It's Over

Well it finally came to this. After extensive efforts on my part, and soliciting advice, ideas, or anything from all kinds of mechanically minded acquaintances, I finally gave it up. What you see here is a very sick truck attached to a less sick one.

This sad tail goes back a long ways, June of '06, if I remember correctly. We had been having a wonderful time vacationing at the beach. Most of our extensive family were there enjoying the salt air, surf, and sand together. This little truck had performed flawlessly the whole time. Until.........

Until the very morning we were to return to our happy piedmont home. As we pulled out into the street in hopes of a safe and uneventful trip, it happened. Truck no go. Suddenly, inexplicably, truck no go. Now this doesn't seem to be the kind of thing I could blame on the Republicans, or even the Democrats, in spite of this being an election year. Well I'm going to have to give God the glory, because somehow, by His grace, we made it home. We got it crunk (as we say around here) and although it didn't run right, it ran all the way.

After spending literally months trying this and that, it was time to admit defeat and throw in the grease rag as it were. Time to let the experts at the dealership cuss and fuss for a while. Maybe they can cuss in Japanese. I can't. (Maybe that was my problem.) Of course this wasn't easy either since at this point the tow vehicle started acting up. But since said tow vehicle is rather low tech, I could patch it together. At least for the 25mi. trip. I should know better than to get involved with this off brand stuff. Oh well, now someone else will have their hand in my pocket. Maybe it will all work out yet.

The View

This is actually a long range shot. This tree is quite tall and a good way from where I was sitting. This is one of the paradoxes of these modern times. We have this wonderful digital camera, which though the wonders of modern technology, has the ability to make distant objects seem so close. The paradox is that I was sitting in an old fashioned low tech outhouse at the time. I don't think I really need to go into exactly why I was there. Let's just say I had my reasons. But as I was enjoying a peaceful moment there, my gaze wandered upward toward the now bare branches and a curiosity caught my eye. Why does it appear as if there has been an ice storm ? It did rain the night before, but it was not cold. Especially not cold enough for ice, not even a frost. And yet this has the appearance of a real ice storm, the kind that breaks trees, turns out the lights, and causes general havoc. I suppose it is just the sunlight catching the still wet branches, but to me it seemed special.
No, I don't carry a camera each time I visit the little house or go, as we say, "down the hill". But this was too good to pass up and I had to capture the moment before the "ice" melted.

Dexter Tripp up to his tricks at the renaissance fest. The poster does not lie. But he does more than this of course. We have observed this fellow standing on a chair balanced on this same rope, juggling fire whilst standing on the shoulders of a volunteer, and walking up a burning rope. At times he duck-tapes explosives to his body and sets them off. This seems like a hard way to make a living, but I suppose it beats flipping burgers at Micky-D's. Unfortunately I missed the shot of him juggling an apple, machete, and a chainsaw. The first time I observed this I thought to myself, "this chainsaw probably has no chain (a la Halloween gag)". I suppose he could read my mind as well 'cause he then caught the apple on the machete and cut it in half with the chainsaw.

This is a fellow we met at the Renascence festival. I'm not sure what his name is. I was afraid to ask. But I don't think he is as dangerous as he looks. Little children were getting their pictures made with him and he didn't eat any, at least that I saw. We like to go there at least once every year and hang out with the other weirdoes. It's alot more fun when you dress up and all. There's lots of cool (but overpriced) stuff to look at and musicians and all. They stamp your hand if you go out, so we usually slip into the surrounding woods for a Renascence Picnic compleat with ale and all that good stuff. We didn't poach any of the king's deer, but we did have a lot of fun.

Went to visit our daughter this past weekend. She lives in a big apartment complex in a big city somewhere. Actually it was a combination trip. My Sweetie went to a Chinese calligraphy class which is one reason we went. Those characters are really impressive, quite artistic and all, but I'm glad I've only had to learn English. A lot of people are getting tattoos of those things these days. I sometimes wonder if they say what they think they say. Actually I've been told by people who are supposed to know, that this is a problem sometimes. But hey, they still look cool.
But anyway, I took a little stroll that morning. A lot of the tenants keep doggies. They chase my daughter's cat up trees if he's not careful. They also leave little reminders of their presence in the neighborhood. The management encourages the residents to thoughtfully take care of this situation themselves, and has provided this convenient facility to facilitate. I couldn't help being reminded of the approaching political barrage in my mailbox. I have to wonder why the only thing I ever see is about how sleazy the other guy is. I can only conclude that all the candidates must be sleazes. I wonder how this can be possible. It doesn't seem reflective of the general population. Is it because only sleazes get into politics ? This is a great mystery.

The Hole

This is a hole in the ground. It is very deep, but alas, not deep enough. If one looks closely one may notice a small shiny spot at the bottom. This is a small amount of water. A very small amount. We have not had a great deal of rain this summer. Those hurricanes seldom make it this far inland. Not that this is a bad thing in itself, but it can become a problem. Today it is actually raining, but not a whole lot. Not nearly enough. But anything is good, and we are thankful.
This is an old well. One might call it an antique in these days of great and wonderful technology. Just a simple hole in the ground. This is not the first time that things have come to this of course. A few years ago even the river dried up.
Many years ago we were in a similar situation. I decided the best way to handle things would be to make the hole deeper. It seemed like a good idea at the time. And so I built an impressive rig with a frame of 2x4s and pulleys and ropes and all kinds of good stuff to facilitate the process. And so fighting waves of claustrophobia, I was lowered into the deep, but dry, hole. I could say that one has never lived until one has spent time in a well, but that is not really true. I will say, however, that it is a unique experience. I will also say that even the most macho of men should listen to their wives at times like this. The earth at the bottom of such a hole is quite hard and must be chipped out slowly and with a great deal of effort. It must then be pulled out in a bucket by an assistant. All this chipping and scraping and huffing and puffing uses a lot of oxygen and produces an amount of carbon-dioxide which has a tendency to settle in low places. There are not many places lower than the bottom of a well. I suppose hell is lower, but that's another affair. My Sweetie had begged me to lower a candle into the deep each time before my descent, a trick she had picked up from a children's book one time. I, of course thought it unnecessary. I'm kinda dumb like that sometimes. I was having a terrible headache while working down there, but being a guy and all, I was just toughing it out as they say. But then came the dizziness an I almost passed out. About all I could do was mumble something like "You better pull me up". And with the help of the young'uns, she did. I did not feel real good, and looked bad enough to scare them. Just for the record, the candle never made it half way to the bottom before being snuffed. In a few days, there came a gullywasher that fixed the problem.
Did all this help ? Yeah it did. The well is a little deeper now, although it still goes dry at times. And I have one more reason to listen to my Sweetie.

Took my youngest daughter on a motorcycle trip a couple weeks ago. We had thought to ride up into the mountains but setteled for a ride around Lake James insted. We stopped and had a snack at the state park and to give the butt a break. Passed this stone barn on the back side of the lake and couldn't resist a pic. Really fine stone work done with river rocks. I don't think the pic does it justice though. This was near Linville Gorge which is a nice place to camp if you don't mind a hike. Me and my sweetie went there last summer but I didn't take a camera since it seemed to be monsoon season. But of course that's another story.