TheCapeBlog

Yesterday, Juneteenth, we did laundry and James built a temporary wall.

Bruce did another run through with James yesterday and when I balked at James’ predicted increase in the project cost, came up with an idea today to make the project more affordable. Thank goodness.

Bill and Ryan were here today to sand and touch up the driveway side bedroom walls.

Ron and I sorted through a small-ish pile of debris left from yesterday’s big corner yard cleanup. I brought it and some other yard cuttings to the transfer station.

Ron mowed the yard, front and back, and it looks great.

The tech from Spectrum, an efficient and cheerful sort, solved our streaming issues; what a relief!

Laundry, carpet cleaning, changed sheets.

Disgusted by the torn living room shades, I took them down and hung summer curtains. No doubt just in time for demolition but certainly an improvement for now!

We missed a 9 am walk and I think it’s best to not sign up for any others. We were up late last night and didn’t get out of bed until after 8 this morning.

Ordered some cool grammar pencils for James M.

Cleaned my laptop keyboard and screen with 70% isopropyl alcohol.

Booked an appointment for service from Spectrum.

Went on a hike with Ron on the Williamstown to North Adams Adventure Trail. Must complete it!

Made burgers and salad for supper.

Ron did the transfer station and redemption center runs before they closed.

I cleaned off the shelf in the upstairs closet that was covered with insulation and loaded the truck with metal, plastic and paper recyclables and a big bag of trash.

Afterwards, I attended the I Am Afro street fair, had a beer and brought home Spire donuts.

Bell helped me fold tarps and explored the front of the truck while Ron supervised.

I picked up a book on hold at the library, which was lucky; they are closed on Monday.

The Second Coming
BY WILLIAM BUTLER YEATS

Turning and turning in the widening gyre
The falcon cannot hear the falconer;
Things fall apart; the centre cannot hold;
Mere anarchy is loosed upon the world,
The blood-dimmed tide is loosed, and everywhere
The ceremony of innocence is drowned;
The best lack all conviction, while the worst
Are full of passionate intensity.

Surely some revelation is at hand;
Surely the Second Coming is at hand.
The Second Coming! Hardly are those words out
When a vast image out of Spiritus Mundi
Troubles my sight: somewhere in sands of the desert
A shape with lion body and the head of a man,
A gaze blank and pitiless as the sun,
Is moving its slow thighs, while all about it
Reel shadows of the indignant desert birds.
The darkness drops again; but now I know
That twenty centuries of stony sleep
Were vexed to nightmare by a rocking cradle,
And what rough beast, its hour come round at last,
Slouches towards Bethlehem to be born?

Source: The Collected Poems of W. B. Yeats (1989)

The new oil tank arrived this past Wednesday.

The crew from Potential Energy and an auditor from Clear Result worked here yesterday and today.

The auditor found a couple of small deposits of vermiculite which we took care of. That left only trace amounts, so he gave the okay to proceed.

James was also here and texted later that we got our permit!

I picked up paint at Aubuchon.

Ron’s prescription came through at Walmart!

Bill did more work in the driveway side bedroom.

While I was out fetching Ron’s meds, Norm figured out the vent business.

We enjoyed a terrific set by the Grace Jones Quartet at MCLA. Nice theater, easy parking; we’ll be back.

The Potential Energy crew finished work today. Their lead was great about answering my many questions and they worked diligently and well.

They were able to cover the two crawl spaces with moisture barriers. They replaced the aluminum siding perfectly and finished the blown-in insulation before it started to rain.

Norm came back to connect the vent to the pipe he’d installed in the attic. Rather than cut through the wall, he set the fitting by touch and sound.

Bill was back briefly this morning. It looks like that bedroom will be finished some time next week.

Once again, Ron ran out of Tramadol, had fits about it and insisted that we drive around North Adams during a thunderstorm for no real purpose other than to assure him that his whims prevailed.

We go through this almost every month. Ron “forgets” to order meds and it’s a horror show until the prescription is filled.

I don’t blame the medical practice. They have a 3 day rule for ordering refills and it seems easy enough to conform to that rather simple request.

Pharmacies are pretty good at giving short-term refills while the process is ongoing, but it doesn’t work that way with opiates. Blame the government for overreach, but it is a fact that people with chronic pain have to live with, unfortunately.

I’ve failed at everything I’ve tried: freshman year at college, parenting, running a business, friendships, marriage, home ownership.

I’ve also done just about everything I wanted to, i.e., all of the above.

Today I feel neutral about this: not regretful, not resentful either.

I think it’s called coming to terms.

I still remember the smug look on the face of a woman who demanded that I stop smoking at an outdoor concert. She was so very, very proud of herself, so full of self-satisfaction. I would bet that if she had been similarly rude to someone who was not a middle-aged White woman, her companions would have shushed her up.

DEET-based insect sprays are the new smoking. At least from the standpoint of some self-righteous so-called environmentalist types.

I recently was called out on an outdoor hike by someone who objected to my using a DEET spray.

Since moving to this “unique environment”, I’ve encountered a whole new set of nasty flying animals that have left scars on my arms. Some holes from insect proboscises are large enough to be seen by the naked eye.

I don’t care about the cosmetic aspect – scars are a badge of honor at my age – but I do care about infection, inflammation and losing sleep.

So, I’m left with a dilemma: do I stop attending outdoor events with strangers or slap on the DEET and risk disapproval?

After the big lower cabinet cleaning and disinfecting, I’ve been working on the kitchen counter.

Also dug out a bunch of grass and weeds from the uphill side of the driveway.

With the help of PBS Tech Support, our Roku/PBS problems seem to be solved.

Ron’s new hearing aids are uncomfortable and bothering him. My legs are still hurting.

We prepped salad vegetables yesterday from last week’s CSA. This week’s box looks like a nice assortment.

A house is not a home, and ours has a way to go, but as we decided at breakfast this morning, it’s been one step back but two steps forward.

So far, the good people who have been working with us have replaced the roof, windows and hot water heater, removed a chimney that was falling apart and repaired or replaced bad electric, a crumbling ceiling and out-of-code plumbing.

We’ve had vermiculite and mold removed and/or remediated. Ron and I cleaned up the cellar floor and the yard. The front of the house is not beautiful but respectable, and we are enjoying the discovery of old plantings in the back before adding to them, if ever.

We’ve had the ceiling raised in one second floor bedroom and work on reinforcing the floor in the other has started with the installation of posts and a new header in the basement. The old floor was ripped up in February and it’s taken this long to get a contractor.

We’re trying to prepare physically and psychologically for demolition of half the living room ceiling next week to allow installation of floor joists.

I’ve taken to drinking wine with lunch, having learned that “sun over the yardarm” meant midday in the British navy and thus, the time when sailors would be issued their first tot of rum.

The mountains are no longer shrouded in Nova Scotian forest fire smoke but our hill is heavily forested so we won’t have a view again until winter.

Meanwhile, Bennington Potters, who have covered the Southern Vermont landscape with their flyers, hasn’t been open to the public for the last three years with no plans to reopen any time soon.

Go figure.