The City Mouse in the Country

Suddenly, it's October. Actually, scratch that.  Suddenly it's mid October.  Frankly time has passed me by quickly this month.  Nor do I have much to share.  We are still in a holding pattern over our home improvements, and I have just learned that our builder has come down with COVID.   So our plans are put off a bit longer.  I would rather have this work done sooner than later because October is a bipolar month.  It's full of sunshine and warm days only to shift to cold nights and rainy weather, here in Stonoboro there is even the possibility of snow flurries in the coming days.  It is not something I'm looking forward to.  For now however I'm finding joy in leaf peeping.  I'm enjoying stepping out on my porch during a break and letting the sun warm my face.  I'm enjoying the taste of homemade eggnog and the fact that my yard has taken on the appearance of a rich Persian rug.     Susan is baking fresh bread and an apple pie.  I relax with a hot cider.

     Lately everything is on "hold."  My garage is filled to the brim with appliances and tile waiting to be installed for the updated kitchen.   We have a new front door ordered, windows sitting on a loading dock somewhere and lightening ready to be installed.     We are waiting on our contractor to finish one job and start ours.        I started a new position at work in late August, where I am working nearly exclusively with "high touch" customers and agents that need to have their needs fulfilled yesterday.  I feel for them, I've been an insurance agent for eight years now and have owned my own independent delivery company (one of those jobs that I fell into - much like insurance) for roughly 15 years.  I've spent nearly my entire working career in sales.  You always want to under promise and over deliver. Due to 1001 reasons a lot of those requests and desires simply can't be fulfilled.       Holding patterns.      A long overdue vacation is also pl

  I hold it that a little rebellion now and then is a good thing, and as necessary in the political world as storms in the physical. - Thomas Jefferson            I sit outside on our front porch, a tall cool glass of home brewed iced tea in my hand.   I'm looking over our "front 40" - basically a few raised garden beds and containers holding our strawberries, cucumbers, tomato's, peppers, Brussels spouts and zucchini.  There is not much I can do for them now, just let them grow and hope that we get a harvest of something soon.   I'm actually a bit anxious about the garden, I want to have something...anything for the effort.     You can plant a seed and try to take care of it as much as possible, but so much is out of your control.     Although to be honest, for the most part I am actually very content, and I can't help but think of an opening line of a poem I once read.  Sadly the rest of the poem has slipped from memory.  The opening line was simply.  "

      Last week I got a great comment via Reddit concerning this blog and why I do it.  "Leaving a legacy to future ancestors through climate awareness - a smashing idea."       I was just happy that someone was reading what I wrote, and I appreciated it.  To make things even better, he's a professional writer and I highly recommend his blog .  I'm grateful for any feedback and this simple comment made me feel like I was on the right path.        So when I sat down this week, electronic pen in my virtual hand, I had a lot of thoughts bouncing around in my head.   My small container garden is growing, my dogwood trees (with edible fruit) haven't died and I got to spend some time with my 90 year old father; who seemed to fall in love with the goldfinches at my bird feeders.  Susan noticed the number of bees and hummingbirds that have been attracted to our yard, and laughingly told me not to mow till August.    Photo by Birds Unlimited     I've noticed something

    Over the past few days the temperature has been on a roller coaster ride as we hit peak highs and small dips that remind us that this is Western Pennsylvania and winter may not be over till April.  However the days are getting warmer and spring - once a faraway dream - seems to be sneaking in.        I was even able to open the windows a few days ago and the last of the snow; dating back to mid December, has finally melted away.        The other night I watch as a family of deer grazed outside my front window nibbling on the first green sprigs of grass, our youngest cat looking on in fascination.  Spring is coming.  The days are getting longer and I think about planting some flowers and seedlings obtained through the Mercer Country Conservation website .      I'm thinking that the native wild flowers and grasses will make a nice addition to the home.       I plan on letting part of the yard go wild again this year, letting it be overrun with native plants, I'm even conside

            The first great Winter Storm of 2022 is slowly making its way across America.   It's supposed to hit us here Sunday afternoon and bring anywhere between 8 to 12 inches of snow.  The worst part of this storm is the anticipation of it.       It's slowly moving across the United States and the local weather service has given us advanced warning going back several days.   As such, we have weatherproofed some of the windows - at least those that we know our young kitten is not likely to destroy.   We have tested the generator, and cleaned our wood burning stove.       We have the staples of milk, bread and toilet paper in stock.  I have a huge can of ice melting salt at my disposal, a brand new snow blower ready in the garage.  I have my boots, heavy jacket and scarf laid out;  I am ready for this storm.     I have never liked winter.  Moving south was always part of my plans and I moved south shortly after college to escape the cold.  So I find it ironic that I've m

      I have every reason to put off this piece for another week or two, however later on this month – August 28 th in fact – it will be one year since Sue and I moved back to Pennsylvania.    Although I did not start my blog officially until over a month later as I tried to make sense of my “change in lifestyle .”   Plus, there were a lot of boxes to unpack and things to organize.      People that I know are asking me “Do I hate it here/there?” a lot.    I’m sort of surprised by how often it’s asked of me.    Am I that much of a “City Mouse?” A little advert for our realtor      Truthfully I don’t hate it here.    I don’t like things about living in the country.    For example, I don’t care that I live forty five minutes away from a decent Chinese Restaurant, shout out to the Fortune Star by the way.    There is simply a lack of variety out here.  Nor do I like that the nearest hospital is twenty minutes away.    I’m not happy about not being able to find a decent radio station –

 Recently we lost power when the transformer blew across the street.  We were without power for about five hours.  Another day we went without power for about two hours due to a fierce thunderstorm.  As luck would have it both these instances occurred when I was off of work (I work from home on a semi-permanent basis) and during the day.             As such, they proved to be not much of an issue, however it did give me time to test the generator, which has been setting out on our covered back porch awaiting this very opportunity.              Only it would turn over, but not start.  That could be due to a variety of reasons but old gas in the carburetor would seem the most likely culprit however.  It would also be the easiest fix to the problem.            I would simply have to open up the carburetor drain screw , let the old gas drain then make sure to tighten the carb drain screw then let the new gas flow in and try it.   It should start right up.                     Only we h

      Once in ancient America - about 100 years ago - there was this thing called a "Party Line".  In remote or rural areas it made sense to have several homes connected to one telephone line.  Thus if you had to make a call, it was possible that others could listen in, sometimes even join in on your conversation.  Party lines were a way to connect to your neighbors and avoid isolation.  Party lines were eventually replaced as the miles and miles of utility wire were laid over time in rural areas.     It sounds strange to today that we would allow ourselves a lack of privacy, but in 100 years the idea of a cell phone will probably sound very odd to the youth of that generation.  However it was a way to avoid isolation back then.  Much like our work chat and zoom calls are ways that we avoid isolation now until we finally officially go back to work.      It's not odd for my team to share pictures of our pets and talk about things other than work, even though the chat is de

      The official first day of spring was roughly three weeks ago, although I think in most people minds, spring officially starts around Easter.   The last of the cold fronts have hopefully moved through and we are all waiting, anticipating, the growing season to start.     It's almost a palpable energy sweeping through this small community.  All around our small town; I see fields getting plowed, garden beds are getting readied, even our own.  Talk of what fertilizer to use and potting soils fill each and every store around us.  Weed killers, organic and otherwise, are quickly flying off the shelves.  The hum of lawnmowers and other equipment fills the air.           With each day that passes, another tree blooms.  Another flower sprouts.  Our yard is filled with daffodils and here and there, even a dandelion pops up.      Officially the first frost free day is around May 17th , but I don't think many people will wait that long to plant.  We are officially planting over this