Backyard Mystery

We have a little mystery here at the house (other than how are the lizards/salamanders getting in?).

At the bottom of the steps that lead to the lawn from the back deck, there's this:




It's concrete, about a foot square and has a stone-like handle (what I'm calling a handle) at one end. It looks like a door that is set in a frame of concrete, but if it is a door, it hasn't been opened or lifted in a LONG, long time.  If that small piece is a handle, it's only partially intact.

It would normally be covered with lawn, and since Fall, lots of leaves.  The wind and rain have made it more visible these past weeks.

I have wondered if it is a covered abandoned water well.  I tried finding information about abandoned wells from the State of North Carolina but all I can find so far is information about how abandoned wells are to be closed off now.  Which is actually complicated.  If this is an old well, it is really old.  

My imagination says this property was at one time farm land or maybe an old homestead and in more contemporary times,was sold for housing developments.

I could be way off base, who knows.  But it's fun thinking about it!

Volunteering Opportunities

I'm so excited! Last week I filled out an application to be a USO volunteer.  I've been to an orientation at the Jacksonville Center and I am in the process of going through their training modules on-line.

I am so impressed with this organization.  It goes without saying that they have a great mission, but I am also impressed with how they handle volunteers and train them.  If other non-profits don't already follow their lead on this, they should!

The Jacksonville USO center is the oldest one in the country.  It was started in 1941.  It has a cafe and tv/computer room, an auditorium and many programs for active military personnel and their families.

The building has inside, what used to be two phone booths where military people of another generation used to make phone calls to their loved ones while visiting the center.  Instead of tearing these out, they have plans to make them into something for more contemporary use.  Maybe a photo booth?  Who knows, but great that the potential is there.

They have so many programs I wouldn't be able to describe all of them here, but trust me, the USO is deserving of your support if you value the military and their families.

I can't wait to get started, but I have to finish the training modules first.  I'll let you know when I actually get to volunteer at an event.

Random

I got my NC license plate a few days ago and got it put on my car.  It only took me about thirty minutes at the DMV.  Much different than a California DMV!  And no appointment!  ( I got my driver's license a couple of weeks ago.  That's done at a different office that is just for that)  Having a license plate makes it feel all the more "real" that I'm here.  No more "Weir Canyon Honda" plate holder.

We heard there might be snow last night, but all we got was a little sleet.  Too bad.  It’s only 38 right now but should warm up a little more to the 40’s. 

Abby has a little friend next door, to our left.  A little terrier type dog named Hartman.  Hartman doesn’t come outside very often but if Abby is aware that he’s out there, she will ask to go outside. They stand at the fence talking to each other (sniffing) and sometimes they will run along the fence together.  There are two dogs on the other side of us that would love to have Abby to play with.  She will run along the fence with them too, until one of them barks.  As soon as they bark, Abby walks away as if to say, “I’m not playin’ that game.”  Abby was given a bath today and Elaina put a bandanna on her.  She loves  to show off after her bath wearing something new.  Just like a girl.

The football playoffs are on right now, so Elaina will be totally engrossed in the Panther's game.  I'll check in once in a while to see how it's going, but I can't handle watching every minute.  

I hope to write more about my Etsy shop in the future.  

The House and more about Abby

I need to say a little more about Abby, Elaina’s dog.  She is such a character.  Elaina got her from a shelter in 29 Palms when she worked there.  She was a scared, nervous, big puppy.  It took a while for her to trust Elaina and me.  When Elaina lived in California, Abby used to come and visit at the house and my mom loved seeing Abby run around the backyard and chase a plastic water bottle, or an apple around the yard.  Abby would actually throw them up in the air and then go chase them.  My mom got the biggest kick out of watching Abby be a clown.  Now that I’m here, living with her, Abby thinks Elaina and I should be in the same room all the time.  When we are in the same room, Abby thinks it’s the most wonderful thing.  If I am in my room and Elaina is in the kitchen and calls to me, Abby trots to my room to get me as if to say, “Come on, you’re needed in here.”   If we are in different rooms, Abby comes to visit me to say hello, then goes back out.  Elaina works during the week and comes home around 5p.m.  Just before 5, Abby goes to the living room and waits for Elaina’s car to drive up the driveway.  As soon as she sees it, she runs to me wherever I am to say, “Come on, Mom’s home, mom’s home!”  Then she runs back to wait at the door.  She keeps me laughing all the time.

About this house.  It definitely feels like a cabin in the woods.   It’s on a brick foundation and takes 5-6  steps to get up to the front door.  It’s one level, but because it’s on the brick foundation, it feels like it’s upstairs.  Walking across the floor, it creaks, like upstairs rooms floor’s creak.  The major problem with this house is the ability of salamanders/lizards to suddenly appear in the living room near the windows on the side of the house.  We see them climbing on the windows, then before we know it, there’s one inside.  Very freaky.  Elaina has found dead lizards and frogs in her bedroom.  And it’s not Abby that brings them in.  Yuck.  At least those are dead.  My first few days here I was stung by a wasp that was flying around the living room.  Haven’t seen those since the weather got cold.  Salamanders are very common here in North Carolina I discovered.  Maybe because there’s so much water and swamps, they find it quite accommodating.

The "Natives"

We had several days of unseasonably warm weather but it has gotten cold again.  I am enjoying the cold since last summer and fall in California were so terribly hot.  Curious to see how I do with the hot and humid spring and summer that will be here before I know it.  When there’s a breeze blowing through the pine trees, it feels like I’m in the California mountains where pine trees are abundant.  I love the sound they make.

So far, I spend my days online, expanding my Etsy shop, PicketfencesVintage, grocery shopping, doing laundry and washing dishes.  I have visited a few antique stores and thrift stores.  One place in particular is called Twice as Nice and is a combination of antiques and thrift store items.  It’s huge!

People here have been mostly pleasant and polite.  Everybody says “Ma’am” and asks “how are you?”  I have come across some people that I don’t fully understand what they say to me. I can pick up the gist of the meaning though.  Just like in California there are many different kinds of people.  However, in California we didn’t see many people in camouflage everywhere.  Because hunting is a big deal here, camouflage clothing is available in Walmart like shorts and tank tops in California and everywhere you go, you’ll find someone wearing camouflage and I’m not talking about the Marines.  There is “open carry” for firearms here, with rules of course.  Many days I hear gunshots in the distance, either from hunting or target practice.  Knowing that this is common here, it’s not too disturbing hearing gunshots ring out.  In California, it was a reason to call the police if you heard gunshots!

Because of the Marine Corps bases here, Camp LeJeune and New River (where Elaina works) there are days when the sound of “ordnance” being blown up or whatever they do with it, is heard throughout the day.  Those days make Abby a little nervous and she wants to be reassured that everything is ok.  When the CH53 helicopters fly over the house, it rattles a little, but like the base’s signs say, “It’s the sound of freedom.” The booms are actually quite loud today.

Elaina and I went to see and tour the USS North Carolina battleship in Wilmington.  It sits in the Cape Fear River and has been restored and preserved as a museum. This was a self-guided tour into the ship and was impressive.  The weather was cold and dreary but never got a drop of rain on us while out in the open.  I took lots of pictures inside the ship. We later had lunch in Wilmington and did a little shopping in Trader Joe’s.

First Days and Weeks

Elaina has been very gracious in taking me around to see some different areas beyond Jacksonville.  There are so many small towns (and I mean SMALL) all over this area.  Many farm houses, with or without an actual working farm.  There’s lots of cotton fields, that at this time are harvested and waiting to be plowed under.  Oh, and did I mention trees?  There are miles and miles and miles of pine trees. There are just solid trees along the roads and highways. I have always wanted to live in the country and driving through these areas, again, makes me emotional.  I know it sounds weird, but I felt like I was “home.”

Jacksonville could be considered a small town, but it has really spread out from town to areas where there’s all the shopping anyone could possibly want all in one area.  Jacksonville sits on the New River which is picturesque and has at least three small bridges that take you from one end of town to the other.  The surrounding areas are definitely “country.”  Jacksonville is home to two USMC bases, Camp LeJeune and New River where Elaina works.  I read that half the population of Jacksonville is from the bases.

Elaina took me (and Abby) to Topsail Island to walk on the beach.  Abby normally lays on the backseat of the car when riding, until Elaina gets near the beach.  Then Abby jumps up and starts smelling the air.  She loves the beach and can’t wait to get out and walk along the shore.  If she could be free from a leash she would probably run and run and have a blast.  The shells on the beach are so abundant that it’s hard to walk past them without looking for the best ones.

Elaina took me to the town of Beaufort.  This is a cute little seaside town with shops, restaurants and a museum. It has a history of being the home of Blackbeard the Pirate whose real name was Edward Teach.  The house that was his home is still there on Taylors Creek, which sits just in front of the Ocean. Beaufort has a cemetery called, The Old Burying Ground.  It dates from 1724!  We walked through it on a previous visit. We had a yummy lunch at the Boardwalk Café and visited a nice antique store.

We took a drive through Harker’s Island which is a fishing community and also known for duck decoy carving.  The dialect that the population there speaks is likened to Elizabethan English and is still being studied by universities because of the uniqueness of it.  They say the current population are descendants of the original settlers.  They refer to the people as “High Tiders” or “Hoi Toiders”.  The island was first settled in the 1700’s other than the first native people.

We visited the town of New Bern just before Christmas, which meant the town was decorated for Christmas and was full of visitors and shoppers. It’s a beautiful town even without the Christmas decorations.  It has the Neuse and the Trent rivers running through it which just adds to its appeal. We had some dinner at the Cow Café and walked through Mitchell Hardware, which is a hardware store/gift shop.  The building dates from 1912.

I love visiting all these places because there is so much history here!  Early American history!  We didn’t get much of this kind of history in California.   We visited Fort Macon on a previous trip here.  It dates from the 1700’s and has been used in many wars and battles since. It sits at the edge of the ocean, but sits below a hill, so that it is not seen from the ocean.  A good thing for a fort defending from attack from ships in the ocean!

That's it for now.  I'll keep writing about life here in the ENC.

My Very First Post

August 29, 2015.  My life changed forever.  That was the day my 91 year old mother passed away.  I had lived with her for almost 10 years, this being possible, having been single since my kids were toddlers.   We were together almost 24 hours a day.  As the years went by she needed more and more help with everyday things.  I don’t want to talk about her last days, but instead say how much her passing has affected me.  They say no matter how old you are, when your parents are gone, you feel like an orphan.  I guess that’s why I feel like I do.  I miss her every day, but so glad she is living without pain now.

There is a “however” to this story.  At almost 61 years old, I have a new life ahead of me.  I don’t know what that means yet, other than a move across country.  I guess that’s where this story really begins.

On November 8, 2015, my daughter, Elaina and I started out in my 2003 Honda Civic and drove across country to her home in North Carolina.  I was emotional at times and anxious about the future.  When we arrived in North Carolina at the state line, I was very emotional.  Excited and anxious all at once.  The beauty I saw there was overwhelming to me which added to my emotions. (The long tiring trip may have had something to do with the emotions.) Besides the pine trees everywhere, the fall colors were still abundant in the other trees.

We had to stop in Raleigh to pick up Elaina’s car at airport parking, so that meant I was on my own driving my car from Raleigh to Jacksonville in the dark, following her car all the way.  If I remember correctly, it was a three hour drive.  This was a little terrifying and daunting to me.  I’m such a chicken to begin with.  Because it was dark, and very little street lighting all I saw for the majority of the drive was DARKNESS.  There was nothing but forest on both sides of the road and almost no other cars other than Elaina’s.  It felt like I was in a black hole in space.  I’ve never experienced anything like it before.

I felt such relief when we got to her house in Jacksonville.  It is a cute little house (it has its problems believe me) and feels like a cabin in the woods.  There’s more trees in the backyard than I’ve ever seen in a backyard and beyond the back fence, is a forest of more trees and a small creek.  The next morning when I got up and could see the neighborhood in daylight, I was surprised to see so many different houses and many that are farm house style.  Certainly not like the “cookie-cutter” houses in most neighborhoods in Southern California.  Since the moving truck with my stuff on it was still in transit, I slept on the couch for two nights.

The next day, we went to pick up Elaina’s dog, Abby at the trainer’s home.  Abby was very excited to see me and jumped all over the place with excitement.  Elaina thinks Abby was thinking, “Where have you been?” My mom would have been so happy to see Abby’s behavior and would have been giggling about it for days. She was not a “dog” person, but mom loved Abby.

The moving truck arrived on the third day and was actually earlier than they had originally said.  The driver was the only one to unload the truck at the storage unit and at the house.  So happy to have my own bed and dresser, etc.  I would highly recommend that company again. So helpful.

Well, that's my first few days in my new adopted home.  I'll keep writing about my so-called adventures in new posts.  Thanks for reading!