Before and After....

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I think part of the aging process is that you generally start to slow up ( or is it down?) in some of the things you used to do. At least, it seems that way with me. I have definitely slowed up ( or down) in faithfully writing our blogs. I think there was a time I was writing them almost daily...oh, you poor souls! It must have been like showing you our home movies everyday. YAWN! ZZZzzzzzz.

In our last blog, about being at the Mothership (Red Bay), I promised I would catch you up on our time BEFORE we went to Mecca and AFTER we left it. I'm always faithful when I promise something. Slow but faithful. You are soooo Luckeeee.

BEFORE........Tropical Palms looked like a deserted island after almost all of our snow bird friends left. We could almost see Russia there was so much open expanse. Seems like someone else said they could see Russia, too (Sarah Palin...remember her?). Our coffee café dwindled down to Art, Chris and us. Steve would make a showing briefly. We had no canopy so moved our chairs to the sewer side of our RV, seeking a bit of shade. Where is everyone?

Knowing we would be leaving Tropical Palms in the near future, I went to Great Clips to get my hair cut. The gal I always ask for was off that day. Oh, dear...but I'm sure whoever took me would do just fine. WRONG! WRONG! WRONG! Absolutely WRONG! “Flamboyant Francesca” did a job on me. She was just like Edward Scissorhands! Her fancy fingernail talons were almost six inches long. Her massive hair extensions reminded me of a skanky Rapunzel. Her makeup made RuPaul look Amish. I nicely explained the simple trim and shaping I needed. She must have had the sensory deficit of being deaf! Before I knew what was happening, she buzzed my few hairs down to nothing! That's right....nothing! I'm sure people felt sorry for me thinking I had just had chemotherapy! It was bad! Very bad! I was scalped. Cory had more hair than me. Cory had to help me into the car...I was stunned...in shock. Even he couldn't stomach looking at me. He kept his eyes diverted from my direction. I felt like a leper. After I regained my composure and could try to think of a solution, I settled with wearing my little green cap. Yup! I wore that cap for over a month straight! Folks thought I was trying to look snazzy....hah! If only they knew what lay under my little green cap (nothing!). Feel sorry for me? I hope so! Fortunately, as time has passed, my hair has grown a little....enough that I could put my little green cap away.

Wearing my little green cap, Cory and I ventured up to Old Town. There was a special event going on. Nathan’s Famous Hot Dog Eating Contest was having a qualifying contest right here at Old Town. Every July 4th, Nathan’s Hot Dogs sponsors the Coney Island, TV spectacular, famous Hot Dog eating contest. Joey Chestnut has been the champion for the past several years...Go Joey, Go Joey, Go Joey! On this day, at Old Town, several candidates were selected to try to become the winner and move on to the main contest on July 4th. There was a big crowd in attendance on this very hot day... appropriate for eating Hot dogs! The announcer was the same fellow who announces the contest in Coney Island. He's great! Early on, you could tell there were a couple of contestants who really knew what they were doing. They just shoved and crammed the dogs into their mouths as fast as they could. It's quite repulsive to watch but exciting. Finally, a champion was crowned. He ate 42 hotdogs in the short period of time allotted. Now, on July 4th, he will be on TV at Coney Island, going against Joey Chestnut.....Go Joey. Let the best man win! If you have never watched this gluttonous event...do so. It's on ESPN around noontime. You’ll never look at a hot dog the same.

Sometimes, not everything goes the way you want. Cory went to our eye doctor so he could check a tiny spot on his lower eyelid. This doctor had removed a spot in this area two years ago. Now it was back. He did a biopsy and it came back as basal cell carcinoma. Next step....remove it. I think the doctor thought he was Edward Scissorhands, too. He chopped away at poor Cory’s eyelid. He was able to get it all but left Cory looking like a wounded Jack Sparrow (a name Steve gave him). I suggested he wears an eyepatch but, in the words of Seinfeld, he said “but I don't want to be a pirate!” Feel sorry for him? Hope so.

While still in Florida, we received word that two of our very dearest and best friends had died. Our hearts were broken. Gayle was one of the first nurses I met when I started work in 1972. She was so much fun. She and her husband, Gene, became our wonderful, best, lifelong friends. We had so many good times together. You all know Sam, either in person or through our blogs. He died shortly after leaving Tropical Palms. Our time at TP will never be the same.....we were always with Dear Sam and Sandy.....going here, doing this. Enjoying every moment we spent together... making wonderful memories. Sam was so special to all of us, We shall cherish our memories of Sam and Gayle forever.

Finally, our departure day arrived and we bid farewell to Tropical Palms on May 19th. We made several overnight stops along the way as Cory navigated our house on wheels to the Mothership, Red Bay, Alabama. AND, fortunately, if you read our previous blog, you know our entire story of being at Red Bay. I don't think I missed any part of it! You are probably nodding in agreement.

AFTER.......we arrived back to our homestead (our pole barn and RV pad) in Shongo, NY on May 28th. It is always such a rewarding and relieving feeling to have made another successful journey to our destination. Cory deserves applause at this time. Good job, Bucky. All was just as we left it. Cory promptly busied himself, setting up our home again. Our daughter and son-in-law, Lory and Jay, came down to welcome us back. We had supper together at our local restaurant.....just like old times.

Our timing was perfect. Lory’s siblings were bringing items down for her upcoming yard sale. This meant that all our family could get together on May 29th. Even better, it was also our son, Tim’s birthday, so what a wonderful celebration we had. Every one was there minus five grandchildren who live far way. We cherish these gatherings so much. Family is so important to us.

Cory has found himself back to puttering around our place on a daily basis. When he goes in the pole barn, it's just like he's going off to work....bye, Honey. I have no idea what he's doing in there but it sure occupies his time. He can take a break once in awhile because he has a beer refrigerator there. He got our golf cart running.....that was nice. We took a ride around the neighborhood. He said it was like “Driving Miss Daisy.” He got back on his mowing tractor. We don't have that much grass anymore to cut but he likes to mow it when he can...just like old times but 3 acres less to do. One of his main projects is keeping us in water. He takes on the role of Gunga Din faithfully. We have septic and electricity available for our RV.....but no water except for the freshwater holding tank in our RV. Thus, Gunga seeks out water sources. He bought a bigger water bladder for the bed of his truck. With this, he goes to our daughter's house and gets water in it from their garden hose. He also has several large water jugs he fills up. On top of that, he bought a second rain barrel we can use when it rains. It hadn't rained since we returned until just a couple days ago....now our barrels are full! 🎶🎶Roll out the barrel and we’ll have a barrel of fun!🎶....at least, plenty of water. Yippee! Cory has a little pump that he uses to fill our holding tank from all these sources. He's a wonderful “Waterboy!” In the words of Helen Keller: “Wah---Water!”

When we are asked, “Where are you from?”......we try to explain we are from New York but the Southern Tier of New York. Most people think NY is New York City. We are five hours away from NYC and our landscape is all very rural. Here are a few pictures of what we see when we drive around. A couple of photos I borrowed because they were so pretty. Our countryside is beautiful. We stopped at a yard sale and I took a picture of their gnarly tree....it was so fascinating. I thought so, anyway.

Speaking of trees.....the next three photos are the trees that Cory and I planted in front of our old house years ago. We thought they would offer some privacy since our old farmhouse is set somewhat close to the road. The trees were called the “Wall of China.” They were supposed to grow approximately five feet tall. Yeah...right! Look at them! They are almost touching heaven. Our ground must have been very fertile. I forget how many we planted....there were many more. We had to thin them out because they almost became a solid wall of trees. We are amazed every time we look at them. And Johnny Appleseed thought he was a big deal...hah!

Shortly after our arrival, we had to pack up our mobile house and take it up the narrow, winding back roads to where we get it's NYS inspection. Cory has to be careful because we have a lot of Amish in our area and they are moving about in the horse and buggies on these country roads. They like seeing our RV. We have to go back to this business: HESS, in July. The serviceman found something leaking around an axle or something like that.... Remember I'm not a mechanic so I just get every other word. This Friday, HESS (The place we take our RV) is having its annual Customer Appreciation Day. They have thousands who attend. They provide a huge chicken Bar-B-Q, homemade ice cream, free trinkets and more....it is terrific and we are going!

I'm sure you probably saw the smoke that recently covered a huge area of the Northeastern states. It came from the terrible forest fires happening in Canada. So sad to see. We were part of this smokey area. It certainly dulled our visual distance for a few days. Kind of like our cataracts had returned. I think it's supposed to happen again but not to the extreme as before.

This past Saturday, June 10th, the company, Ljungstrom Air Preheater, where Cory worked for 40 years, had their 100th anniversary. What a fabulous celebration they had. Thousands of active and retired employees and their families attended. Our daughter, who works there, was on the organizing committee....Bravo! It was a big success. Our grandson, Alan, also works here. They had a magnificent Chicken Bar-B-Q with so many selections! They had cotton candy, snow cones and popcorn. They had a tour of the plant. It's monstrous in size. Of course, the Air Preheaters that they built were monstrous in size. Now they are building the huge windmill blades. They gave out trinkets along the way. They had games for the children (Lory’s responsibility) and cornhole. They gave out nice gifts. Music was played...the DJ even played a song just for Cory. We thought it was going to be “Take this job and shove it” ( he was VP of Human Resources ) but it was his favorite Garth Brooks song. A drone was overhead taking pictures. They had more huge tents set up than Barnum and Bailey! Cory was thrilled to see so many of his fellow co-workers as they were thrilled to see him again. It was a wonderful time.

Enough....this is it for now. Whew! My finger is raw and my eyes are blurred. You must be frazzled, too. Enjoy your summer to its fullest. We hope to see some of you during our time in New York. We hope to stay in touch with those of you we won't see. Remember to review the 26 photos included. Happy Summer!

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Comments

[Nancy Reidy]

Welcome home
Sandy & Cory, glad you are home safe. So sad to here about Sam. Give our condolences to Sandy. I always enjoy your adventures!

[Sandy and Cory]

Hi Nancy
So good to hear from you. We speak of you and Jmmy often, will send your condolences to Sandy