Anecdotes from the Hillbilly Almanac

Being “outdoorsy”, I’ve worked in some extreme weather, but I have to say I’ve never witnessed such strange, volatile climate conditions as we did during this transition.  Here is just a sampling of the fluctuations we experienced during the week moving from OH to TN:

I’ve already mentioned the first trip to TN mid-Feb. with the very large van full of boxes, which we quickly unloaded, then turned around and drove back to OH.  That’s how I spent my birthday, in a haze of moving and more packing.

2/21/18: We and friends in Ohio loaded the truck in a “spring” drizzle.  Sam, Dana, and Roland were invaluable and appreciated for all their immense and expert help.  Then we drove through the night in pouring rain and wind through Kentucky.  It was scary, but E did it.

2/22: Just as we neared the TN border, the sky finally cleared.  Still without sleep, we single-handedly unloaded heavy furniture (whoever invented the dolly was a genius) in only a couple of hours, and then began to set up the house.  It was warm, with an occasional sprinkle, reaching an unbelievable ~75 º.  There were masses of spring flowers blooming–daffodils, crocuses, hyacinths, with irises and tulips on the way.  Trees were budding out, and birds were everywhere, in contrast to OH.

After dark, still warm out, under a crescent moon, we stood out in our field and heard–spring peepers?!  In February.  Unbelievable.

2/23:  It felt like summer; it must have been ~80º!!  We exchanged the truck for a rental car, then worked on the house.  In the evening, we drove back to OH.  KY was experiencing unusually high temps and extreme flooding.  Some places were under water.  Then the temperature suddenly dropped 30 degrees.  We arrived at the apartment after midnight.

2/24: We returned the rental car, cleaned up the apartment, and turned right around and drove back to TN for the last time.  As we left OH, there was a tornado alert, which was very abnormal for this time of year.  We got out in the nick of time!  E’s only regrets are leaving behind a few good friends and memories, and her son in the cemetery back home.

Back in TN, there were more spring flowers and trees blooming, and the grass was greening up.

2/25: We finally slept!  Then it was back to work.

Since then, E installed a whole shower door from scratch, so we could use the shower.  Then she deep-cleaned, repaired, and refinished all the kitchen cabinets, which were in terrible shape, so we could unpack the kitchen boxes, which was a job in itself.  In between were other repairs and cleaning jobs to make the house more functional, with many more to go.  Plus all the running around taking care of the bureaucratic business of becoming residents.  There were the inevitable snags with ignorant people, but mostly our experience has been very positive and welcoming, a far cry from Ohio.  We’re exhausted and achy, being Old People, but we get it done.

Now in March, it’s temporarily back to what I assume is more seasonal cold weather (?), but down in this zone it’s time to sow many early spring seeds, so I’ll be doing that as soon as it stops being freezing!  I’m confused.  it’s March, so it must be TN!  It’s hard to keep track sometimes.

I’m looking forward to slowing down enough to finally see and help out my son and grandkids, which is much of the reason we decided on TN in the first place.  Our time with them is limited, at least according to their hypothetical plan, so I hope to make the most of what we’ve got.  He has to be one of the most patient people I know, to put up with all these setbacks.

And that’s our story thus far.  Stay tuned for the next boring episode!

 

2 thoughts on “Anecdotes from the Hillbilly Almanac

  1. I’m sorry I wasn’t able to help out!

    Now that you’re in Knoxville, time to get used to rolling the weather dice every morning… you never can tell around here!

    • That’s totally ok–I would never ask you to help, with all you have to do already. I’m just sorry we couldn’t be here sooner to help you! On the bright side, I just sowed my first seeds outside, weather or no weather! F—it! 😉

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