Texas or Bust

July 9, 2012

Dear Friends:

We be pretty hot and steamy here on the banks of the Neuse. And we get an occasional breeze! There are a lot of uncomfortable folks here and many, like us, will have a $200 utilities bill. Our A/C never turns off and most days can’t keep up. Set at 78, the house temp still stays around 83 degrees. But we got the power back quickly after last week’s heavy storm and we don’t complain. Well, we complain cheerfully.

Kevin has bought us a house in Arlington, Texas, and Jason is flying up to load the truck and drive it back. Jason will be here July 25 and leave on the 27th; we’ll follow in the car the next day. So we are happily packing. We haven’t seen our new house but all we care about is being close to the kids (in the same church ward) and a garage. We are a mile away from J and J (3 minutes) and the garage is big.

The neighbors, our landlords, had us over for cocktails and cola last night. We will miss them. Miep (a nickname for Wilhelmina in Holland) is such a talented landscape artist and decorator, and Ellis has educated us about the river and the history of New Bern. They are being very gracious about our leaving this house a month earlier than our lease says.

I’ll miss their dogs, too. Greta and Zoe come nearly every day, looking for a treat. Miep says they went to the doc for a checkup yesterday and got a good grade except they both could stand to lose a couple of pounds. I’m fairly sure the first thought was: Well, that might take care of itself ….

My tomatoes will be just about finished when we move. The cucumbers will be a nice surprise for the new tenants. All the flowers are taking a beating in the heat and we are expecting a big T-storm tonight. The rain flattens everything but we really need it. During the summer, weather here is normally very much like Hawaii: hot during the day, in the low 90s, with a mild thundershower in the late afternoon. This whole year has been funny, with a warm winter and this excessive heat.

You can tell by my non-news letter that we have been basking in the relative quietude of retirement. That’s not to say nothing happens: Last month we had the Sister Missionaries to dinner as usual and Dave finally asked them to PLEASE quit trying to drag him into gospel readings and the next day they were gone. Gone!  One quit and went home and the other was reassigned. We were relieved to find out it was not our fault, there were other issues, but still … it was a very uncomfortable week.

There is a petition in our neighborhood to stop Ellis from shooting the ducks. Well, he isn’t shooting the ducks (anymore), he’s shooting some gun he uses to train his Labrador. The petition was started by Miss Ellie, who lives on the other side of Ellis and Miep, who also claims that Ellis is trying to shoot her. We also don’t think that is true. The duck petition is circulated by Eddie, a very large, burly guy who wears a tank top and cut-off jeans with huge lumberjack boots. Eddie strides around the block every day looking like an old Duke of Hazard, walking two Skye Terriors down the middle of the street. Miss Amy, on the other side of us, is an apparent hoarder (she won’t let me in but I watch the carport pile grow from my bedroom window), stays out of the fray. As does CW, my special friend across the street. But they like to talk about it. Me, too. I’ll miss these colorful, engaging characters.

I’ll especially miss CW, the 85 year old gentleman across the street. He lost his wife two years ago next month and is still grieving. He’s very lonely. Itâ€s so hard to cook for two, I just cook for three and if we don’t overeat, there is a meal for CW the next day. I think of him as a daughter might, so I was stunned when he asked Dave if it was okay if he got me an Easter lily. It never dawned on me that we were peers. I guess I’ve had a husband close to that age! I don’t get much of a hug out of CW but I guess that’s a compliment. He tears up when we talk about the move; wish I could buy him a girl scout.

So we’re on to the next chapter of our lives. The new address is:

8421 Cotton Valley Ln.
Arlington, Texas  76002

Same e-mail of course, and same phone for now. Take care of one another.

Love,

Sam