NOTE TO READERS

After decades, I mean decades of collecting stuff of all kinds, weights and sizes, and giving every appearance of being in line for a stint on “America’s Legendary Hoarders,” this was the summer season of dispersal. It was the time at Birch Hollow when a proper accounting was necessary. It was the time that we realized there was a house somewhere in the mix of old stuff that simply couldn’t be ignored any longer. By golly, we had some upgrades to do on the old Ponderosa.

It began in June with the removal of an old deck, which I determined had to be dismantled following my unceremonious fall through the rotten boards. Suzanne had been asking me to fix it up for several years, but I always seemed to be able to replace a few boards, and cover over trouble areas, that was.....until there were more patches than original boards. From this debacle, the installation of patio stones, and new concrete step up to the back door, and the creation of five major flower garden plots......to show my shame at not doing the repair work sooner.....the work just seemed to go from “lots to lots more.” All summer long we have been working at reducing the burdens on the homestead, and restoring what keeps us all dry and comfortable. And we have had numerous sales to unload the surplus items that grew into the thousands over the past twenty years.

I’m not a very good handyman but Suzanne is more than competent to make up for my shortfalls. We’ve actually worked as a team to fix up the old digs and I’m happy to say the autumn season looks better than we anticipated a few weeks ago, when askew piles of books and paintings only left us a few feet of pathway from room to room. We actually spent most of our time beneath a camping canopy, and occupying a tent in the backyard when the clean-up got too extreme.

So I had no choice but to abandon writing for a short period, to get this place back in shape. After a day’s work in the wicked humidity, sitting at the computer for even ten minutes was too much on this old body. I hope to get back to the weekly journal entries soon. Thanks for sticking with this blog-site.