Have a happy Sunday as the heat begins to thrill those who are thin blooded (not me).

Here the humidity is kicking in and fog is all around:

“I can bench press steam, but not fog. I just have to wait until the fog lifts itself”

~ Jarod Kintz, This Book Title is Invisible.

Last evening was such fun. So much fun that we couldn’t fall asleep till well after midnight and then were up at 4:30 just to drink coffee and relive the evening.

Aside from a great dinner cruise on a large paddle-wheeler it was the get-together of 80 or so friends all gathered to celebrate Dave & Pat’s 50th. Belly-aching laughter, and oh so much catching up. And you know what, everyone there had aged less than anyone else – it was truly amazing.

Congratulations you two!

Staying up for another reason – that being Vince, Kirstin, Derek, and Kellen heading to Alaska for vacation. After 30 hours of cancelled and delayed flights, last evening they were stuck on another much delayed Delta flight. So, here at a late hour Kirstin and I were live chatting as every 10 or so minutes the departure time was further pushed back.

Finally I couldn’t take it anymore – it was after midnight. This morning I checked and they finally made it to their destination. Does “Conestoga Wagon” have any meaning to you guys?

Living in the hood – Okay, let’s just suppose that you turn a corner in your car and your rear wheel flies off. What would you do?

All you suburbanites who’d pick up their cell to call AAA raise your hand.

But, here in the ‘hood’ there exists another solution. Let me explain.

Mid-week Marcia and I were finishing dinner when a very loud explosive noise had us react. Marcia was the first to spot a wheel, rim and all, bouncing fifteen to twenty feet in the air – bouncing in the middle of our busy intersection next to the condo. Then we spotted a car skid to the curb, metal grinding as its rear brake metalwork carved up the pavement.

Hiking up his ‘low-riders’ a totally befuddled young kid jumped out to discover exactly what happened. From a neighboring house emerged another kid. Much discussion and arm waving they retrieved the wheel. More kids arrived, by now it fist-pumping, fancy handshakes, talk, and laughter.

I could see cell phone activity and in about twenty-minutes a little, well-used panel, truck rolled up. More looking at the damage and more talk.

While one kept corner turning traffic at bay, the panel truck driver began to assemble his tools. Car was jacked up, hammering sounds could be heard, and soon a replacement rotor was put on followed by a battery-operated impact wrench tightening shiny new lug-nuts.

Less than half an hour later the kid drove off. Everyone else headed off to homes and porches. Life in the ‘hood’ was back to normal; just a minor diversion.

Marcia and I high-fived each other as we too celebrated with the group; all from the comfort of our sunroom.

It’s listed – A full week of long hours had us meet with our Realtor. She’s assembling her team and is beginning to formulate a marketing plan which will include a brochure, descriptive language, and photographs.

She expects to begin conducting showings in about eight days. In the meantime the painters should have everything wrapped up in about two days. Their work is stunning! The work they’ve done as part of their ‘prep’ has the stucco probably tighter than when it was first put on 90+ years ago.

So, what does all of this mean? It means that for the next couple of days we’ll be putting in more time as part of the clean-up. And for me, some ‘cutting-in’ where I painted the attic space – now that place has become a sauna.

Fini – Plans are for Marcia to monitor the sale of the house. Meanwhile I will try to hit the road during the back-end of the week and open the cabin.

But, first some “get ready” stuff which always seems to pop-up exactly when there are other plans in the works.

Stay safe and be well, make it a great week.

Cheers.

Dirk