Home, home without a range...

NOT OURS (thankfully!). Read on...

Hi all,

Well, we've landed (technically driven) back in ROC again, after 11 years away. A lot has changed, of course. Our "edge of suburbia" homestead is now smack in the midst of a housing track, the neighborhood kids that we last saw as babies are now lacrosse superstars, and for 4 straight days now there was sunshine in the sky in ROC. Must be that global warming thing; finally the Reds got something right!

The house is an utter disaster; nothing like stuffing 3 houses worth of "stuff" into a single house. It took us 3 days of hard labor to get the bedroom habitable. We're now on our second day working on the office - if anyone needs a paperclip, just ping me, I have something like 5 BAGS full of them. Must be my equivalent of my dad's comb problem (when he died, we found 4 shoeboxes of combs tucked away in his closet. Although he had nice hair, there wasn't that much of it!). The garage is literally floor to ceiling with boxes and furniture, as is the living room and the basement. We have 5 bedroom sets, 4 dining tables, 3 living room sets, 10 bikes, and clothes in at least 3 distinct size ranges.

It's been absolutely wonderful to get back cycling again. I've gotten in 4 days now, and have even dropped a couple of pounds. My buddy Tom (AKA The Soup Attendant) has been instrumental in pushing me along (as usual), always cycling 2 feet in front of me while humming show tunes. Jerry (AKA Festus) has also been a great help, riding just behind me on every hill while chanting his mantra "2-1-0, 2-1-0" (my latest weight!!!). That Jerry, always a kidder.

I'm discovering all sorts of interesting things about daytime life, it's very different from the traditional world. First, if you make it into the diner by 3, you get the "Early Bird Special". This is basically soft, bland food, but at a hefty discount...sometimes as low as $.50 off per meal. So, of course, the place is stuffed to the brim with greyhairs...and they don't take kindly to newcomers. Also observed in my cycling wanderings is the scores of soccer moms everywhere; on the roads in their supersize soccer vans, out front of their homes gardening, even at Home Desperate. Having come from a women-dominated industry (health care), I was just used to every female I knew working in the corporate world. Now it seems that there's at least as many living alternative lifestyles - not with the gothic dress and all that - but actually raising kids. Good to see that there's some of that still around.

Our garden, which we left as a bunch of bulbs 11 years ago, has fourished. Given my well known green thumb, I expect that everything will be dead by labor day. We've got huge peonees (sic), wysteria, lillies, and the most charlie-brownesque lilacs you ever saw. I'll post some pics shortly after we get the area weeded and cleaned up.

The big event in the neighborhood was a house that burned down, literally to the foundation. Seems a 15 yr old boy, who told his parents that he was staying over at a friends house, came back home with them, and they decided to "write their name in gasoline on the garage floor and light it". Apparently this doesn't qualify as an einsteinian idea, as it then caught the garage on fire, then the motorcycle gas tank blew up, then the lawn mower, then the grill propane tank...you get the visual. Took down their house, and only the heroic efforts of the local firedogs saved the place next door. Pic leading off above.

Offline for now, back in a bit with some "historical posts" to keep everyone entertained.

Stay safe and happy!