The Slow Lane

After working frantically to “declutter” and clean, the house that we have lived in for 22 years is now on the market.

We’ve had to come to terms with several realities. Some of our “treasures” were stuff that should have been discarded long ago. Some of the things we considered treasures would likely be seen by others (especially potential buyers) as clutter. The house really needed more cleaning than we have done in recent times. It really is nice to see through clean windows, for example. Wall paper in the bathrooms and foyer that we never removed came down and the walls were painted. Another reality is that there are lots of people who might not like blue as much as we do.  The rooms that needed fresh paint are now a different color.

So, now the house is for sale. If you or anyone you know is interested in buying it, please call our realtor.  We will be ready on short notice to leave the house when it is shown.

L is 69 today. This picture is my birthday card to her and breakfast at Krispy Kreme got us started on the day.

This picture was taken from an open window looking across the driveway in front of our house.  The rhododendron are especially pretty this year with more blooms than I remember any of the past six years.  Earlier this year the mountain laurel were also full of blooms.

There are lots of rhododendron we can see in the front and on one side of our house.  We see it also when we travel to and from our house.  My understanding is that most rhododendron bloom every other year.  I’m sure the weather also affects the number of blooms.  For whatever reasons, this is definitely the year to enjoy the rhododendron.

The second picture is taken from the road just before reaching our driveway.

After observing the bees for several days, we did not see much activity and only a small number of bees. We did not hear the sounds in the wall as we had originally heard. The owner of Carolina Wildlife Removal came back this afternoon and agreed that there was probably not an active hive. Perhaps they had moved on to look for a better site, or the queen had died. Anyway, he agrees that it is best to leave them alone and observe for a month or so and assuming no increased activity, we should caulk the hole. We are happy to make that decision.

June 5, 2011

I saw no bees by midday and caulked the hole.  There have been no bees since.

Probably the only connection between cataract surgery and honey bees is that they are 2 things I’m dealing with this week.

I had a cataract removed and a new lens implanted in my left eye on Tuesday. Four years ago, I had cataract surgery on my right eye. Already I can tell a big difference in my vision. The surgery itself probably took only about 15 minutes or so. I began taking two types of eye drops four times a day 3 days before the surgery and will continue these drops plus a third type for another 10 days until I see my doctor again. I also have a plastic shield to wear over my eye at night for the first week, and I’m not to do any heavy lifting or bending fo the first week. I’m following doctor’s orders and am recovering well.

Now for the bee part: We have had about half a dozen honey bees in our den in the last 2 days. We have also discovered lots of bees flying around our chimney area. They go in and out of a small hole or crack between the chimney and the siding between the first and second stories. We called Carolina Wildlife Removal and the owner came late this afternoon and gave us a price for removal of the bees. He thinks they are probably in the space between the joists separating the first and second stories. They will have to take out part of the ceiling in our den and/or if they are in the wall, they will remove some paneling. The work will be done next week and they will rescue the bees and donate them to a beekeeper. It turns out the owner grew up in Sampson County near where I grew up and we know some people in common.

Meanwhile, L and I will get in a visit to Como, and I will get past my lifting and bending restrictions just in case there is some related (or unrelated) work I need to do.

This year we have discovered that we have at least 9 flame azaleas on our lot.  Some are tall enough that one can walk under them and not see the flowers unless you look up.  Some of them we saw this year for the first time probably because there are more flowers.  The flowers are orange except for one that is more yellow.  We would like to have more of them and may try to root some for planting in more visible spots.

I was not able to get a picture of the black faced fox squirrel we saw amble across our yard and woods.  He paused at the bottom of the ramp and stood up so we could get a good look at him.  He looked strange because he was bigger than a gray squirrel, his tail was longer and more bushy, and because he had a black face.  His nose was white (or light colored) and so were circles around his eyes (though pictures I have found show white ears more than around the eyes).  The first picture shows the general color (more brown with black ends), and the second picture shows the balck face in better detail.  Put the black face together with the coloring in the first picture and it looks pretty close to the fox squirrel I saw.  I have seen black squirrels, brown and gray squirrels, but I had never seen a black faced fox squirrel before.  I had to look it up and these were the closest pictures I found.  The squirrel I saw did not have black feet and underbody shown in the first picture.  The underbody was actually a light color like the nose and eyes (ears?)

On Saturday, April 16th, multiple tornadoes touched down in NC causing lots of damage to property and 24 deaths throughout the state.  We suffered no damage at our house in Raleigh.

Just before the storm struck, we arrived at a Cary location to watch J and about  90 other people test for various achievement levels in Taekwondo. J was testing for his black belt and passed all three parts of his test: demonstration of skills, sparring, and board-breaking.  It was a proud moment to see J receive his black  belt after working toward it for three years.

When the ceremony was over, the storms had passed with only one brief blinking of the lights where we were.  There was lots of damage in other parts of Raleigh and across the state.

On Tuesday after noon, we brought J and MC to the mountains for the rest of the week.  We went to Mystery Hill on Thursday.  J and Grandma experience a strange sense of gravity without falling down.  We watched a ball that seemingly rolled uphill and water that flowed uphill.  There were several other fun activities that we enjoyed as well as the heritage museum there.

MC helped Grandma plant flowers in some special places.  We also visited the Arts Council and saw lots of paintings and other artistic creations all done by students in Ashe County schools.

J and MC helped Grandma cook a recipe that each had chosen and MC helped make biscuits and
French toast.  We played games and discovered that both MC and J are very good game players.  They are both good conversationalists, too.

We had a great visit and look forward to having them come for another visit soon.

I took this picture this morning when I walked to the mailbox.  I like the composition.  A neighbor’s house is in the center with several ridges behind the house.  The Blue Ridge Parkway is on the horizon and fog from the New River is rising in the valleys.  There is a tree blooming on the left and a brier leafing out on the right.  There is a field of Christmas trees in front of the house (one of many in Ashe County).  Trees are beginning to bud.

We have jonquils and tulips blooming in our yard.  I’ve started a garden with turnips, onions, radish, kale, spinach, beets, and swiss chard sprouting.  I planted some sugar snap  peas yesterday and set out four blueberry bushes.  The thornless blackberry and red rasberry bushes I planted last fall are leafing out.

We have made the mountain house our primary residence and Raleigh house is now our second home.  We plan to spend most of the time in the mountains and shorter trips to Raleigh.  If you would like our mountain address or phone number, call or send an e-mail.

Calvin died on Wednesday, March 16, 2011. He was 62 years old. His health was declining after he retired from the Mobile Municipal Airport authority where he was an air traffic controller. His knees had worn out and caused lots of pain and he was having increasing difficulty breathing. We’re not sure what caused his death, but it was much sooner and more sudden than we had anticipated. Now we know that his knees don’t hurt and he is not struggling to breathe. We will miss him.

There was almost 9 years difference in our ages.  Even though he did not remain little in size, he always tolerated and maybe was even amused when I introduced him as my little brother.  But he obviously enjoyed it more when one of my coworkers asked if he was my son.  In spite of being younger, he was way ahead of me in many regards.  He always read books, encyclopedias, whatever he had available.  He read all kinds of books, fiction, non-fiction on many subjects.  Sometimes it seemed as if he was a walking encyclopedia.  I always admired how much he knew and how well he remembered it and made use of it.  When he was about 5 years as the minister was beginning the sermon and read the story of Ruth, Calvin spoke loud enough for everyone to hear, “Daddy, I’ve already heard this story.  Let’s go home.”

Another thing that I admired was his deep, strong voice.  I know it served him well in his careers as radio announcer and air traffic controller both while in the Navy and in Mobile, Alabama.  Even at his cafe at the flea market, his voice was captivating and drew customers in.  He would suddenly sing out:  “I was born free.  My father was a doctor.”  I always thought he could have had a career singing, but he found it more useful as part of his humor.   He laughed when telling the story of working at the radio station in Dunn, one of his first jobs.  He read the list of people who had been admitted to the hospital and as always picked out a hymn to play for their benefit.  As the hymn was ending he got a call from the station manager who told him:  “Calvin, next time you pick a hymn for the people admitted  to the hospital, don’t pick “When the roll  is called up  Yonder.”  Calvin had picked it because it was the right length to fill the time available.

His wit was legendary.  It was always quick.  Others have mentioned this, but it is one of my favorites.  One day at the flea market, a lady asked if he had any specials.  Without missing a beat, he said, “Yes we do.  Just for you and just for today, I’ll sell you 1 for the price of 2 and give you half off.”  He made his sale.

Calvin was named after his grandfathers.  Grandpa Glover was named Calvin Onslow.  His other grandfather was named Nash Lea Winstead.  Hence his name was Calvin Winstead Glover.  Calvin’s great grandpa Glover was named Calvin Thomas.  Calvin’s son is named Calvin Craig and his grandson is named Calvin, Jr.  Not only is he carrying the Glover name forward, the name Calvin is going with it.

My sister, Kim, has written a nice memorial to him on her blog.  Here is a link to that:  http://kimsmiscellaneousmusings.blogspot.com/

His son Craig gave a eulogy at Calvin’s memorial service on March 23rd in Pensacola.  Here is a link to that:

http://www.jonquilpatch.com/documents/EulogyforCalvinWGlover.pdf

Our 5 year old granddaughter, E, visited us last week at the mountain house.  Lucinda took pictures of us at the overlook on Mount Jefferson. 

We also made a visit to the Good Old Days ice cream store where E enjoyed a cone of rainbow ice cream. 

E likes to help with activities.  She helped me put up our new mailbox.  She also helped me “gather” some firewood from the hickory tree I cut down and watched or helped me and Grandma with other projects.  Of course, we played games and put together puzzles with her and had a lot of quality time together.