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Published: January 4th 2018
The One About Catching Up and coping with the cold in a metal box and passages.
Up and out early from Golden Isles in Brunswick, GA on the 29th. It was cold overnight. I tried to get propane at the campground – they have a big tank on their front lawn. I was told, “We don’t pump.” OK, then. I went up the road half a mile to the Flying J which has RV lanes and sells propane, and got in line. I filled up with gas. There was a line for propane. I saw the attendant come out, look at the RVs on the line, turned on her heel and said, “I don’t have time for this today, I am too busy.” OK, then. We all looked at each other and too off one buy one dazed and confused.
I had about 180 miles to go on interstates. That 180 miles turned into over 5 hours due to traffic on I75. What a nightmare. Many accidents. Even though it is 3 lanes, the lanes in some spots are narrow and traffic slows down. I decided to go to the propane store near my campground and headed for that. Saturday. Closed.
Yes, holiday weekend, but the propane area is closed on Saturday. It might or might not be open on Sunday, but I figured it would not be open on New Years’ Eve. I continued on. I have half a tank of propane, but the weather forecast was for bitter cold and I wanted to be sure I had enough to run my furnace.
Check in was easy, my site was waiting for me. It was very warm and felt very good. The row that I am is along the fence to the farm next door. Sites alternate, back in, nose in, and I am in a nose in site along the fence in front and workshop shed on the passenger side. I face the goats, the cows, the horses and chickens. It’s kind of cool. The animals don’t bother Winston. He just stands on the dashboard and watches them. I quickly set up camp, (levelled and extended slide, hooked up electricity and water) and headed for happy hour and greeted old friends. This happy hour was the special monthly Birthday Party where cake and ice cream are served and all the birthday people get their picture taken wearing a silly birthday cake hat.
Next, I set up my sewer hose. The brand-new sewer hose, that I had the presence of mind to remover from the box before I got on the road – those cardboard boxes and plastic fasteners can be so hard for old hands to deal with. The new 25-foot hose easily reached the sewer hole in the ground. What did not work was my hands pushing the bayonet attacher thingy to the sewer gate in the utility compartment. I just couldn’t turn the blasted nozzle to secure it. Fortunately, I stowed the old hose in the box of the new hose. I pulled it out and easily connected it. I will work on that problem another day.
Sunday I was invited to join a group heading for a flea market in Inverness, about 20 minutes away. Closed. We plotted our course to another flea market, about 35 minutes away and it was wonderful. There were 5 of us and we all got treasures. My purchases included a White Honeydew melon (fully eaten in one sitting it was so yummy), yellow night driving clips ons for my glasses, a $5 purse to replace the small one I left home, the game, Left, Right, Center Wild, *(those Wilmington grandkids better watch out, I am gonna take all their money) and a baby staghorn fern. That vendor had amazing ferns, citrus trees, and orchids, but I resisted knowing I will find better stuff at another flea market I will be visiting. The ride home was much shorter.
New Years Eve celebrations started at 5:00. A seasonal resident, Kathy, planned a Progressive Dinner at various sites around the campground. Appetizers were at one campsite, we walked to another site for an amazing assortment of soup and salads, on to the rec hall for main course and desert. It was about 55 degrees, and our only real outside course was appetizers. A small group played bean bag baseball at the appetizer site accompanied by a lot of laughs.
Soup and salad were served on the porch of a permanent structure campsite accompanied by Trivial Pursuit, prizes awarded.
After the main course in the rec hall (lasagna and ham/potato casserole) we played New Years Bingo to a lot of laughs. Outside then for a giant beautiful campfire and after dinner libations. I lost it at 10:00; I was getting cold and very tired, so went home, walked Winston and cuddled up in bed with electric blanket blazing and waited for the ball to drop on TV. I didn’t make it. Even the neighbor farmer’s fireworks did not wake me up. I heard there were 29 folks who made it to midnight, and that’s a record for New Years Eve here at Florilow Oaks.
New Years Day was cold and rainy. Walking Winston was a chore; he didn’t want to go out any more than I did. I spent the entire day inside Moya except for the 2 hours I went to the rec hall where I was able to borrow an HP power cord and watched 2 episodes of General Hospital. People are great here. Another friend, Kay, came over late in the afternoon with her HP charger in hand, telling me she wouldn’t need it until 3:00 Tuesday, and I should use it as necessary. I have not been off the computer since. My laptop easily gets all the wifi offered here, so I really had a chance to catch up, order drugs, download to Quicken, and add to this blog and track expenses. Son, Tim, did mail me a box with many of my missing items, expected delivery, 1/5, Friday. He had to visit 3 post offices before he found one with a self-serve kiosk. Thanks, Tim.
When I went to set up my TV, the antenna was not picking up any channels. I plugged in the provided cable box, and had many DirectTV choices. I realized the antenna was really broke, the interior tuning knob just spun around and acquired no channels. I will be staying at Lazy Days, the dealer where I purchased Moya and have had it serviced several times since, 1/15; I went on line and made a service appointment for that day and hopefully they will be able to fix it. Fortunately, I have a small, 8 inch, antenna TV that I might be able to make work when I leave here and lose satellite access. It’s gonna be a long couple of days without TV, and/or use a lot of cellular data so I can stream.
During one of my Winston walks, I decided to take a breather and sit on a bench at the shuffleboard court. I sat down and the bench collapsed to the ground plopping me abruptly. No one saw. My pride was hurt, so was my butt and my right wrist. Once I shook it off, I wondered how I was going to stand up! Roll over on my knees and push myself up? Not an attractive thought. I decided to scoot my butt over on the bench and could just reach the scoreboard sign, securely mounted in cement in the ground. I wrapped my arms around the pole and pulled myself up, legs straddling the pole. Not pretty, but sure beat getting on my knees. Still no one saw. I went on my way as if nothing happened.
Daughter, Kristine, took her family, extended family members, a friend for Maggie, and the 3 month old kitten on a road trip to Catskill, NY to visit with failing Nanny Shirley. Nanny was good on Saturday, was able to hold an intelligent conversation with all, got to see Maggie and Hudson, and reminisce with Kristine. Her mind is still sharp, even though her body is rapidly failing. They went back to visit on Sunday and Monday, and she was fading in and out of consciousness. I pray constantly for her peaceful crossover, but the universe is just not ready for her yet, sad to say. No one should have to end like this. Peace to you, Shirley.
Monday morning found me using the last of my milk. I asked friend/neighbor/fellow SELow member who I have camped with before, Sandie, if she would take me to the store for a few staples. She was on her way out to purchase a new space heater and was happy to take me. She drives a Miata MX-5. Another not pretty site, watching me get in and out of the passenger seat. We could not fit the new space heater and both of us, so after our visit to Walmart, she dropped me back at the campground to go back and pick up her new purchase. Like me, she is getting low on propane, and she might unhook her rig this afternoon and go fill up. I am still above half a tank, I am fine using my space heater, monitoring hot water heater and cooking uses, greatly limit furnace use, and will hold off another few days, and definitely fill up after checkout 1/10.
I learned that there is absolutely no antenna service in my designated campsite, so maybe the lack of channels means there really is no service. Good thing, because the service at Lazy Days is filled until the end of February.
Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday 1/2-3-4 were virtually all the same. Coffee, out to flea markets or other stores, lunch out, happy hour, cards or games at night and repeat. The only thing that differentiated the days was the degree of coldness. I am a yankee and proud of it and I can still deal with cold much better than I deal with extreme heat. 40 is just sweatshirt weather. Pouring rain, 25mph sustained wind and 40 degrees is another story. That’s cold. Happy hour was held inside rather than around the campfire. Winston got brisk walks. I used my very toasty propane heater in the mornings to really get things warm, and the space heater the rest of the day and overnight. One morning I woke up at 3:15 am sweating and it took a while to cool own. Thursday the rain ended, and I learned the sad news of Nanny Shirley’s passing early in the morning. She was a good grandmother to my kids, especially fond of Kristine with the same birthday. She wished to be cremated with no service and buried in a plot she owns in Newburgh, NY. I asked my step brother if, after Kristine has the baby in March and is able to travel, and after the snow has melted if we could visit her grave and have a family memorial service, and he thought that would be a good idea. I am including one of my favorite pictures of Shirley and grand daughter, Maggie tryng to pose with mad faces but really couldn’t hold that pose. Shirley had two husbands pre-decease her, ( #2, and my dad #3 were friends.) I hope she is sitting in a bar someplace with them reminiscing and drinking her beloved Seagrams and coke. Only coke, not diet, not pepsi. She used to bring the short bottles when she visited because she did not like flat soda. She was a good woman who cared for my father, and he cared for her. She will be missed.
The temperature plummeted with the clearing skies. More flea markets (no purchases. I look for throw pillows to recover with my hand-me-down upholstery fabric and the minimum price was $2 with most at $4. I look in the $.50 range.) I have yet to break out my bicycle…..too bloody cold. I did break out my hand me down jacked from HS classmate, Maureen Kelly. I think it belonged to her brother. It’s a teal blue ABC Wide World of Sports crew jacket from the 80s, I think. It has a furry collar, heavy hood that zips out of view, and multiple pockets with industrial strength zippers up the front and sides. It is very warm and needed for that first thing in the morning walk.
Gonna sign off for a few days. I’ll keep some notes and write when something interesting happens, like it warms up to 70, or I turn the air conditioning on. I am here until 1/10 and expect life to be pretty much the same.
Think a quick kind thought of Shirley. Thanks.
Kat out
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Barb
non-member comment
Shirley
I remember Shirley as a special lady. May she rest in peace. She is in a better place.