Well we've been here a whole 5 days and since we decided not to unpack any boxes, we've had a lot of free time on our hands! Here are a few ways we have spent our time that never would have happened in San Francisco:
1) Trimming the tree in front of the mailbox. I finally caught the mail carrier on Saturday as he was driving past our house (again). He looks kind of like a blonde, muscular Alec Baldwin if you can picture that. My concern had been rising since we hadn't received *any* mail at all (not even an annoying supermarket flyer) since we moved in. He informed me that if I intended to receive any mail at this location, I needed to remove the tree that was growing over the mailbox. I gave him a blank look and he back-pedaled a little bit to allow for at least removing the branches that were blocking his vehicle. Apparently they don't actually get out of the truck to deliver mail in the country, they just sort of glide up to the box in their little mail trucks and throw the mail in. I told him I'd see what I could do, and then hunted Martin down to find the saw. Since I was still sulking about an argument about unpacking boxes, I couldn't deign to ask for his help, which meant it was up to me to clear the branches. And I did. I learned a few things in the process, too.
Number one, I need some of those ugly brown lace-up work boots. Chacos just don't cut it when you are doing battle with a prickly tree in the middle of a big bush on the side of a hill. Ditto for my cute shorts and tank top. Bring on the tough work pants with the monkey logo or whatever that critter is supposed to be. I have a few scratches to show for my woefully inadequate wardrobe.
Number two, it is kind of fun and addictive to cut branches off of a tree. I've been criticizing my friend Chris for years because he cuts down trees willy nilly on his property, just because they are "blocking his view" (of more trees). But now, I kind of see why he does it. I got a thrill out of removing branches! I didn't want to stop! And I call myself an environmentalist... However, I draw the line at:
2) Removing black widows from the mailbox. Yep, I had to call in Martin for this one. Luckily we were on speaking terms by the time I discovered this big old spider in our mailbox. I tried inviting her out nicely, but she had quite the set-up going on inside that poor old abandoned mailbox. I am still trying to get on the mail carrier's good side, and I figured getting bit by a black widow the first time he delivered mail to our house probably would not help, and so Martin gently and very carefully escorted her out and to a new home somewhere in the bushes near the mailbox. Good thing I was finished working on that tree.
You might think we have nothing better to do than to make our mailbox more attractive to passing letters. [Author's side note: Hint! hint! Now that Tech-free Day is over (at least for this year), my next project will be something along the lines of Slow Communication, doing for letter writing what Slow Food did for heritage pig breeds.] But that is not the case. There are many other joys of country life that we have been experiencing. I'll skip over washing the front porch (twice) and putting up our brand-new American flag (thanks Martin), to get straight to...
3) Getting down at the 4th of July party at the fairgrounds after a spectacular 4th of July parade! Peter really tore up the dance floor to the sounds of the Ophir Prison Band and the Chillbillies. The kid can dance! There were also corn dogs (we had to buy two), sales of which benefited Job's Daughters, and soft serve ice cream (of which we also had to buy two), sales of which benefited one of the local fire departments, and organic crepes with locally grown produce inside (yep, two), which apparently just benefited the place selling them. We stayed for the fireworks, which we could actually see (No Fog, San Franciscans!!) Did I mention the warm summer nights? You are all invited for next year.
The only slight culture shock I experienced was trading stories about our children with a woman who was no more than half my age, if that. And her daughter was at least twice Peter's age. This scenario is not atypical in this area. The mothers here are YOUNG! Women my age are mostly grandmothers by now. Makes me feel more than a little old.
At any rate, those are just a few examples of how we have been passing the time, now that all of our favorite playmates and play locations are 150 miles away. I've also started to learn how to cook in a cast-iron pan (see previous note about not unpacking any of our stuff like pots and pans), scheduled no fewer than six pre-school tours between now and Wednesday, and am finishing up some interviews for an article that is due Friday. You can read about that one in the Tech-free Day blog next week.
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