My metal sculpture, which fell over in the wet autumnal months and became embedded in the mud, is welded into the ground until Persephone returns to Demeter, or some time thereafter. 😉 And she will tarry, (here in these northern latitudes) later than I would wish this year. Will I wrest my art from winter’s icy grip in time to get it on the moving van?
doesn’t look deeply buried, does it. Like I said, implacable.
Can I afford to ship it separately coast to coast??? Nah.
Will I even find it beneath a few feet of snow before April first. My Fool’s Day of moving. Easier to move the fool.
This is a sculpture by the late Nathan Nicholls from Waldoboro. Although most of his art was representational, this more abstract one was called (as best I recall) Unrestrained Development in response to the town’s effort to limit his use of his property to make and sell his sculptures. I gather the phrase was used about his place during that “disagreement.” It’s not the best view of it but Unrestrained Development will rise again!
16” of snow currently.
A luthier of my acquaintance once said something to the effect that water is a profoundly powerful glue, it just melts at too low a temperature.
Looking down my driveway has always presented me with interesting views, especially as it looks east.
I finally got the internet connected this afternoon and inside the house will be painted on Tues. Arborist coming on Tues too and the landscaper Thu.
I have a brand-new toilet brush, gardening gloves. I bought 3 bird feeders, for sunflower, thistle seeds and nectar, since there is one humming bird that stays all winter. I’ve delighted to hear trains, especially at night. I grew up in earshot of a train yard and love the sounds that come with them.
And a litter box, litter and cat food. And a cat bed that sits on the floor in front of the gas fireplace I plan to put in next fall.
I’m total disorganized. I keep getting up and looking to see what the bush is, or where the rain runs in the garage door. I’m writing something and I see a bird I have to look up.
My magnificent gate turns out not to be electric, although it was in the past, If I leave it open most of the time it will shade out the laurel hedge behind it. They mow the lawns in the winter here sometimes! I’m wishing for a zoysia lawn, they grow slower than other grasses. Then I’m up to look at the plants on the wall of other side of the canyon. I own the land across the creek and up the other side of the canyon. I’m thinking it might be cool to get something colorful or noticeable planted there to look at from here. I have to hold myself back from planning any plantings until I’ve been here long enough to figure out what happens through a whole year.
The myriad of impressions, I flew into Portland OR at 8 and drove in a very gusty wind and rain and to AP&L’s. I’m always unsure of how far down their road I’m to go, especially with the annoying flashing yellow lights of an emergency vehicle. Happily, as I slowed to go past them, I saw I had arrived at my destination. The gate was thoughtfully left open for me and the door opened just as I got to it. What a warm welcome, a crackling fire with the whole family gathered around the fire, warmly dressed.
It was then that I discovered the electricity had reached them just seconds before and that the power had been out all day and they were warmly dressed because the electric blower on the wood stove hadn’t been working.
There’s one thing you can say about AP&L’s, there is always something going on.
Electricity on, heat returning, the cold raining night receding behind solid roof and walls and we started thinking about supper. hungry, hungry
The wind had another thought, it decided to set the walls of the hot tub free.
Suddenly all 4 of us were out in the wet wind, with gusts of 40mph or more easily, batteries of lanterns dimly glimmering in the rain drops and lots of dark. And lots of wind. The ladder had to be kept lying down because otherwise it would blow over and hit us.
The walls around the hot tub were aching to fly south, or north, wherever, just to the slip the surly bonds of Earth while we few, we (un)happy few, fought the exigencies of entropy.
And succeeded for a bit longer. Planks obtained, nails grabbed, ladders brought, and blown over. Through it all, two of us at all times, each holding onto one of the two walls which presented a solid face to the wind. It was like being in a bar room fight, fluids flying, dim light, trying to restrain this big flat drunk wall that keeps taunting the wind to try it for $%&*)$%^ real this time!!! What fun! More so retrospectively, but fun nonetheless.
There’s one thing you can say about AP&L’s, there is always something going on. I hope to add a picture of our work if someone will send it to me.
Then suddenly, the big day was here, I got to meet the location of my new life. I could go on and on, there were no unpleasant surprises, I felt I was in a familiar, place. Of course, having visited the Zillow website, I had. I’d even strolled down my street several times on Google maps.
We met, my realtor, N and her husband, A. As with all “firsts,” my memory is a swirl of impressions. The outside has such wonderful details, outside sprinklers for the plants around the house, with ground level lights, a rose garden, with a little irrigation spigot to water each one. I can’t wait to be there.
We all trooped back to AP&L’s for an amazing Moroccan dinner L made, and had a lovely visit, making new friends. As a special treat N revealed her other skill, cutting hair. So at least one other need I had, someone who can make my hair behave, has been taken care of. What a wealth of opportunities for gratitude.
Some other impressions of Oregon, one evening I thought I saw some green paint on AP&L’s patio almost glowing in the light from the kitchen, but when I looked closer I realized it was the bright green of growing moss. The daffodils are just up, about an inch! The sun has been in and out all day and several times since I’ve been here. The hummingbirds, oh my!
Monday afternoon I observed the inspection and went back to AP&L’s for a quiet evening of catching up with my emails in front of the fire while they were out. All they left for me to eat was leftovers.
sigh
As Arlo said, I went back and had another Moroccan dinner that couldn’t be beat 😉
A smörgåsbordof Moroccan food, Italian food, and several other feasty things.
I sat with Sleuth on the couch in front of the fireplace, listening to MPBN and reflecting on my day and having a wonderful time. We were both at peace.
The evening was topped off with a new family member, who came home with the family, a tall drink of water, and sweet. Rosco had arrived.
Enough suspense, the inspection went better than expected. I’d say 4.5 of 5 stars. He said the basic building is solid and well build and the renovations well done. He was very informative and said for houses that had been renovated as extensively as this one has, it was in the top 30%! He had several suggestions and requested that any time I had any questions about the house going forward, I should consider him the first person I talked when I had questions about anything that he had inspected, the furnace, landscaping around the house, plumbing, or structural. What a guy!
He did suggest I have an arborist look at the trees around the house and the neighbors’ trees whose limbs hang over my line. And to look at those the three majestic trees encircling or looming over the house, depending on what the arborist says.
I met the owner, who stopped by to remove the branch that fell from the neighbor’s tree in the high winds of the day I arrived. He and his family live nearby and he’d be happy to come over once I buy it to look at the systems, and give me some history. They’ve been there for the past 12 years. The couple, their son, and her mother with a medical issue who had to sleep in the living room. Very tight fit.
I crept out of the house before dawn, the family had been up with the pup late and I’d mostly said goodbys the night before. A wonderful, busy visit with new friends, a new home, new pup and the resumption of electricity. WOW. Thank you all.
I returned the car and caught the plane, TSA folk were great in spite of working without wages. I was lucky working at a VA hospital, the VA funding isn’t approved at the same time as the rest of the government budget. So we went through much of Obama’s tenure with pay, but no cost of living increases, bonuses or normally scheduled pay increases.
It was sleeting with sheer ice on the roads in Portland, so I stayed near the bus station overnight and drove home in the morning through a bizarre range of weathers, sleet, snow, small flakes and large, rain with 3 totally saturated inches of snow on the ground. Home to toss everything into the house and take off to Coxcroft where I met the septic inspector at Coxcroft at noon and was informed that I have no septic system. (Feeling better about not “getting to buy” it?)
So here I am back in Maine, enjoying flipping between winter and spring (Maine style, if the daffodils are up, what else can it be but spring? Even if they call it winter) There’s a foot of snow on the ground and temps won’t peek up above freezing for the foreseeable (10-day forecast) future.
Breaking news. The closing is Feb 8th, I have to be at work all that week, and have a seminar through the weekend, so I plan to fly out there on the 13thgrab my camping gear and head out to my new home, so I can wake up on Valentine’s Day with my new love.
