March 2018 Island Trip – Day Five

I ran through the usual property closing checklist this morning. I spent time last night advancing the closing routines, and so was feeling pretty relaxed. The neighbor to the east stopped by to check in on the work I’d been doing and thinks a renter will think they’ve ‘scored.’ Her response felt really good. Five minutes after she left I heard a strong knock on the door. She was back, and had, in backing her truck toward her house, over corrected a maneuver and ended up with her right front wheel off the drive and sunk in the mud almost to the axle. While I had the chain and truck to pull her out, having never done so before, I declined, not wanting to damage her truck. A friend of hers is coming for dinner tonight and, “Lives for this stuff.”

Having spent over 30 minutes visiting and vehicle pondering, I was feeling pushed for time. It was then that the house threw a big curve ball at me… The toilet uncharacteristically backed up, and the (ridiculous) plunger at the house did zip to unplug the situation. I had to turn the water off at the valve to keep the loo from jumping its banks. I walked away, let it settle, which it did, and tried again. Same thing happened. This left (leaves) me very worried that the antique septic system is compromised somehow. It also necessitated taking time to email/text various people who are expected in to continue working on the house. “Sorry, no facilities…” Time was getting shorter. My anxiety was edging in the wrong direction.

In the end I left five minutes later than I intended, paused at the end of the drive, and gave a rose, given to me by the northerly neighbor, to the easterly neighbor, as there was no way to get it back to the mainland without its vase falling over. After parking in the ferry line I made two stops in town regarding my husband’s upcoming birthday, and then walked to the wine shop where I bought a block print of the local Camel. Yes, until very recently a camel lived on the Island. she has found, literally, drier pastures as her owner’s pasture gave her foot problems in the winter. The camel’s companion llama, (no, I’m not making this up) is still in residence. I hear there’s now a zebra on Island.

I napped on the ferry, never leaving the truck. The drive back was quick and unremarkable. The Gospel Mission accepted my donation, and the hazmat drop-off took the 80-100 bottles and cans of everything from oil based stains and paints, to unknown photo chemicals, to liquid ceramic glaze goos. They did not accept long-expired film, or petrified joint compound, both of which I can toss in the trash.

Once home, I enjoyed a hot shower, and then unloaded the truck. Nap number two was far more restful. My husband woke me up in time to play backgammon before joining our nurse girl and her boyfriend for dinner to celebrate my husband’s birthday, which we’ll do again over the next two days.

It was a very productive trip, and it’s really good to be home.