French, and later British, fort and trading post at the Straits of Mackinac, which connected Lake Huron and Lake Michigan. However, when we had parked and stepped out of the car, our legs felt weak and shaky after the Castle Rock climb, so we decided to go instead to a nearby fudge shop called Fort Fudge. We were really glad we did. The fudge was made behind the counter so customers could watch. The owner was very friendly and told us stories about the area. When I told him I was videotaping him making the fudge, he invited me to come behind the counter to get a better view. EJ let us each choose a fudge (he chose chocolate cherry fudge, I chose peanut butter vanilla, and JJ chose mint chocolate). Because we bought three, we got a fourth box of fudge free. We told JJ that we are now officially “Fudgies,” which is what people are called who come to Northern Michigan to buy fudge.
After we left the shop, we happily drove home. We had a great day. I have always thought Michigan was the most incredibly beautiful state, especially in the North. Sometimes we can’t believe we are living here and not merely vacationing. We can’t wait for our next adventure.
Maybe next weekend we will head south.
Turkeys, Deer, and Boats
Monday night JJ and I had a bit of a scare. JJ went looking for his beloved cat, Luke, and couldn’t find him so he asked me to help search. I reminded JJ that many times cats find odd little places to sleep and we search and search for them without success–and then suddenly they appear. But I knew JJ was worried so I called “Here, Kitty, Kitty” and all the cats appeared except Luke. We double-checked that all the doors and windows were secure which means he couldn’t have gotten out. No Luke. Then I remembered that a few hours earlier I had held the front door open briefly…so I told JJ to make sure Luke hadn’t somehow gotten trapped between the screen door and the storm door. He opened the door and there was Luke…OUTSIDE the house looking in. He must have snuck (or teleported) through the door when I had it open. Luke had always been an inside cat from the time he was a tiny kitten. We shuddered to think of everything that could have happened to him: lost in the forest, eaten by coyotes. Yikes! We were weak with relief that he was ok.
Yesterday morning I glanced out of the window and saw a turkey family walk across the yard with their little ones. These babies were younger than the ones I saw the other day. I got out my camera and took pictures and videos of them traveling across the grass. Near the edge of the forest, they merged with the family with older babies. They came very close to the house and then went back across the yard and out of sight around the cars.
Later in the afternoon, about the time for JJ to arrive home from work, I got a call from him. He whispered that he had stopped the car at the bottom of the driveway when he saw a large flock of turkeys. He excitedly told me that they had surrounded him. He took a video of the turkeys with his smart phone, but I don’t think he’s uploaded it yet.
This morning I got out of bed and opened the curtain a little bit, hoping to see deer in the back yard. I was thrilled when I spotted a doe and her fawn grazing. I watched them until they went out of sight around the house, and then I grabbed my camera and went into our library to video them.
We never get tired of watching the wildlife in our yard. I would love to set up a trail cam (which films only when there is movement) so I can see what other wildlife might be making an appearance on our property. Foxes? Coyotes? Wolves?
Yesterday the inflatable boat arrived from Amazon. We opened the box this morning. I immediately made doors and holes in the large box so the cats could play in it. Then I said, “Oops! I probably shouldn’t have done that in case there’s a problem with the boat and we have to return it.” Oh, well.
JJ wanted to take the boat out on a lake today since he didn’t have to work. I was a bit concerned about taking it out on a big lake because the three life jackets I had ordered aren’t scheduled to arrive until next week. However, we decided that it wouldn’t be a bad idea to get two extra life jackets–since, after all, the boat seats five and someday we might have guests. JJ said that the store he works at sold life jackets, so we said goodbye to EJ (who had to work) and went off on an adventure.
At the store, JJ introduced me to his manager by telling him “This is my Mom. She speaks Klingon.” I don’t really know Klingon. I only know one word, which most of the time I forget: NugneH. It is a Klingon greeting which means “What do you want?” Klingons don’t say “Hello.” They are not polite. I also know one Klingon insult: “Your Mother has a smooth forehead.” Sometimes when JJ and I have argued, I have shouted, “Oh yeah? Well your Mother has a smooth forehead!” JJ always replies, “You are my Mother and you DO have a smooth forehead.” I say, “I know. So it’s not much of an insult, is it?” and we both laugh.
Anyway, we had fun shopping at JJ’s store. We bought two life jackets, sunblock, a jug of water, and a battery operated air pump thingy to inflate the boat quickly. The boat had come with a bicycle pump type of thing and we weren’t sure that would inflate the boat quickly enough. We were able to use JJ’s employee discount for the purchases, which was nice. We looked for a water-proof case for my cellphone because JJ insisted I needed to bring my cellphone on the boat with us in case we got into trouble and needed rescuing. I didn’t want my phone to get wet and ruined. We couldn’t find any waterproof cases at his store, so we stopped at a Dollar General store later and I got a plastic sports water bottle. I screwed off the lid and put my cellphone inside as a cheap and “better than nothing” waterproof case.
We knew of only one place where we could launch our boat. On the way, we saw a sign pointing toward a boat launch so we turned and followed it, to the dismay of Viki, our GPS. It led to a boat launch at a river and there were a lot of power boats there, so we decided to go on to our original destination. That place had an even busier boat launch. I wasn’t sure about the etiquette of launching an inflatable boat at a boat launch, and I wasn’t crazy about trying to paddle our boat among power boats. I was also a bit concerned that our boat would be too much for us to handle. I suggested to JJ that maybe it would be better to do this another day when his Dad was with us, but JJ declared, “No! I want to do this today!” and I wanted to give him good experiences and an outlet for his emotions, which are affected by cancer. I remembered the quiet beach in Storybrooke where we had taken Danny and suggested we go there, even though it kind of scared me to be on such a large lake. But, then, the smallest lakes around here are many times bigger than the biggest lakes back where we used to live.
At the beach at Storybrooke, we carried the heavy bag containing the boat down the path to the sandy beach. We also carried the paddles, air pumps, sunblock, and jug of water with us. We got out the new air pump and quickly discovered that it needed to be charged before we used it so I took it to the car to begin charging while JJ used the bicycle pump that came with the boat. It filled the boat quite quickly, but then JJ pumped it too vigorously and it came apart. Oops. So we carried the partially inflated boat back to the car where JJ thought we could use the battery operated pump while it was charging. We found out that it can’t be used while it’s charging. I suggested maybe we give up, but JJ asked that I give him time to problem solve. Ok. I was able to get the manual pump working so we (mostly JJ) inflated the boat and then we carried everything back to the beach.
Both of us were wearing jeans–JJ because he couldn’t find any shorts or swimming trunks that fit him and me because I hate wearing shorts. I had brought shorts with me hoping to change into them, but there was no place to change. So while everyone else at the beach was wearing swimming suits and shorts, we went boating in jeans. We took off our shoes, rolled up our jeans, and got into the boat.
Whoa!
The lake was very large, and there were lots of waves, and I felt small in the boat. Fortunately the wind and waves were pushing us towards the shore instead of out into the lake. Before we could get settled, the boat almost bumped into a man floating in an inflatable chair. We shouted, “Sorry!” and he gently pushed us off, and then we got into the groove of rowing, more or less. I unscrewed the sports water bottle to get my phone to take a picture of JJ, but he yelled, “Row! Row!” so I put it away and began to row. We had to row hard to even stay where we were. If we stopped, we drifted toward a small group of swimmers. I had planned to put on sunblock once we were on the boat but there was no time. We rowed and rowed and laughed and had a lot of fun. But we have not had such exercise in a long time and I tired quickly so we stayed out only a short time before row, row, rowing to shore. We dragged the boat out of the water, carried it up the path to the car, and deflated it.
I took the following video while JJ was deflating the boat. He wanted me to sit on the boat to speed its deflating, but I first took the video before going back to help him.
I thought that if anyone was watching us, we would have appeared very comedic, but this was our first time with the boat and I think that with practice we will get better at inflating it. JJ has more experience with rowing because of his scout troop and he was not impressed with my rowing skills. “I will have to teach you,” he said. Then he said he thought it would be better to have at least three people in the boat. “We also need to get another set of oars,” he said. “Then I can row, and Dad can row, and you can just sit there.” I exclaimed happily, “Oh! I can beat the slave drum to set the tempo while you guys row!” Hey, you know, you just have to make the best of things!
We were really tired by the time we we got the boat packed away, but we had had a lot of fun. We stopped at a pizzeria place on the way out of town and ate frozen yogart cones while we wanted for the pizza to get done. Then we drove home, spread the deflated boat out in the sun to dry, and went inside to eat the pizza. It was totally delicious! I think we will go back to that pizzeria.
Some Enchanted Evening
We were going to travel to our old house this weekend to continue readying it to sell and maybe meet with realtors, but we didn’t. We had reasons. Like EJ originally thought he’d have to work this Friday. By the time I understood that he had it off, it was mid-day on Friday and I was no longer mentally prepared for a long trip south. Also, EJ had told me he was really exhausted. Our weariness has been long in the making and goes deep. So I had thought, “Hey, we don’t really have to go down this weekend.” It’s just as well that we didn’t because southern Michigan had terrible storms and severe heat. It would have been miserable trying to work under such conditions. Mostly, though, we are having trouble leaving our new house. We really love it up here.
But, we tell ourselves, next weekend we have to go to the old house.
Saturday we rested. We even took naps.
Later I started to go outside and saw a black cat in the yard. We haven’t seen any other pets in our yard except our own since we moved here so I was sure it was Little Bear. I yelled frantically, “EJ! Little Bear escaped!” and walked toward the cat, but it ran off into the forest. I looked at the doors and windows to make sure they were all shut, and they were, so EJ and I did a head count. We found all the cats except Little Bear–but then I saw him on the window ledge in the entrance hallway. Whew!
In the wee hours the night before, Timmy jumped off the headboard of our bed and jumped on my stomach. Ooomphf! The cats are silly.
Saturday evening, not long before JJ returned home from work, I walked outside and stood on our small deck. It was so beautiful and quiet outside that I called EJ to join me. We sat outside as the sky got darker and dark and darker. The Forest is a bit spooky at night because it’s so very, very black.
Photo from Pinterest.
As the night darkened, the stars began appearing. First a few, and then more, and then the sky was filled with stars. We turned off all the lights inside and outside the house and gazed upward in awe. With us being on a hill, it feels as if we are tilted and that if the earth shrugged even a bit, we’d fall into the sea of stars.
We got out our binoculars to look at the stars, and then EJ brought out the telescope, but he couldn’t find all the pieces, which apparently were separated in the move to the new house. I’m sure they are around here somewhere. Since we aren’t expert astronomers or anything, JJ let me borrow his Tablet, which has a really cool astronomy app on it. When I pointed the Tablet in any direction, it showed me the names of the planets, stars, and constellations that I was aiming at.
I was totally excited when I saw a meteorite streak across the sky. It was so big and bright that it had a tail. We saw several meteorites after that as well as many satellites. It was awesome.
EJ and I were reluctant to end our Enchanted evening and didn’t come inside until 2 a.m. Morning came very early, beginning with JJ complaining of no hot water to shower in. It was simple for EJ to relight the pilot light on the water heater, which had gone out, but JJ had only a lukewarm shower before work. EJ and I were both really tired today, but our evening was worth it.
Despite my exhaustion, I was quite productive today. I washed all the dirty clothes, hung them on the clothesline, took them down, folded them, and put them away. I made a yummy meal of chicken breasts and potato salad, and EJ helped me pull our bed away from the wall so I could paint behind it. Now, finally, the master bedroom is completely painted. I just have to paint the master bathroom and the kitchen and then the painting will be all done.
Shanghaied
Excuse my language….but cancer really sucks.
I almost, ALMOST, think that recovering from cancer is more difficult than the treatment. Almost. Watching a hairless child half dozing in the chemo chair as toxic chemicals are pumped into his body is the stuff of nightmares. However, child and parent get through it moment by moment, and friends are there to support the battle. Afterwards, however, there is a different sort of battle–a slow rebuilding of life–and it’s not easy.
Yesterday an article from a cancer page appeared on my Facebook Newsfeed with the title “Survivors of Teenage Cancer Struggle with Jobs, Emotions Later in Life.“ The article said that
Survivors of teenage cancer also faced higher rates of depression and anxiety, as well as issues with memory and task efficiency, compared to their siblings who did not have cancer…Teen cancer survivors may also struggle later in life because their treatment came at a time of such rapid social and emotional development, Prasad added. “Cancer treatment at this time interferes with development of relationships, academic achievement, participation in social activities and the development of autonomy from parents,” she said. Conklin said teenagers’ increased expectations for independence and autonomy from parents can make the already challenging process of treatment even more difficult.
JJ does struggle at times with some of these things. We give him the best support and advice we can, but there’s only so much we can do and most of the time I feel pretty helpless when he struggles. Yesterday was one of JJ’s down days, and he poured out his frustration and discouragement to me, and my heart broke, and I ended up crying for him, and I prayed for him almost all night because I couldn’t sleep with an aching heart. I pleaded, “God, he’s been through so much. You’ve really got to help him!”
JJ had to work today; EJ didn’t. As EJ and I went about our day–including a trip to the library–I prayed and deeply thought, and decided that although I can’t make friends for JJ, and I can’t decide for him what he ought to do in his life, I can shanghai him, dragging him out to have some fun. After the years of struggles that we’ve had, we all really need to have some fun. Fun is not always frivolous. Sometimes it’s an absolute necessity for mental health. As they say, “Laughter is the best medicine.”
Besides the fact that we’ve been busy settling into our new house, EJ and JJ don’t often have the same days off so it’s not easy to find a time when we can do fun stuff. But I thought that if we don’t start fitting in fun activities, we will never get around to doing them. For goodness’ sake, we live in an area where people from all over the country and world come for vacations. There are TONS of things to do. So I got on the Internet and searched for “Things To Do.” We have tons of lakes surrounding us so with EJ’s encouragement I ordered an inflatable boat from Amazon. It’s Coast Guard approved but not much money. It’s big enough that we can all enjoy it together, but it’s something JJ and I can fit in his car and handle even if EJ can’t join us. JJ was shocked when I told him that I had bought a boat from Amazon. “You bought a BOAT? Are you CRAZY???” he exclaimed. I laughed.
I also decided that soon we are going to schedule an evening cruise on a tall ship. I love tall ships, which are old sailing-type ships like pirates used to sail, and I have always wanted to go on one. The price is reasonable. I read that the crew lets passengers help put up the sails and, if possible, to take turns steering the ship. How cool is that? When I told JJ about our sailing plans, he said, “If we go on a tall ship, you better not start talking ‘Pirate’ or I’m going to jump overboard and swim to shore.” “Aye, matey!” I replied. He groaned. Then I said that I really need to find a pirate hat. “What era pirate hat are you going to get?” JJ asked. I said, “Uhm. I’m going to look like Jack Sparrow. I’m going to wear beads in my hair and put black make-up around my eyes.” “Jack Sparrow isn’t exactly a good role model,” JJ protested.
Argh.
EJ and I discussed what we could do–today–when JJ got out of work. Some places we’d love to take him to were too far for an evening drive. We considered taking him to a cute theater, but we didn’t like the movie showing on its one screen. So we decided to shanghai JJ and take him out to eat in Storybrooke. I googled a restaurant with good reviews, and as soon as JJ was ready, we took off on the drive through the beautiful countryside to Storybrooke. We parked the car and walked to the restaurant…only to find that it had closed at 2 p.m. Who closes a restaurant at 2 p.m.??? We walked down the very cute street and considered various restaurants. A few other restaurants were also closed, one restaurant was very small and warm, a few hadn’t had great reviews, and another one was appealing but the meals were expensive–like $40 each. No can do.
So we got in the car and continued driving…and driving…and driving. We drove through miles and miles of orchards with trees drooping with red cherries. One cherry orchard was filled with trees so red with cherries that it looked like a forest of maple trees blazing with autumn color. EJ happened to lift his arm just as I snapped a picture of the orchard. Rats!
Neither JJ nor I had eaten much since breakfast so we stopped at a sort of tourist place that sold jellies and jams and petoskey stones, and other Michigan treats. It had a small cafe inside the store. The menu was posted on big boards hung on the wall. The prices were a bit expensive but not terribly so…and we were very hungry. We decided on what to eat and then learned that the store stops serving food at 3 p.m. Bummer. So we drove and drove some more, and finally came to a very cute city nestled on the coast. We tried to find a unique but not fancy restaurant, but there was a festival in the town and it was extremely crowded. We ended up going to the Pizza Hut at the edge of town.
On the drive home, we talked about cancer struggles–among other things. JJ said that he had fun tonight and even if he protested at first, he wanted me to keep shanghaing him and dragging him off on adventures. Yup. I can do that.
Storybrooke
Shortly after I finished writing my previous post, EJ and I decided that the day was so lovely that we would go for a drive. JJ was working, but we took Danny with us.
We went for a long drive, enjoying winding our way along beautiful shoreline, forests, valleys, and acres of cherry orchards. At one point we passed a property surrounded by very tall fencing. EJ said, “I wonder what’s in there?” I exclaimed, “Oh! oh! I know! There’s dinosaurs in there…like in Jurassic Park!” We eyed the fence with apprehensive eyes after that. Oh, so we can’t help it. We are a family of storytellers.
We ended up driving through a town so magically cute that I exclaimed, “This town looks like it belongs in a fairytale!” So I decided to nickname it “Storybrooke” after the name of the town in the ABC series “Once Upon a Time.” (We prefer not to give our actual location on the Internet so we give places descriptive names). I videoed the town as we drove through it, but it was impossible to digitally capture it’s cuteness. I guess you have to be there to experience it.
Storybrooke is located on the coast of a large lake. We parked the Buggy and walked to the beach where Danny had a wonderful time in the water. He made me laugh because he was so very determined to go where he wanted that it was difficult to persuade him to go a different way. Fortunately, we usually wanted to go the same way.
Yesterday afternoon EJ and I went for another drive, but this drive was more purposeful than wandering. We first stopped at the library to return my book. We figured the library would be closed–which it was–but we thought that I could put the book in the bookdrop. I couldn’t because the bookdrop container was apparently locked. Oh, well. The we drove to a few car dealerships because EJ is still looking for an inexpensive four-wheel drive vehicle that will handle winter driving up here in the North.
In the last few days we have had the hottest weather that we’ve experienced since we’ve moved up here, and the car lots were so hot that I could feel the energy leak out of me as I stood there. I only revived later when cooler breezes caressed me as we sat on our deck in the Enchanted Forest. When we told our friends that we were moving, some of them were surprised that we were moving north instead of south. Little do they realize that I am part snowman and melt in hot weather. The good thing about the North is that event the hottest days have an underlying coolness to them–much like a hot day in the autumn. It’s just that car lots radiate heat.
When we returned home from our trip to Storybrooke on Saturday, we were horrified to find that our Internet was out. Our new Internet Service Provider might have 24/7 support, but I don’t know their number if they do, so I had to wait until this morning to call for help. Our ISP said everything looked fine on their end, and they had me change a few settings on our wireless modem. When that didn’t work, they sent a computer wizard to the house to do something mysteriously magical that fixed the problem. Yay! Being without Internet connection is not fun.
Actually, the whole morning was sort of haywire with a lot of small problems. Like…JJ was in a bit of a bad mood. EJ had to return a call to the insurance company downstate, who said that our house insurance (for the old house) hadn’t been paid, but we hadn’t had a bill for it or anything. EJ called the bank who said they don’t pay house insurance or taxes (for our home equity loan) so we were responsible for paying it, which, Sheesh, why didn’t they inform us or the insurance company when they–not us–got the bill? EJ got that all cleared up. Meanwhile, I was making EJ some PB&J sandwiches to take to work and the bread fell so that the peanut-buttered bread stuck to my jeans and I had to peel it off. Yuck. And I drove to the post office to get stamps but it was closed for lunch so I had to drive home and then return an hour later. And EJ tried to call the company that picks up our trash at the old house to cancel it, but was placed on hold so long that he gave up. It was a day like that. Not major problems, just a lot of irritating little ones.
But JJ got to work ok, and EJ got to work ok, and the day quieted down. We had rain this morning which watered the thirsty ground and cooled the hot air a bit. Everything was so peaceful, I washed dishes and then took a nap.
Saruman’s Spies
EJ had some physically difficult days at work this last week, and he was utterly exhausted, so I have encouraged him to rest this weekend.
Yesterday I made challah bread for the first time in a long time, and I fixed a beautiful Shabbat meal for us.
We have discussed finding a Messianic congregation to attend. I have heard that there are some in the area, but finding them is difficult. When I was still in the south, I had bookmarked one to check out but when I clicked on the link it said “page not found.” I could call the number for it, but I’d rather check them out online first–because I’d rather know more or less what they believe before I contact them. So I googled (or rather, “Binged”) “Messianic Congregations” in our area. I emailed one on the results list and asked for more information and got the reply “We are located in Oregon,” which made me feel rather stupid and to laugh at myself. I looked at a map to see where another promising one was located, and it was in Pennsylvania. What I didn’t find was a congregation in my area, which is frustrating because why does the search engine take me around the country when I specify the exact area I want?
This morning I videotaped some crows making a ruckus outside. I rather like the crows that hang around our property. I’ve read that they are extremely intelligent birds, which I find interesting. I think their strong “caws” are a strong counterpoint to the gentle singing of the other birds. Here is the video that I took. I was hoping to capture a group of them flying overhead, but most of them stayed among the trees:
I think that having a vivid imagination is a lot of fun because it makes common things into epic adventures: Whenever the crows fly overhead, I don’t merely see a group of birds making a lot of noise. Instead, I can’t help but imagine the crows are Saruman’s spies from The Lord of the Rings and I always have a very strong desire to hide.
After JJ left for work this afternoon, EJ and I walked down to the mailbox for our mail. Getting the mail was only our excuse. Mostly we were walking to enjoy the beautiful scenery. Usually Danny waits for us at the top of the driveway, but today he followed us all the way down. Our cat Tesla also walked with us. I always feel as if I am in a fairy tale when the animals walk with us through the Enchanted Forest.
Turkeys and Other Stuff
We have decided to stay north again this weekend. The weekend before last–when we drove south in the middle of the night, right after EJ got out of work, so we could be at the old house to let in the guys installing the furnace, and we loaded up the u-haul in the rain–that weekend was so exhausting that we are still trying to recover from it. We aren’t as young as we used to be, and we don’t recover as quickly as we once did.
JJ had a couple of days off this week. On one of the days he and I took a drive after his Dad went to work. JJ needed to talk about his life direction so he drove and talked. With Viki, our GPS, we don’t worry much about getting lost, so we drove along the coast and saw a tall ship. I love the sailing ships. I think that I would put taking a cruise on a tall ship on my bucket list. Riding in a hot-air balloon is also on my bucket list. Both are quite expensive so I might never get to go on them, but it’s fun to dream of it. Anyway, after a bit, JJ and I stopped for something to eat at a drive in restaurant–the kind where they bring the food out on a tray which they attach to the car window. It was the first time JJ had ever gone to such a restaurant and he thought it was weird and fun.
EJ enjoys his new job, but it’s very challenging mentally–and even more so when he’s tired. He’s had a couple difficult days which worries him because it’s really difficult to be “the new guy.” I’ve noticed that my empathy has increased tremendously since JJ had cancer so that when my guys struggle, I suffer very deeply–almost beyond bearing. In order to endure my guys’ struggles, I pray much and remind myself of all the awesome things that have happened in the last few months.
EJ and I always talk as we drive here and there, whether on short trips or long journeys. A few days ago, I told EJ that I had read in 1 Peter 1:
Rejoice in this, even though for a little while you may have to experience grief in various trials. Even gold is tested for genuineness by fire…And you are receiving what your trust is aiming at, namely, your deliverance.
I told EJ that I had never really prayed to be delivered from problems before. Usually I prayed “Help me to follow You no matter where it leads or what it costs me” because I wanted to be strengthened and to have my faith deepened. But last winter, I felt so overwhelmed by problems that I desperately prayed that God would deliver us from them. Immediately, things began to happen and we found ourselves up here in the north. This makes me think of something Hebrew for Christians shared on their Facebook page:
Spirituality often enough involves a sense of irremediable brokenness, a feeling that you are not whole, that you are a mess, and that your need for God’s healing is constant and relentless… Contrary to the ideals of proud humanism, spirituality is a state of “blessed neediness,” of being “poor in spirit,” that aches with inner desperation for God’s power of healing. Those who humbly cry out to the LORD understand their great need for deliverance. Our Lord Yeshua testified: “The Son of Man came to seek and to save the lost” (Luke 19:10), and therefore He is found in the midst of the leper colonies of the hurting, the forgotten, and the rejected. As the “Man of Sorrows” (i.e., ish makhovot: אִישׁ מַכְאבוֹת), he understands the language of our pain (Isa. 53:3).
In another car conversation, EJ told me of one very “awesome thing” that happened a few months ago when he and JJ were living in the motel and I was still in the south. We had not yet found our new home–we didn’t even know it existed. EJ’s sister and her husband drove up one day to spend some time with him. He drove them around and as they drove down one pretty road, he said, “This is the neighborhood that I would like to live in.” As he told me this story, he said that it was on the very road where we now live. I asked him if he knew exactly where, and he said he did. At the time he made that statement, he was driving by the very property that we would eventually buy. Isn’t that amazing?
Anyway, feeling we need time to rest from stress and long journeys, we have decided to stay at our new house again this weekend and we are still not taking on any major projects. Mostly this week I have just unpacked a few boxes, did laundry, washed dishes, vacuumed floors, cooked meals, and walked down the driveway to get the mail.
This week I have also worked periodically at mowing more of the lawn. EJ had mowed some of it and I just continued what he started. This first mowing is mostly just to knock down two-years’ of growing grass. So much grass flies into the air as I mow that it sets me sneezing and sneezing. I don’t think we will have to mow often this summer because it has been very dry and the grass isn’t re-growing fast.
We are mowing only near the house because we want to keep most of the grass long to provide habitat for the wildlife, which we love to watch. I mowed the hill in front of the house, and the strip near and under the clothesline, and a bit near the house in the back yard. There was some pretty hawkweed in the backyard that was going to seed, so before I mowed that area, I harvested the seed and dumped them in the long grass near the driveway.
This morning I glanced out the window and saw the turkey family walking across the front lawn. One of the babies, obviously a male, displayed his feathers, which I thought was cute. I ran for my camera and was able to video them. They are not so tiny any more; they look like miniature adults.
Later, as I was opening the door to take a basket of laundry out to the clothesline, I saw a Rose-breasted Grosbeak sitting on a post in our front yard. I whispered to my guys to come look, but they didn’t hear me and the bird flew away. The only time I have ever seen a Rose-breasted Grosbeak was at my feeder at the old house during Spring 2014. I had never ever seen them before that time, and only saw them a few times before they moved on. I think they are beautiful birds and I am excited that I saw one up here in the north.
I think it would be fun to eventually get a go-pro or trail cam so I can observe the wildlife. We seem to have a deer crossing toward the bottom of our driveway. Every day when I walk down to get the mail, I see many deer tracks in the sand. I cannot see the crossing from the house. I would set up a cam there.
Usually Danny comes outside with me when I go get the mail, but he waits for me at the top of the driveway. He does not like the steepness of the driveway. Today I was surprised that he came further down the hill to meet me and walk back up with me. When we got near the house, he found some turkey feathers and sort of sneezed when he sniffed at them.
Our cat Kee-Kee has begun enjoying sleeping on my pillow above my head at night. The other night he surprised me when he lay right on my face with his paws dangling off my chin. A couple of times since then he has laid on my face. I push him off because it’s not comfortable to have a cat on my face. He’s a funny cat.
Shoes and Books
Last night when I took Danny outside for the last time before I went to bed, I heard the coyotes yipping. They make the weirdest, spine-chillingest sound.
EJ has been searching on-line for a used 4-wheel drive vehicle. We have to find one before winter because the little HHR that JJ drives to work won’t be able to handle the deep snow. EJ found an Avalanche for not too much money, so we left early to go look at it. It had already sold, but we had a nice chat with the salesman. He told us stories about his younger days when he worked in a factory that made bread, donuts, and cakes. I love to hear stories of different jobs because there is always so much more to them than it first appears. For example, I used to have a friend who became a landscape architect. I always thought landscaped architects merely knew how to artistically plant flowers. Instead, my friend was an architect who had to artistically draw up plans, and figure out parking lot gradients, and all sorts of things. It was interesting.
After we left the car lot, we drove around the countryside. In our travels, we came across a shoe tree. A shoe tree is a tree into which many, many people have thrown their old shoes. There are several shoe trees in Michigan and around the country. No one really knows who starts them or why. They just are. I told EJ that someday I’d like to add an old pair of shoes to the tree. The shoe tree reminded me of the quirky movie, The Big Fish, in which no one wore shoes.
Neither EJ nor I slept well last night. EJ had to go to work, but after he left, I took a nap. I didn’t sleep long or deeply, but I got enough sleep to revive me a bit.
I spent the rest of the day unpacking a few more boxes and putting stuff away. JJ didn’t have to work today so he helped me move 24 boxes of books (I counted them) from the garage into the pantry/storage room. he asked why I didn’t put them in the library, and I explained that the library already has many boxes of books in it and if we put any more boxes there, his Dad won’t have any room to build me book shelves. Until the shelves are built, I wanted to get the boxes out of the way so they’d be safe and so EJ could have room to organize his own stuff in the garage. I have just a few more boxes of household stuff left in the garage–as well as many, many empty boxes.
All day long it has felt storm-ish but so far we haven’t gotten any rain. I think it’s supposed to rain later. We really need it because our grass is getting yellowed with dryness. While I worked today, I glanced outside and saw the turkeys with their little ones at the top of the driveway. By the time I grabbed my camera and called for JJ to come look, most of the turkeys had moved further down the driveway out of sight.
♪ Because I’m Happy ♫
Yesterday we enjoyed a quiet, peaceful, restful Shabbat. It was such an awesome day.
When the sun set, EJ changed all the lightbulbs in the house to energy-efficient LED bulbs, which use almost no electricity and last for years. Then he got out his drill and fastened two screws into the wall so he could hang the heavy picture over the couch. He also installed the brackets for the curtain rods in the living room and master bedroom so I could finally put up my curtains. I asked him to put the brackets up high so that the curtains wouldn’t block much of the beautiful scenery outside. After living so many years in an old house with narrow windows on a shady lot, I’m loving the large windows that let the sun shine and beautiful scenery in. In the living room we just hung the valances. In the winter we will put up the matching insulated panels to keep out the cold.
The curtains really added to the coziness and beauty of the rooms.
JJ came home from work in high spirits. His store had told the employees that they could wear Independence Day shirts to work. JJ didn’t have any, but when he got to the store he saw patriotic hats so he bought one and wore it all day. He said a group of customers asked to have their pictures taken with him. JJ wore his hat again today. I’ve never seen him happier than he is here in the North…and that makes me happy.
This morning EJ and I happily worked at a variety of projects. EJ installed the pet door in the kitchen door so the cats can get to their litter boxes in the pantry/storage room.
Meanwhile, I did laundry and took the clothes outside to dry on the clothesline. I was filled with joy as I hung the clothes and delighted in the beautiful morning. I saw a Pileated Woodpecker start to fly from the forest. Then he saw me and put on his air breaks and returned to the safety of the trees. I caught glimpses of him in the trees before he moved deeper in.
In between taking loads of laundry out to the clothesline, I did various small jobs like vacuuming, washing dishes, and cleaning the bathrooms. I told EJ that I love the house and surroundings so much that I feel like a child playing “house.”
By afternoon EJ and I were both tired, but we really needed to get some groceries. We debated staying home or getting groceries, but finally decided that today was the best day to get them. The large grocery store that we really like is quite a distance–way on the other side of the Emerald City. However, a new one is being built not far away. I can’t wait until it opens in a few months.
On the way to the grocery store, EJ wanted to stop at Goodwill to buy the hat that he really liked but didn’t buy yesterday. The hat was no longer there, but we found a room-sized rug with a matching smaller rug. When new, the rugs would sell for hundreds of dollars but we got it for almost nothing. And it matches our decor wonderfully. We had originally planned to replace all the carpet in the house with wood-like vinyl flooring, but EJ was having second thoughts about getting rid of the carpet. I was willing to keep the carpet in the bedrooms, but didn’t really like it in the living room where it was looking worn. When EJ saw the large rugs (which we bought), he was willing to go right home and start tearing out the living room carpet. I advised him to wait until we can buy–or order–the new flooring. LOL.
With the Buggy filled with rolled up rugs, we continued on to the grocery store. Like the Ant in the story The Grasshopper and the Ant, we are hoping to buy extra items every time we go shopping so that we won’t run out of essentials if we get snowed in this winter. We don’t really know what to expect from our first winter–except that we will get tons of snow.
As we were leaving the Emerald City, I took a video of the beautiful lake. Further up the coast there were crowds of people on the beaches and lots of boats in the lake–including a tall ship or two–but where I took the video, there were fewer boats and one parasail.
When we started up our driveway, we saw a family of turkeys–two adults with lots of little ones. Later I looked outside and saw them further up the driveway. I tried to take pictures, but they were well camouflaged in the long grass.
All day I have been humming Pharrell Williams’ Happy. Because I am happy that EJ is so happy, and I am happy that JJ is so happy, and I am happy because it’s such an awesome gift to live in such a beautiful place. I told EJ that we ought to make our own Happy video, but that’s not likely to happen so I will leave you with this version of Happy that I found on Youtube:
Enchanted 4th
We did not drive the long journey south to the old house this weekend. Not only did we not want to travel on a busy holiday weekend–it’s the USA’s Independence Day–but after all the weekends at the old house, we wanted to experience a quiet weekend at our new house. This is the very first weekend we have spent in the Enchanted Forest.
Unless EJ is asked to work, his normal schedule is to work four ten-hour days and have a three-day weekend. Yesterday (Friday) we enjoyed a leisurely morning. After JJ left for work, EJ and I drove to Home Depot. Whenever we go anywhere–even on just trips to the bank or a home improvement store–we are filled with delight that we live in such an area of incredible natural beauty. “How on earth did we manage to move up here?” we ask each other incredulously. But we already know the answer: It could only be God who gave us this awesome gift.
EJ had forgotten to change out of his old stained t-shirt so we stopped at Goodwill so he could buy a decent T-shirt. I also bought some jeans and pretty cups. We love thrift shops! We continued on to the home improvement store, where we used the gift card our realtor gave us to buy a vacuum cleaner. At our old house, we didn’t have any carpeting so we had only a little vacuum cleaner that didn’t work very well. We have lots of carpeting in the new house, and with all our pets it really was time I had a decent vacuum cleaner! We also bought screws so we could hang pictures and curtain rods. EJ bought a wire rope and a hook, light bulbs, and a few other small things. We were starving so after we left Home Depot, we went out to eat.
Back at home in the Enchanted Forest, we happily puttered around. I used EJ’s post-hole digger to dig a hole and put up the third birdhouse. I was wondering if any bird would be interested in the birdhouses when they have a huge forest of trees to build nests in, but this morning I was overjoyed to see a chickadee exploring the third house.
EJ used the wire rope and hook to pull out the old hot tub that was on our little deck. Besides the fact that we don’t care all that much about hot tubs, one of the guys who helped us move is a hot tub repairman and he said our hot tub was beyond saving. The hot tub blocked some of our view from the living room window and also took up so much space that it prevented us from enjoying our deck. So EJ pulled it out. After it was gone, I happily positioned the patio table and chairs and later EJ and I–and Danny–relaxed there. EJ saw his first mosquito here at our new home…and he killed it.
As we enjoyed the quiet evening, we watched Annie stalking a squirrel or chipmunk in the grass. Annie has had trouble adjusting to the north and has spent much of her time in the garage so it was good to see her out and about. Tesla has been very matter-of-fact about the change in scenery. Rikki-Tikki-Tabby disappeared a week after we moved here. The last time we saw him, he sat on the hot tub outside the window and sang an long unusual song. He was very old so maybe he was singing his goodbye song before he went off into the forest to die. We miss him.
EJ also pulled out an old rotting buckboard that had been used as a lawn ornament. (Click on the link in the previous sentence to see a video of it.)
We ended our evening by JJ setting off his fire crackers and bottle rockets while EJ and I enjoyed some of my sparklers. We could hear fireworks from surrounding areas. Some of them were so loud that they shook our house. We went outside but our tall trees prevented us from seeing any fireworks.
This morning EJ and I took our cups of coffee outside to enjoy the sights and sounds of the beautiful morning. We heard the pileated woodpecker–sometimes far away and sometimes closer–but we never saw him. We read and studied the Bible together. It all felt so right.
I made oven-fried chicken and potato salad for lunch. After we ate, EJ and I took a walk through our woods, searching for stakes that mark the boundaries of our land. We found three of the four stakes. This is the first time we have had an opportunity to walk our land. It was a lot of fun. I love our woods. I took a couple of videos of our walk.
Walkabout in the Enchanted Forest – Part 1
Walkabout in the Enchanted Forest – Part 2
JJ won’t get home until late, but EJ and I were planning to go watch some fireworks tonight. We looked on the Internet and discovered that the ones we were hoping to go to were last night–those were the booms we kept hearing. I don’t know why so many areas had their fireworks on July 3rd instead of the 4th. The next closest fireworks are in the Emerald City, and we don’t feel like driving all the way there and fighting the crowds of people. We decided we’d just stay home. We don’t really mind. After months of busyness, we are totally enjoying this very restful 4th in our Enchanted Forest.
Fireworks
Last weekend’s grueling trip south took a lot out of us, so I have not taken on any huge projects this week…like painting rooms. Instead, I’ve limited myself to unpacking a box or two or three a day in addition to regular chores like dishes, and laundry, and walking to get the mail. Now and then, I’ve taken a nap.
Well…I’ve done a few other things as well–but nothing tiring like painting a room.
We were able to bring all but two of the birdhouses to our new house last weekend. I checked carefully and the three I brought north showed no signs of occupancy, while the two I left appeared to have sparrows nesting inside. I will bring those two north in the autumn. Sunday afternoon I happily put up two of the birdhouses. Using EJ’s post hole digger, I dug several holes before I was happy with the locations of the houses. I haven’t decided where I want the third birdhouse yet.
I also brought up my bird feeders, but I can’t put those out until after the bears go to sleep for the winter because I read that they like eating from bird feeders–and they have long memories so that once they find a sources of food, they will keep returning to it. I think I will have to give away my hummingbird feeders because the hummingbirds migrate to this area during the summer when bears are awake. A black bear was spotted in an area not far away from us this last week.
EJ had an eye appointment on Monday morning in the Emerald City. I went with him. The ophthalmologist’s office was the biggest I have ever seen! Once EJ gets his new glasses and all, I will make an appointment to get my eyes checked.
JJ didn’t have to work on Tuesday or Wednesday. Tuesday afternoon he and I drove to our local library to get library cards. I do not have a descriptive name yet for this town. Its library is not as big as the one in the Emerald City, but it is several times bigger than the one in our old Village in the south. It looked small-ish from the outside, but was bigger on the inside. We look forward to getting to know it. As the librarian prepared our library cards, she told us that the first time we can only borrow one book, but after we successfully return it we can borrow an unlimited number of books. I was going to look for a book, but JJ was eager to go to our next destination: The fireworks store in the Emerald City.
We didn’t have any fireworks stores in the south. Instead, we bought our July 4th fireworks from a guy who set up a tent just a few miles outside of our village. He always let JJ have a lot of fireworks for his money–ones that would cost $20 to $30 elsewhere he’d sell to JJ for $5 or so. He quit selling them a couple of years ago. The fireworks store in the Emerald City had such a huge selection–from the “safe” ones sold in local stores to the bigger ones–that JJ wandered around in a trance. Finally, he chose to buy firecrackers and bottle-rockets. Meanwhile, I bought sparklers, snap-pops, and “snakes.” JJ laughed at the differences in our purchases. On the way home, I asked him if he liked living up north. He said, “Duh. They have fireworks stores!”
Since JJ has to work on July 4th, every day we have been going outside periodically to set off our fireworks. I took this video of EJ and JJ having fun. At the end they said, “This is dumb!” but that didn’t stop them from lighting other fireworks–or shooting them into the air with the wrist slingshot.
This week I’ve also worked on setting up on-line accounts so I can pay various bills on-line. I also had to email our new ISP to confess that in the chaos of moving, I had lost the log-on information for our wireless router. JJ said that they wouldn’t have that information, but since they had had to reset the router when they connected us to the Internet, I figured it was worth asking them. Yay! They were able to get me the information.
Last night the temperature dropped into the 40’s. I love the coolness here in the north. Even when it’s “hot” outside, there’s an underlying coolness so many days it’s pleasant wearing jeans and sweatshirts, which I prefer. Our mortgage officer had told me that the Great Lakes act as an air conditioner to keep the area from getting too hot. We also don’t have swarms of mosquitoes. I don’t think I have been bit by even one since I’ve been up here. Down south, I have a friend who has been posting videos of such terrible swarms of mosquitoes in the area that she wears mosquito netting when she walks her dog. I told EJ that it seems to me that the mosquitoes have been particularly bad over the last few years, and he said that it’s because they spray the mosquitoes, which decreases the population of birds and insects that eat them, and when the mosquitoes repopulate, the predators aren’t there to eat them. I gloated a bit to my friend about having no mosquitoes up here, and she said, “But at least we don’t have bears.” True.
This morning EJ wrote notes on the cards I had bought to thank our realtor and the mortgage officer for helping us buy our new house. They were both really awesome people. As you can see, Kee-Kee tried to “help” EJ…NOT! He decided to nap on EJ’s arm.
Later, EJ and I walked down the driveway to put the cards in the mailbox. On the way, we saw some very pretty flowers growing in the field on our property. Some were such a bright flourescent fuscha that it wouldn’t have surprised me if they glowed in the dark. I’m enjoying the many beautiful flowers we are finding on our property.
Last weekend when we were at our old house in the south, I walked down to the post office to ask sweet CM questions about what happens when the mail-forwarding period is complete. I had read on an abuse site that mail is returned to the sender with the new address on it. We do not want the abusive people in our lives to know our new address. CM said she didn’t think returned mail would have our new address unless people specifically paid for the service, but I asked her if she could officially check so that we would know for sure. She called a supervisor and it appears that they won’t get our new address when the mail is returned. Whew! We had already changed our email address, and this week I changed all our phone numbers to our new local numbers. I was able to do it all on-line. So now all ties are cut from my abusive family/friends–they don’t know we have moved, they won’t know our new address, they won’t know our new email, and they won’t have our new phone numbers. I think it’s kind of sad, really, because people–especially family–ought to be loving, not abusive. However, not every family or person is loving. It took me a long, long time to decide to take the step of No Contact with them, and I only did it because my family put us through hell and I saw no indication that it would ever get better.
Now we can focus on healing, and enjoying our beautiful, peaceful Enchanted Forest.
I Love To Go A Gardening 