More Pictures

This is an almost 360 view from in front of my house. The house itself is, well, a house. But the views? Say it with me, folks. DAY-UM!

Small Town Q&A

We've been in our new locale for a month now, and two things have already become routine. The first is a question we inevitably receive and the second is an answer (to a different question) we inevitably must give.

The Question.

When we meet folks for the first time we are usually asked, "Are you staying?" Now, this may seem like an odd question to ask people who have just moved into town, but there is a legitimate reason people ask us this. Our new town has a Coast Guard station, which means families are in and out all the time. We're also asked if we're Coast Guard and then asked The Question because the town also contains commercial fishing families and others who only come up for the summer and are gone at the end of the season. So while I was initially confused by being asked if we were staying, I completely understand. And when we tell folks we're here for the duration (as long as DH has his job, which better be freakin' forever because I. Am. Not. Moving. Out. Of. Town. Again.) they seem pleasantly surprised. Which is a good thing.

The Answer.

Often in conjunction with The Question, we are asked where we're living. I automatically give people the name of our street and receive a blank look. And I swear I hear crickets chirping in the background. The thing is, other than those of us who live on the road and the people who deliver propane tanks or pick up the garbage, I doubt most know this street exists. It's only a couple of miles out of town, but there is no street sign. When I arrived my husband (who had been here for several months prior to the rest of us) made sure I knew what landmarks to look for so I wouldn't miss the turn. If I got to the area of the avalanche chute I'd gone too far. (Hand to God, there is a neighborhood that was pummeled by an avalanche not so many years ago. We didn't buy a house there for obvious reasons.)

So what answer do I give people? I tell them we live in J and P So-and-So's old place. They immediately nod their understanding. I guess that's typical in a small town. And I'd hazard to guess that if/when we move out of this house (NOT out of town, just to a different house) the folks who move in here will have to say they're living in Scott and Cathy's old place.

I can't wait to ask newcomers The Question and give them the blank look when they give me their Answer. When I can do that, I will truly feel like part of our new community.

If I Were on the NYT Best Seller List

My friend Jody and I were discussing blog topics. She had to come up with two and I suggested this one, but she told me I should do it. I'm not sure if that was a good thing or not. But being the gullible person I am, I said, "OK!"

So, here is an idea of what I'd do if I ever made the New York Times Best Sellers List:

1. Build a soundproof office with video monitoring of the rest of the house to see if the kids really were bleeding or on fire when they interrupted me.

2. Buy two copies of all my favorite books (new, not used!), donating one copy to my local library and keeping my own copy in my new, splendidly constructed home library.

3. Tell my spouse, “See? It was worth not having a ‘real’ job all those years.”

4. Actually pay my web goddess (though she’ll hit the list well before I do and no longer have to be my web goddess).

5. Recommend my fabulous unpubbed pals to my fabulous editor.

6. Travel extensively for research, even if my stories are set in other worlds. Hey, you need to get ideas from somewhere.

7. Use both sides of the paper when I’m making hard copy drafts not to save money but because it’s a good environmental practice to follow. (I do it now for both reasons.)

8. Burn the copies of those first manuscripts we all keep hidden under the bed or in the bottom drawer so I can’t be blackmailed or think about reworking them if I get writer’s block.

9. Convince my writer friends we need to collaborate on a series or anthology so we can all be wildly popular together.

10. Hire someone to come up with blog topics and perhaps even write them for me.

Pictures!

As promised, a few pictures of our new location.
On the right is the view of town and the sea from the ski hill where we were attending a bluegrass festival. Below, also from the ski hill, a shot of a bit of the mountains that flank town.

Next are a couple of shots of Childs Glacier. It's about an hour's ride from town, on a well maintained gravel road. The area where the kids are sitting is about 1/4 mile from the face of the glacier. It was a nice day, lots of folks around. We went to the site for an anniversary party and as folks chatted you could hear the glacier grumble and crackle. Pieces calved into the river and we waited to see if this was the piece that made a large enough splash to send a wave over to us. Yes, it had happened before. The calving ice chunk was large enough to flood the park 1/4 mile from the glacier face. Luckily, nothing that impressive happened while we were there.

More pics later!

Moved In

Well, we made it to our new home with nary a scratch.

The cats weren't too thrilled about being stuck in their carriers for the better part of the day, but could you imagine having two frantic felines loose in the cab of a U-Haul? According to my husband (he drove the moving truck with the cats and hamster in the cab. I drove the minivan with the kids, dogs and fish), they were quiet after the initial indignity of being confined, howled some when they realized an hour into the trip that, hey! It's been a freakin' hour, man! Where are you taking us??? They settled down again until we entered a long tunnel. Perhaps they sensed the megatons of rock around them, I don't know. They were quite relieved to finally get into the new house.

The dogs were simply happy we were taking them for a car ride. I think they got a bit nervous as we started packing and moved stuff out. We left the animals in the house for two nights while we stayed in a hotel, having packed our bedrooms first so we could clean the carpets. The dogs probably thought we were leaving them, so once my husband opened the door of the minivan for them on the day we left, they jumped in and were determined not to get out again. Well, until it was time to pee, anyway.

The hamster, usually in his cage or, on more adventurous day, inside a plastic ball he trundles through the house in, was interested in going on a road trip for a little while. Then I guess sitting in a cage in the U-Haul got boring. The vibration and light made it a bit difficult for him to snooze, but he managed.

The fish fared well too, though some fishy water sloshed onto the passenger side of the minivan. That'll be fun to smell on warm days.

Oh, wait, I'm in a northern temperate rain forest! Warm days are few and far between.

Actually, that's not fair. Our first days here were sunny and warm, despite the warning my husband gave about the normal torrents in the area. We've gotten rain since then, and some bouts have been amazingly hard, but they stop and the sun breaks through a little. This is summer here. Come fall it will be more rain and wind to drive it sideways. Come winter it will be rain and snow with wind to drive it sideways.

We're in a smaller town than the one we left and are liking it so far. We attended the July 4th celebration, complete with sack races, three-legged races, jellybean on a spoon races, and egg tossing competitions. After the games, pretty much the entire town met at the lake for a BBQ and boat races.

We've got most of the unpacking done too. sure, there will be a few things left in boxes, but what else is new?

And I'm getting back into the groove of writing and critiquing for my partners. Yay!

More about the new digs later. Maybe even some pictures if I remember to recharge the camera's battery.