Waving "High"...To Strangers

 Waving to the neighbors...a common tradition, I believe, in most places. I know we did it where we used to live. It didn't happen all that much because we lived at the end of a cul-de-sac and not many drove by. But even when it happened, when our neighbors took a drive down our street, we'd wave.

And they waved back.

We moved last fall, and have not spent a lot of time outside until this spring. We are currently putting in a sprinkling system and we are finding ourselves outside more and more, especially in the front yard. Last week and this week, we've been out front digging holes, checking sprinklers, and planting trees. We've also seen numerous cars driving by our house. And when they do, we wave to them.

And they wave back.

The difference is, for most of the drivers in those cars, trucks, four-wheelers, and motorcycles, we don't now the people. They're strangers. Thanks to covid, we haven't been able to get out and meet many of our neighbors. We hope to get to know the people who have been driving by and waving sometime soon. But for now, we'll continue waving to those who drive by.

And--I'm sure--they'll continue waving back.

Like Something I'd See At My Grandpa's House...

 We spent much of last week unpacking. We have so much more to do. I have several boxes in my office with the words, "Scott's Office" written on them. The things in these boxes are not so important that we need the items right away.

In fact, I may never need what's in those boxes ever again.

A lot of what's in the boxes came from the cubicles where I used to work. I'd be transferred or get a new position, I'd pack up everything in a box and move. Many times I wouldn't unpack everything (a sure sign what I didn't unpack I never really needed...), then I'd take the box home. I've got decades of old crap waiting for me to throw it away.

This one particular box I opened today had old gadgets in it. It had three cassette tape/radio players. It had two CD/radio players in it, and a Palm Pilot. I spread it out on the desk and snapped a picture. Why do I have so many of these things? Well, back in the day, I sort of collected them. Most came from thrift stores so I wasn't spending a lot. I was amazed at how these devices used to connect me to the world. Being able to listen to NPR, talk radio, sports radio, and music allowed me to exist in a world away from the workplace, the cubicle, the grind.

And this was not that long ago.

What wasn't included in the picture was my iPhone, which makes all that technology you do see obsolete. Now, I can listen to anything I want--I'm no longer hoping to have a cubicle close to a large window so I can get a clear radio signal. It's heaven.

Looking at the modern antiques reminded me of the times we used to explore the attic of my grandfather's house. He lived on a dairy farm in Driggs, Idaho. He was the only grandparent I ever knew and he passed away when I was ten. His house was amazing to a young child. I can't remember too many of the specific things he had (it's been about five decades since I was there...). I wonder if my grandchildren, if they were to come across a box full of my old Sony Walkmans--cassette and CD players--would they feel the way I felt all those years ago?

Don't know if they'll get the chance. I'm getting rid of most of the stuff. 

Who knows...maybe one day my grandkids will look at an iPhone the same way. Time will tell.

A Couch's Tale...Not Ours, But Still

 If you're in the market for a large appliance, or some furniture, this may come as no surprise to you, but if you're thinking of getting something for your home, depending on what it is, just going to the store, picking out something, and having it delivered the in the next couple of days...well, that's not how it works anymore.

No, you've got to wait.

The year of craziness has even affected home decor. 

Case in point, my mother-in-law's couch. It arrived today. She placed the order in September. Her new front room was couch-less since she moved in October. We even ran into the same situation when picking out a new refrigerator. We found one we wanted, but the salesman said we could get it sometime early next year. We were moving in a week.

We were told that when covid hit, everything shut down. But some of the phone centers opened up early so orders were placed. The problem was, the factories creating the goods were not up and running, so when those factories did finally start up again, all those orders were quickly filled with nothing to replace them. 

Hence, the delays.

I'm not in the construction business, but we've had several subcontractors work on the house in the past month. Everyone of them--without exception--told us the same thing...this has been the strangest year they've ever had.

The couch arrived today and it looks fantastic. I'm glad the room is finally finished...only a few months late.

Better late than never.

Small Town...

 Publishing a blog post can be a strange thing sometimes. When I first began this little electronic journal, I wondered what people would like to read. Then, after a while, it became too much work trying to constantly figure out what others wanted to read--especially writing every day--so I ended up writing about things that interested me more than the public at large.

This isn't to say I'm not considering my audience when I write and post something. It's just in order to come up with stuff to write about every day, it's got to be something I want to write about.

Case in point, I'm going to write a lot about the recent move our family made, or in other words, I'm going to continue writing about this move, because I've already dedicated many a post to our decision.

Yesterday, as my wife and I headed to one of the two local hardware stores in town, I snapped a quick picture of the moon rising above the eastern mountains. It's not a great picture, as far as the composition is concerned, but for me it represents the small town where we now find ourselves. It's also the view from our front porch. The picture--the hamlet--remind me of a John Mellencap song, Small Town.

Well I was born in a small town
And I live in a small town
Probably die in a small town
Oh, those small communities

All my friends are so small town
My parents live in the same small town
My job is so small town
Provides little opportunity, hey

Educated in a small town
Taught to fear Jesus in a small town
Used to daydream in that small town
Another boring romantic that's me

But I've seen it all in a small town
Had myself a ball in a small town
Married an LA doll and
Brought her to this small town
Now she's small town just like me

No I cannot forget where it is that I come from
I cannot forget the people who love me
Yeah, I can be myself here in this small town
And people let me be just what I want to be

Got nothing against the big town
Still hayseed enough to say
Look who's in the big town
But my bed is in a small town
Oh, and that's good enough for me

Well I was born in a small town
And I can breathe in a small town
Gonna die in this small town
And that's probably where they'll bury me

Now, the lyrics don't follow my journey exactly. I was born in Ogden and in 1965 it was a lot smaller than it is now, but even back then, I doubt anyone would call it a "small town" as indicated by the spirit of Mr. Mellencamp's song. Nor did I marry a LA doll, and all of my friends are not small town, many are medium to large town.

But, I feel I grew up in a small town and I'm beginning to feel many of the same things I remember Farmington to have been many years ago.

I know I'll be writing about this little community more and more as we begin to add our story to its story. I'm sorry if it's redundant, but it's where we live now. And soon, it'll become more and more a part of us as it comes to be our home.

It Is Over...We Are Exhausted

 Tonight, we drove back into town to clear out the old house. We moved Saturday, but as we founded the final bend on Main Street and descended toward the city center, it felt like we'd been gone a month. We had to return to do a little cleaning and pick up other things we forgot to take.

We're exhausted.

It's been such a surreal experience, waking up the first time in the new home and realizing this is the new normal. I know I've blogged many times about this change in our lives, and I apologize I haven't been more diverse in my blog post topics, but this move has enveloped us, surrounded us, consumed us and now, after driving away and saying, "Everyone say, 'By house,'" after which we said, "By house," we realized, it's over.

Thank you to all our neighbors. Thank you for those who assisted in the move. Thank you for making our lives and the lives of our children a blessed time. I have no idea what's ahead. Personally, I think that's for the best (it's not good to know too much about your future...). All I know is, I am the person I am because of that town, that street, that house. And that person is tired and ready for bed.

Adventure is out there! Time to go find it.

Since We're Moving...We're Having A Yard Sale!

You know how you do an internet search for something, like "Hot Tubs" and the next thing you know, you get ad after ad on every social media site you visit for hot tubs?

Well, turns out the same thing happens when you put your house on the market. The "Moving?" mail just never ends.

We are moving. Our house is under contract and we've found a house up north, Tremonton, to be more specific. My family and I moved on our street in 1970, fifty years ago. One by one, everyone's left, and now, we're the last Taylors to live on a street that was just a dirt road when we first arrived.

Fifty years, half a century.

First, my father left. Well, he didn't leave, so much as he died, and only four years after we moved there. He never saw the dream house he designed and built be finished. My sister and brother moved next, left for college, then got married. Then, my family moved into the basement where I grew up and we stayed there for six years. Once our house was finished, we moved across the street. 

That was seventeen years ago.

Next, my mother joined my father and passed away in 2007. We alone remained.

Until now.

This Friday and Saturday, we're having a yard sale. It'll start around 8am and go until around 2pm both days. It's going to be sort of a strange yard sale. We've got a lot of bookshelves, and I mean a lot. We don't have many clothes (yard sale killers...), but we have furniture, books, household items, and even a chest full of antique model trains and train tracks. And, we've got a huge entertainment center. You know you want/need that.

If you're in the area, check out the sale. You can get location information from our house listing site by clicking: HERE. Even if you don't need bookshelves, furniture, some clothes, books, household items, and antique trains (I'm not mentioning the entertainment center, because you need that...), and just want to say "hi" and "good-bye," stop on by. We'd love to see you.

Thanks in advance, and have a wonderful evening.