travel

Joe’s French Doors

Noisy Front Porch

08.17.09

I’m just leaving Joe’s and heading north to TC. John and Jerry say they’ll be in Traverse City today. The past three days I’ve blitzkrieged a project for Joe because I need to leave today. Actually, yesterday would have been better. As it is, John and Jerry are going to reach Jann’s house before I will.

Joe's French Doors

Doors for Joe’s Porch

Decided to stay a couple extra days and do one more project for Joe. Joe found some heavy duty french doors doors at the Ann Arbor Reuse Center. Putting the big doors up on the open end of his porch will finish enclosing the porch space and make it more useable. The problem with his porch is that it is so close to Washtenaw Ave that the noise from the traffic is unbearable. The configuration of the porch makes it like a ‘big ear’ that channels noise right into the house.

I framed in the entrance on his front porch, made a door jam, and hung those big suckers. A door jam is a simple structure made out of 3 boards, but to get the doors hung right, those boards require a lot of math!!

I also used three colored panes from the church windows over the doors. The colored glass ties the look of the doors together with the rest of the front windows. Turned out great.

Joe's New Front Doors

Old Bucky 2009

Bucky

Bucky isn’t any better. She doesn’t act like she is in pain, but if I give her pain killers, she moves around more— a lot more. I’m anxious to get her to her vet in Lake Leelanau. Dr. Harrison has treated her for her thyroid deficiency, and provided an improved treatment for Bucky’s incontinence problem that began way back when she was four. I trust he’ll give me the best advice and her the most up to date care.

Bucky Worry

08.11.09

Travel

John hasn’t arrived yet. Looks now like we’ll just be meeting up in Traverse City and then maybe doing something from there.

Am enjoying seeing my friends here in Ypsi, but I am looking forward to leaving soon. Other than helping Joe put in the windows, I have resisted getting involved in anything else!

Bucky

Bucky has taken a turn for the worse. She was looking good before I left NC— and was fine in TN. But since getting to Ypsi, her hind legs aren’t working right. I’ve been carrying her hind quarter up the steps while she still uses her front legs.

Some days are better for Bucky than others, but she is trending down. Her regular vet is up near TC, so I’ll get him to look her over. I’m afraid it’s time to do something. I certainly don’t want to see her miserable just to keep her alive.

Thinking T.C.

08.05.09

Music

Todd Servalish called from Chicago and is planning to meet me at Cathy’s for the Moon Squallor on Friday. Other old friends are planning to make it and the evening seems to be shaping up into a nice reunion.

Joe Golder

Window Work at Joe’s

Meanwhile, Joe has got me to putting in some more windows for him this week. Last year Joe bought a bunch of rectangular metal frame windows with colored glass out of a church somewhere. He had Kurt Foote install most of the across the front of his house enclosing the porch. On the end of the porch is a narrow area where a big window would not fit. The only windows left in the metal frames have some busted panes. I cut one of the big window frames in half to frame into the end of the porch. I’ll be able to make it match the work Kurt already did across the front. Joe is very carefully heating the remaining metal frames to recover the rest of the colored glass panes that haven’t been broken. Be good to have them safe somewhere in case he needs to replace on sometime.

John Rike, 2004 Melissa, TX

Travel

Middle of the month, have some friends from TX who are going to meet me in TC. John Rike and Jerry Hoag have been coming up from TX every summer for a golf outing. John has been talking about arriving in MI early, maybe next week (around the 10th). Not sure yet how much time he has. The golf outing is in Lewiston. In 2007, John and Jerry met up with me at Jann’s in T.C. John did some fishing with Ron Hines, then John and Bucky and me went for a ride with his pick up camper. We spent a few days meandering as far as Sault Saint Marie to watch the big boats locking through. John is talking about doing some like that again.

Bucky

Bucky

I’m worried about Buck. She hasn’t been feeling well and isn’t rebounding. She’ll be 12 on Christmas, which is generally considered very old for a Boxer. All I need to do to make myself very sad is start thinking that she may be coming to an end.

Writing

Joe has a morning routine that gives me plenty of time for writing even while I’m helping him with projects. It’s a nice arrangement. Am still experimenting with the style of story architecture I want to use for my writing project. I’m doing my tests with a series of short stories. The second of those has also done well in a competition. Though this effort takes time away from my main project, it feels like a necessary part of the process. You may look at the story here:

RedBubble Link

TN to MI

07.31.09

Route taken to Saylersville, Ky

Salyersville, KY

Spent my birthday in the coal hills of eastern KY. After visiting with the Dougherty clan in TN, I stopped there to surprise my friend, Kim Hoskins. Kim is good company and has a sparkling intellect.

This was my first time in that neck of the woods. Eastern Kentucky is pretty country. From there I drove north on US 23. Nice road! Think I’ll go that way again sometime.

We had an impromptu birthday celebration— just sitting on her big rap around porch and talking. I really enjoyed Kim’s new home. It’s a great place. I even got

Very nice wrap around porch

I didn’t get to enjoy any exploring on foot. My knee is still stiff, but feeling much better. Stopped taking pain meds. Most of the pain is gone and it doesn’t get worse when I sit for a few minutes. My cousin, Mark in TN said I hurt it sleeping on his couch which is too short. He said he’s done the same thing.

So I just took it easy so it would get feeling good enough to drive without pain. But I did get some good writing done which is always a plus to me.

North to MI

Route up US 23

Left Kim’s place at 0400. Drove up north on US 23. Hit rush hour in Columbus instead of Cincinnati, which was shorter and less stressful. The drive across the farmlands of OH was very picturesque. Stopped in a mid OH town for breakfast.

The roads through the farmlands were in very good condition, and I found if I wasn’t careful, I get rolling along above the speed limit. As of my birthday, my plates are officially expired. So that was even more incentive than usual not to get pulled over.

I drove behind a truck for quite a way because he wouldn’t go faster than 55, but at a light in a small town, I lost him. As I got back out in the country again, there was a woman in a car behind me that was right on my ass. I got annoyed and pulled over and let her by.

It was a beautiful sunny morning. Bucky’s head was in my lap. Had a good classical station on the radio. Looked down and had let my speed get up to 70 mph! I immediately slowed back to 55. As I decelerated around a curve, there was a State Trooper turning around! The trooper roared off ahead of me and pulled over the lady I let by.

Joe's House

Ypsilanti

Arrived in Ypsi just after 1100.

Ypsi is the loudest place I’ve been since I left Ypsi. It’s really quite amazing.

Joe is in good spirits. Had a pleasant first evening. He cooked a steak birthday dinner for me and invited a few friends like Frank and Sandy.

Getting To Knoxville

07.26.09

Route to Knoxville

Travel

Made it to Knoxville without incident. Had a good ride.

I had been concerned about my car making it. Guess now I was lucky to have had all those problems with my Escort back in Sanford last winter. Certainly was a lot easier to deal with and fix there than on the road! Hopefully my car will be good to go for a while.

Larry McNeely

Stopped and spent the afternoon in Carthage with my friends Larry and Beth McNeely. Larry is one of the best banjo player in the world. Larry has worked with scores of well known musicians, has recorded well known movie sound tracks, and might be best known for the Dukes of Hazard TV theme music.

We became friends when I got to play a couple shows with Larry: one in Carthage for the Buggy Days in 2007, and later we played a street fair in Southern Pines. Beyond his extraordinary talent, the best way to describe Larry is to say that he is an intelligent and gracious gentleman.

Road from Sanford to Carthage

Larry and his wife, Beth are both really fine people. They operate an antiques store in Carthage, NC called Granny’s— named for Beth’s mother.

Larry is also a writer working on SciFi projects. We became best acquainted talking about our mutual literary aspirations.

Bucky and I spent much of the afternoon visiting with Larry and Beth in the Old Buggy Factory where they have their store. Larry asked me when I was headed for MI. Told him I was already gone— his town just happened to be my first stop. Larry insisted that we play some music when I get NC.

Uncle John Dougherty

My uncle is doing very well at the moment. Though his condition is considered terminal, for the time being, Uncle John is improving daily. Even hospice decided to leave and wait to comeback when they are needed. I’ll bet they don’t get to do that very often.

It is good to see my uncle doing so well— especially when I expected to find the worst. New therapies are being developed everyday, so perhaps something will come of that. I respect that he is choosing his treatment based on quality of life— so no chemo, however, he has changed his mind and decided to explore some radiation treatment.

Having a gathering at my Uncle’s house today. I’ll probably head north Monday or Tuesday.

Underway

07.21.07

Travel

Taking off today. The car is packed: Clothes, Camera gear, Laptop, Dawghouse bass, a few tools, and Bucky’s stuff (bed, backpack, meds, food, dish, blanket, couple leashes).

Got packed up and then hung around Sanford for another week. Weather turned nice. Did some good writing. Everybody thought I was gone, so no one bothered me. Plus, I worked on a few things I will be glad to have done in case the place suddenly sells and I got to get back fast and decamp.

Heading for TN today. Then to Ypsi for the August Moon Squallor.

Music

Moon Squallors are a home made music party started on Oct 12, 1975 out in the Cabin at Henry Ford’s old hideout off Geddes Rd. in Superior Township, MI. They were so much fun, they just became a tradition. Later they continued when I lived back at Deep Run Farm, and when that place was razed, my friends, Kevin and Cathy Howard have continued them at their place in Willis.

House Sitting

Wasn’t planning on leaving Sanford and coming back. Figured I’d stay until the house sold, but it hasn’t sold. I need to go back to MI to renew my car licenses.

Everything is cool here. Grass is scalped. Shut most everything down. Will leave the radio and a couple lights on…

Learning To Write

07.08.09

Writing

I’m still learning to write— probably always will be, but I feel I’ve struggled to a new plateau from where I can see how to better manage story elements and layers of meaning. I am experimenting with short stories to gain some feedback and also feel a sense of accomplishment— which is a long time coming on a novel project.

House Sitting

Had a good visit with Todd. Yard sale business was slow, though we did sell some. Seemed like most of our sales were to the neighbors— some Todd never really met before.

Bob the Kitty was glad to see his old pal Bucky. Bob likes to head-butt Bucky— and everyone else he likes.

Todd brought a batch of his homemade Jerky. Man was that good! If he gets tired of tooling, he could do jerky!

Was pretty sorry to see Bob and Todd heading back to Chicago. I don’t mind living here alone, but it sure was fun having them here for company and sharing some meals.

Travel

In other news, John Rike called me from Texas yesterday. We are planning to meet in MI during the first or middle or late part of August. Told me he has a pop up camper. We don’t have an itinerary yet, but John has always wanted to explore the UP.

I’m getting ready to pack for the trip to MI. I plan to go to Knoxville, then stop in Ypsi before going on to TC.

The Hill Beautiful

07.01.09

The Hill Beautiful

Hill Beautiful

In summer, I always feel drawn to the place where my early childhood summers were spent. My family had a farm high on a hill near Eastport with an astonishing view.

I was about 2 when I first went there and can still remember my first time walking in the place— the look of it, the smell, the wind— even calling out the name of the woman my parents bought it from wondering if she was still there. That was early 1957. Ten years later, my parents sold the farm to my mother’s mother and her husband.

My step-grandfather, who was Dutch, named the place for the view and put it on a sign at the head of the driveway. ”De Schoone Heuvel” Grandpa called it in Dutch: ‘The Hill Beautiful’

House Sitting

Todd is driving down for the 4th. He’s bringing Bob the Cat. Along with having a yard sale to get rid of stuff, we’ll also chill and have some fun.

Travel

I am headed to MI before the end of the month to tend to some personal business. I don’t know if the winds of fate will blow me all the way to Mass City, but I sure would love it if they did.

Another part of my mission is to visit Knoxville. I fear I may be saying good-bye to a favorite uncle afflicted with aggressive brain cancer. My itinerary may change suddenly.

Bucky & her Stuffy Bear

Bucky

Bucky is still limping some, but better, though she does seem lethargic. Her regular vet is in Lake Leelanau, MI. I plan to go to TC while up north and will take Bucky in for a check up.

Bluegrass Show

05.19.09

Constant Rain

It has rained nearly everyday for over a month. I’m not kidding! The grass is finally starting to slow down. One more cutting and it should be good for a month if the rain lets up a little.

I sprayed the weeds in the cracks and the poison ivy a couple times when it looked like a break in the rain and got weather screwed each time. Got the weeds in the cracks in the driveway and around the pool, but the poison ivy just looks healthier.

Prairie Schooner

Have been able to determine that I’ve got a big brake leak somewhere, but I’ll need to pull around in front to find and fix it. I figure I’ll do it last thing on the way out as I don’t sit in front of the house any longer than needed. And once moved out from around the back, I don’t want to pull the schooner back in again.

Flatt Tyred Bluegrass Band

Flatt Tyred

I’m playing a blue grass show on Saturday— 2 hours! With a new band called Flatt Tyred! I’m sitting in for the regular bass player that isn’t available. There have been some extra rehearsals because many of the songs they play aren’t familiar to me. I’m nervous about trying to learn so many new songs so fast. I’m afraid I’ll get on stage and my brain will be a blank.

The band is really good and they sing wonderful harmonies. My voice fits right in. So even though I’m not as good as the regular bass player, I’m a better singer. In spite of being anxious about the performance, I’m having a lot of fun playing with new people!

Writing

Still working on my story full time.

Travel

Haven’t been back to Ypsi yet. It’s almost summer, so I’m dreaming about beautiful Michigan— even if I can’t be there.

Continuing Car Saga

03.07.09

Ongoing Frustration

I’m still suffering frustration with my disabled Escort. Diagnosis: no spark. All the ignition parts seem to have failed at once! Apparently, the coil failed sending a high voltage spike back through the low voltage side cooking everything with a computer chip in it. The last part for me to change is the stator which is inside the distributor so I’ve ordered a new distributor…

I tested one of the new parts I bought and have discovered that it may not be up to specs. Shit. How much time did I waste on that?

Luckily, I’ve got the smoke bomb to drive. It’s frustrating that I spent all that effort rebuilding the diesel engine in my little pick up only to have the new piston rings fail to seat. I’ve actually gotten some pretty good advice on how to deal with that situation from several different sources. Stay tuned. Hopefully I will have a great story to tell about how I fixed it (or maybe blew it up Ç;-).

Weather

At least it is a great day outside! Forsythia have been blooming for about 3 weeks, but the best is yet to come. The past week has been like Michigan during summer. The prettiest part of spring comes in April, but that is also the pine pollen season, so everyone here always hopes for a rainy spring to wash the pine pollen away still, it makes everything turn green for a couple weeks and folks with allergies suffer miserably.

I should be fixing my car, but instead I’m on on the computer. I don’t care much for car repair. And I try to get some work done on the story everyday.

Family

The generation of our parents is coming to a close. I think on Mom’s side there is only Uncle Bob (Bill’s twin) and Aunt Pat— both in their 80s. I have one aunt on my father’s side and her husband. After they are gone, we become the old farts in the family.

I want to go to MI this summer and visit my friends and family there.

Sanford

Other than living alone, things are good here and living alone isn’t terrible, I just prefer sharing meals with others. As long as I’m house sitting here, it is a hard choice to leave. I am fulfilling my primary vocation, and that is to write. Here I can afford the time. Elsewhere I may not, you know how life can get in the way. I’m over 3 years into this story project. The notion of all those thousands and thousands of hours becoming a waste has become a motivation in itself.

I hate to be restless. I am enjoying one of my best creative phases ever. But I am restless. This situation will end sooner or later whether I leave it or not, but once I do leave, the paradigm will shift. There is opportunity here that I will give up if I leave before it ends.

One house showing since Labor Day! Of course, someone could make an offer on the place tomorrow in which case all of the above considerations would become mute points. Meanwhile, I’m playing ping pong every week, supporting myself (for the first time in years!), playing lot’s of music, and most importantly, getting as much writing done as I am capable of doing. It’s a pretty good gig.

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