That's right, folks. You asked to hear more from Mr. Dewey, and you got it! Now, it may amaze some of you to hear that, since leaving CNT, John has spent little time in front of the computer. He rarely checks email, doesn't surf the web, doesn't blog, and doesn't even know what FaceBook is (frankly, neither do I, but whatever).
So, in order to give you a taste of life down this way from Mr. Dewey's point of view, I've decided to simply give you a page or two out of his journal. Don't worry! I haven't broken some sacred trust and picked the lock on his diary (he is a guy, after all). This is a practical - one might even say pragmatic - record of events. So grab a beverage, pull up a comfy chair, grab your mouse, and prepare to learn about Mr. Dewey's world!
June 27th:
Low 90's, sunny.
AI Stretching. Stretched through AI Zones 2,3,4.
Breakfast: Snad's quiche, German dark Bread toast, peach cobbler.
NFS: Loaded 5 IMs. Hot day to be workin'!
Mike's Front Porch: Mike drove Snad and the dogs to his house in the morning. They spent the day working (with help from June) on Mike's front porch. They removed more paint from the deck, washed down the wall, and tried (unsuccessfully) to remove the paint from the front steps. By the time I arrived they were just readying stuff for staining the deck. They used a blue-gray stain that really complements the orange, earthy colors of the rest of the porch area. I put some tools down in the basement but didn't help out any more - all dragged-out from being in the sun and heat all day at work.
Naptime: After doing my AI stretches I stretched out on the boys' bed and took about a ninety-minute nap. Boy did I need that nap!
Supper: I drove to pal's and picked up a chicken sammich and stuff for the others.
I got to bed around 11 pm - a long day for Mr. Dewey!
June 28th:Low 90s, sunny: scattered showers after 4 pm.AI Stretching - nope, forgot to do any stretching.
Breakfast: scrambled eggs with some of Snad's vegetable torte, German dark bread toast, mixed fruit.
NFS: loaded 6 iMs. Monthly total 72. Another hot, sunny day.
Lunch: the last of Snad's dry rub BBQ pork loin, tater salad, carrots, mixed fruit, peach cobbler.
Snad has worked to get Chester acclimated to Yancey. When I got home from work they were all downstairs in the library. Chester and Yancey have been learning how to play together and seemed to be enjoying themselves a lot.
Snad mowed the lawn today. She also washed two loads of wash but didn't hang them on the clothesline, thinking it might rain. Snad canned a bunch of peach jam - 12 1/2 pints (yum! in advance of tasting the results).
After I got home we packed up Chester and went to Mike's. His front porch deck looks great. I really like the blue-gray color of the stain they used.
Supper: Chicago-style hot dogs at TK's Big Dogs in downtown Kingsport. Per Mike's suggestion i tried one with a pretzel-style bun. I liked it because it's sturdy enough to stand up to the Chicago-style ingredients.
Each Thursday during the summer Kingsport has their Twilight Alive. It's downtown on the Market and broad Sts intersection by TK's. The opening band was Rob Russell and the Sore Losers. They were followed by Southern Culture on the Skids. I enjoyed both groups. Once again I was impressed by the number of audience members who were obviously 60 or older. (Southern Culture on the Skids = SCOTS = hillbilly surfin!)
June 29th:Mid-80s; thunderstorm after 8 pm.
SB - total body stretch
Started extending one leg for an entire set, switching to the other for the next set for: AI Arm Shoulder Press, Seated Biceps Curls, Squat Against the Wall - no slowdown during biceps reps but still challenging for my legs. Yoga: Sage Marichi III Pose. I really like this pose though it will be some time before I can do it well.
Breakfast: waffles, spicy breakfast sausage, mixed fruit.
Grackle families have begun attacking the metal bird feeder this week, driving away other birds. I moved the tension adjuster to the lightest position hoping they would find it too bothersome to continue their attacks.
Today was paint day for the ceiling of Mike's front porch. He asked me to bring the power spray painter for the job, So I got to learn how to use it all over again. It started out slowly as I couldn't figure out why the owner's manual tells me to remove the spray tip and then select either "Prime" or "Spray". It took way too long for me to spot a switch on the chassis with those settings!
Lunch: Snad's chicken salad, somen tsuyu. Powerful good.
Mike did the actual spray painting. It went quickly, with good coverage. Mike, Snad and June continued painting other parts of the porch while I cleaned up the power sprayer. Mike used latex paint which meant soap and water would suffice to clean up the sprayer; however, it took me a long time to do it. The porch looks swell!
Supper: Acoustic burrito at the acoustic coffeehouse. Snad, Mike, June and Regina and I spent an hour or so chatting up a storm. Regina teaches Spanish at Sullivan (where Mike teaches) if enough students sign up. Otherwise, it's English.
We could see dark clouds building out the windows of the coffeehouse so we hurried back to Mike's to get things packed up. Snad and I played Casino after we got home before calling it a night.
July 22nd:Low 80s, mostly sunny.
Cindy's exercises. she's got the most concentrated collection of abs and lower back-specific exercises out of all my routines. Started doing my balance-specific yoga poses again. each day i plan to do one flexibility and one balance pose. Today I did the downward-facing dog and revolved triangle poses. Modified the aerobics worksheet in my exercise spreadsheet. I'm tracking aerobic exercise data, distance and time. On the main worksheet I use to track and schedule daily exercise I've got 43 lines - one line per day. That's 6 weeks to complete one cycle through all the exercise routines.
Breakfast: oatmeal with all the fixin's.
The privet hedge along the side of the garage was 7 feet tall at its highest and obscured the electric meter. I trilled the hedge to about 4 feet high.
The evergreen hedge along the front of the house was creeping into the front porch and crowding the sidewalk as well as I trimmed the front and rear of that as well. all the trimmin's are now sitting in the fire ring.
I planted a St. John's Wort in the new flower garden by the end of the garage.
Perry and her boys arrived after noon. It's been months since we've seen them so we were happy they could join us. Guthrie and Coburn spent the afternoon playing with Ben and Lucas. for part of that time they rallied round our big aluminum water sprinkler. Perry's mom, Hunter, also joined in the festivities [ed note: not the sprinkler, but the day in general].
Late afternoon Snad served up a wonderful meal: Jamaican peanut butter/banana grilled chicken with wonderful barley salad with all kinds of veggies, tomatoes with wonderful mozzarella cheese, olives.
Snad baked a terrific apple cobbler today with cinnamon scones [biscuits] providing cover for the apples.
Once comfortably stuffed with supper, Perry, Mike, Snad and I played Casino. Snad refreshed Hunter on the rules and she took Perry's place in a second game. Perry and company left after 7 pm. Snad read aloud from "The Fellowship" on the back deck.
Aug 10th:Mid 70s, mostly sunny.
West Virginia trip: Walkies! Walked about a mile following a path the semi-circles through the 100 or so acre property [of June's Grandparent's farm, which is now kept as a retreat by the GPs' 8 children, including June's mother, Ilene].
Before we left Ilene's [to head to the family retreat at Hemlock], Ilene took me on a tour of the various flower gardens around her yard - very beautiful, they were. Snad and I took Chester dog for a short walk in the neighborhood as well.
Breakfast: bagels and cream cheese, breakfast sammiches, cantaloupes, cinnamon rolls.
Hemlock: We arrived at June's grandparents farm around noon. It's a good thing we stopped at Buckhannon last night. The heavy fog combined with the small country road would have presented real problems - we probably would have gotten lost. This little area is called Hemlock. Ilene said her parents' farm is about 100 acres in size. Hemlock is about 3500 feet in elevation and in a small valley. This is a very beautiful, mountainous area. Lots of trails and small roads mean four wheelers (ATVs) are an important mode of transportation.
Snad and I and June all took turns napping after we got to Hemlock. Snad and Pat [Ilene's husband] took off for a ride on his ATV while I was napping. After I got up I took a hike up the hill at the back of the property
and made a semicircle around to a big ATV road that winds up near the house. Snad met me about a "block" from the house and gave me a ride up the road.
Supper: Ilene created a wonderful dish - big pasta shells stuffed with ricotta cheese, covered with marinara and melted mozzarella cheese. Lots of chopped veggies, tomatoes from our garden, bread.
As you may recall researchers are attempting to breed a Chestnut tree that is resistant to the chestnut blight. Even today American Chestnuts will grow to s certain age before succumbing to the blight. Researchers have created a hybrid that is 99% American Chestnut and 1% Chinese Chestnut. During my walk I discovered three 3" PVC tubes sticking a couple feet out of the ground. Pat said Chestnut hybrid seedlings are planted inside those tubes.
A magnificent fire ring is placed off to the side of the house. It's built from stone and is about 6 feet wide and 2 feet tall. After a great deal of effort and the expenditure of a couple pints of kerosene I was able to get a satisfactory fire going. It took Snad and Ilene and me probably half an hour to collect enough wood (most of it on the wet side). We all sat around the fire for an hour or so before Pat and Ilene decided to call it a night.
Us three young'uns soaked up the campfire for another hour after Ilene and Pat left. We then laid along the driveway near the house and watched for meteors, of which we saw several. June said she had never seen a meteor streaking across the sky before!
