QUICK SILVER

Monday, August 24, 2009

We got up at ten to rain and cold.

Steaming hot buckwheat cakes, bacon, coffee and tea as well as the heater warmed us while we ate and worked crosswords.

Outside our windows all was quite.  The departure of even two active couples makes a noticeable difference in the camp atmosphere.

When the puzzles and breakfast were at an end we went outside to clean our patio and put stuff in the shed.  When we were finished the patio was clean and the shed was almost full.  We are really enjoying having the shed and are finding new ways to use it, all the time.  Next year the basement of the coach will not be used at all for storage but it will be emptied and the items placed on easy accessible shelves.

While I fished the next five hours Onie walked, worked in the house, surfed the web, checked her Facebook, email, played Bookworm and she fished for an hour.

Virtues are hard to come by while vices seem to fall on us like rain, come with the damage of tornados and are as hard to get rid of as excess weight.  Most of us have few virtues and many vices.  So it is with the writer but he does have some patience, a virtue, and it was with the patience that he fished.  Quite some time after beginning his flip and jerk there was a sudden stop of the line he was retrieving and then it began un-spooling as a big, quick, silver swan back downstream.  With the clear shallow water, next to the grate, it was easy to see the fish was at least twelve to fifteen pounds and once it began its aerial acrobatics it was even easier to see the big shiny fish was a real keeper.

Why bad things happen to good people and why good things happen to bad people is not well understood by most of us but we all know that such things do happen.  What happened next was just such an unfortunate occurrence.  Barbara was fishing also and in her eagerness to net the fish she put the net into the water, between the rod and the fish.  When the net touched the line it was all the quick silver needed to make good on his escape but it was the memory of the few seconds that kept the writer fishing, five hours, even though he hadn’t before and didn’t afterwards touch a fish.

Whey the odyssey began it had been cool and misting rain.  By the time the writer made his way back to the coach, with Onie, she had fished the last hour he was on the grate, the mist had turned to rain and the cool had turned to cold.  During her hour on the grate Onie had managed to touch nada, zip, nothing, zero.

Fishing, even when one isn’t catching, brings on a good appetite. Now we set about to sate that appetite.  The small charcoal grill was brought out, the charcoal lit and left to get really hot.  Inside Onie shaped ground venison into burger patties, sliced onions and tomatoes and tore fresh lettuce after which she put condiments on the table.  Everything was ready for supper except the patties themselves.  With the charcoal briquettes a nice hot gray the patties were placed on the wire rack, turned once and taken, steaming, into the house.  Our feast followed.  MMMM good!

GSN played on the front TV while we ate.

Later we retired to the bedroom to watch a movie starring Olivia De Haviland.  When it was over at one Onie went to sleep.  The writer stayed awake to watch Charles Laughton in Henry the 8^th.  It ended at two thirty.

NO VERONICA’S

Tuesday, August 25, 2009

The cloud cover kept the temp from dropping below the thirty nine mark at two thirty.  By ten it was sunny and a bit warmer but we still ran the heater as we had our coffee and tea.

Hot cereal warmed us further as we worked the crosswords.

After a quick shower we dressed and went off to help Bill and Nancy close their rig, for the winter.  Sidney was there with his tools to do most of the winterizing as the writer is totally unfamiliar with that operation.  He observed hoping to learn something about the operation.  Tanks were emptied, fresh water was dumped, water lines were blown out and antifreeze pumped in, pea traps were filled with antifreeze, the slides pulled in and then the battery was removed.  The Hagers were ready to start their trip to the lower forty eight, Magnolia, Texas and home.

Once the inside of their rig had been readied for winter Onie left to walk with Marguerite.  Round and round the park they went.  Most walking this summer has been confined to the park as a grizzly sow and her two cubs have been roaming the area.  A few days ago a moose was killed, by bears, about three hundred yards from camp.  A couple of park rangers have been in camp looking for the bears as they have also been harassing folks.  The sow has an electronic collar on her but they still haven’t been able to locate her.  When they do she will become a bear rug.  The cubs will be relocated.  

When the Hagers were on their way the writer’s attention was turned to our rig.  Fresh water was taken on while the holding tanks were emptied.  Norman flagged the writer down as and said he needed to empty his tanks as well.  That was done and then the honey wagon was cleaned and put away, waiting for the next user. 

It was three o’clock.

Sitting at his laptop the writer made notes for Monday and Tuesday before he and Onie departed for the lodge and long showers.

Refreshed and back in the coach we played Bookworm for thirty minutes before leaving for Suzie’s with Mike and Marguerite.

The original plan had been to go to Veronica’s but she is now on her fall schedule.  She closed at four.  It was now five thirty.

So we drove to Suzie’s.  She too has gone to her fall schedule and is only open Wednesday, Thursday, Friday and Saturday.  Our plans to take Tim and Julie Weekly there after church have to be rethought.  For right now we had to come up with another plan.  It was off to Kenai and Louie’s.  Onie and the writer had never been there before but Mike and Marguerite had and recommended it quite highly.

Louie’s is an upscale place with good atmosphere and food to match.  The prices reflect both.

With supper over we stopped at the IGA where Onie got ten large avocados for ninety nine cents each.

Back home at nine thirty the writer got his pole and headed for the river.  A hundred cast, and nothing, later he headed back to the Marlin to get ready for bed.  Onie already was.

We replayed the Stepford Wives before going to sleep at midnight.  It was raining.

LAST GROATS

Wednesday, August 26, 2009

The rain that fell most of the night was still falling at eight.  We pulled the covers up just a bit further, around our necks, snuggled down even further and went back to sleep.

When we woke again the rain had stopped.

The inside of the coach was cool but not as cool as the outside fifty degrees.

Onie was up first and made coffee and tea.  When the tea was ready the writer joined Onie at the table where they continued working on a Sunday crossword as well as on one from Tuesday.

The last of the buckwheat groats cooked while we solved the puzzles.

With breakfast and the puzzles out of the way the writer and Onie made the bed before she spent five minutes cleaning the kitchen while he wrote.

Overhead the heavy clouds threatened to deliver more cold rain to us and the river which has been constantly falling and is now down to early July levels.

While the writer worked on stories Onie worked on week thirteen, editing, placing pictures and captioning before turning it back to the writer to see if he could find any more grammatical or spelling errors.  After his last look she posted it.

Don Hensley came by again to pick up a set of keys to Kurt’s house and give us an update on the water well and septic systems.  Both should be in before we leave.

Following his departure, some needed motor home parts were ordered from Camping World and a call placed to activate a recently received credit card.  While we were on the phone with the bank they offered us a card that will give us a five cent per gallon discount on all gasoline and diesel purchases, at any station.  We accepted the offer.  Is this a great country or what?  Anybody can get a credit card and some folks don’t even have to pay the bill.  We will.

The day was advancing so the writer drove off to Soldotna to pick up the nine pounds of halibut waiting for him at Custom Seafood.

Back at the house it was placed in the freezer before he and Onie went to the grate to try for a silver.  Half an hour later they were back.  No silver had to be cleaned.

In the coach Onie started supper while Pawpaw stopped at the community garden, selected a couple of nice carrots, pulled them, washed them, took the tops off and took them into the house.  Onie agreed they were delicious.

Back at the laptop Pawpaw wrote as potatoes, bell pepper and onions sautéed, under Onie’s guidance, to go with the venison burgers.

Outside charcoal in the grill was turning gray as it neared the point where it would be just right for cooking burgers.  When that point was reached the burger patties went on.  A few minutes later they were in the house, steaming on our plates, waiting for the buns and condiments.  When they all came together we began our meal.  We agree nothing is quite as good as a venison burger cooked over charcoal.

Fed and a bit tired we retired to the bedroom where we watched Tru TV until the late hour caught up with us and we fell asleep.

START A PROJECT

Thursday, August 27, 2009

We couldn’t sleep anymore so we got up at nine.  Rain was falling and it was fifty three, a good morning to be in our nice dry coach.  The electric heater soon made it comfortable.

We had hot cereal and skillet toast to go with our coffee, tea and newspaper.  We challenged and finished three crosswords before turning our attention to the overhead console in the front of the coach.

On the way up the Al-Can it had dropped down a slight bit.  It needed to be put back in place.  The first order of business was to gather the necessary tools for the job and get them into the coach.  Onie had moved everything out of the way yesterday so I had as much room to work as one can have around a steering wheel and dash board.  While gathering tools a trip was made up to Kurt’s house to get a battery charger and a two by four.  The jack was taken out of the Subaru and put in place inside the coach.  The console is too heavy for us to lift so we will use the jack to lift it the quarter or perhaps half inch it needs to be raised.

The rain had stopped so the two by four by eight and some plywood was taken to the picnic table where a support was made to lift the overhead console.  When it was finished the fabricated support was put in place and Onie and the driver began jacking the console back into place.  When it was well supported and part way back in place the driver began taking the console apart, removing the trim around the TV and finally the TV itself was removed.   It was very heavy.  Next the speaker cover was removed from the left hand overhead speaker and then the speaker itself.  Now repair work could begin.

Supporting screws that had stripped out were removed from a board that had split.  When the screws were out glue was pressed into the crack.  Then it was off to Trustworthy for new screws.

At six we went up the hill to Mike and Marguerite’s for halibut and spaghetti.  Onie took a salad and some spicy crackers.  After a great meal we had rhubarb cake ala mode.  The evening was all together enjoyable and pleasant but at nine we headed home.

After getting home we dressed for bed and then watched Flywheel till it was over.  Then it was lights out.

PROJECT CONTINUES

Friday, August 28, 2009

Onie was up at eight and was greeted by rain and cold air.

She compensated for both by making a hot cup of coffee before heading off for a shower.  It would be another day of feminine conviviality combined with yard sale shopping and a friendly lunch.

The writer got up in time to join her for cold cereal before she dressed for the day.  He enjoyed his hot tea and a crossword.

Onie left for the yard sales at nine thirty and the writer dove into the cantaloupe and grapes.  More tea followed along with more crosswords.

The rain continued falling.

When the tea and fruit were gone three crosswords had been finished.  Then the writer showered, dressed and resumed work on the console.  Some screws were put in before the writer stopped for a lunch of chicken marsala.  The support board that had split had more glue applied and then screws put in horizontally to draw the break together.  While the board was drying the writer headed off to Trustworthy for additional screws and some rope and tent stakes for the new canopy.  At Safeway he shopped for and found a mirror, so he could see into the dark area he was working on.

On the way back he stopped at Kurt’s to get a screw driver with a ninety degree driver in hopes that the hand work could be replaced mechanically.  Back in the coach the screw driver proved too big and it was back to the hand driven tools.

The next hour was spent driving two screws into the supporting areas.

Onie came back from the yard sales.  The rain which had fallen all day continued.  She had gone to a restaurant at the Cannery, and was disappointed with the cuisine

She served up salad and reindeer sausage for supper.

Later we watched GSN for a while then Lucky Me.  Onie served  popcorn and we sere careful not to let anything itchy fall into the covers.

When we went to sleep at twelve it was still raining.

FLAT SCREEN REPRISE

Saturday, August 29, 2009

The rain had ceased when we rose at nine thirty.  It was sunny and a cool fifty five.

We read the paper and enjoyed our coffee and tea.

At ten thirty the writer sat down to make notes.

Onie was at the stove making rye flour biscuits, which turned out great, and cooking the last of our old jalapeno sausage.

The root cause of the console shifting position was too much weight in the console plus one hundred thousand miles, many of which were on rough roads.  We decided to look for an alternative to the heavy TV we removed thinking that any reduction in weight would be a plus in restoring the stability and integrity of the console.  We headed off to a local furniture store, Sadler’s.  What a surprise we had when we arrived at the store.  They sell furniture, not TVs.  Imagine that.  They referred us to a store in Kenai, Dan’s TV and Appliance.

When we arrived there we were greeted by a nice young man who helped us, showing us a new 22” flat screen HDTV.  In addition he showed us how we could use a wall mount system to put the unit in the overhead console.  The whole thing would weigh less than ten pounds instead of the forty to fifty pounds we had removed.  Even though we felt we might have saved money elsewhere we both agreed the excellent service was worth the cost.  We loaded our new purchases and started for the house.  On the way home we stopped at Jo-Ann Fabric for fabric to cover speaker outlet, to be made by the writer.

Exhausted by such heavy decision making we stopped at The Moose Is Loose for latte, Chai tea and to share an apple fritter.

We were home at four thirty when we unloaded the car and took our new purchases into the Marlin.

Inside we opened the box holding the TV and mount before leaving for Alex’s sixteenth birthday party, at five.

Appetizers were on the table when we arrived.  After helping himself to a few the writer talked to Don about the project.  Don wanted to have a look at the project.  We went to the coach.  In ten minutes he had a plan to build a lightweight metal frame to hold the wall mount and in turn the TV.  We agreed to work on it tomorrow after church.

At six salad was to be served but with the big reception of the appetizers it was delayed until six forty five when cooked to order steaks would be served.  We had great rib eyes.  Onie and the writer shared one that had the body heat restored before being placed on our plate.

John James, with Grandma Lavon, enjoys the party.

When the majority of the twenty six people in attendance had eaten Marguerite sat down to the keyboard and began playing Sixteen Candles to which most sang along.  Then she segued into Happy Birthday Sweet Sixteen. Then the birthday girl blew out the candles.

Onie and Julie (Alex's mom) look on as the birthday girl blows out 16 candles.

A number of folks on the hill were from Georgia and requested Georgia On My Mind which she played and they sang for the group.  The campfire was glowing but the heat wasn’t reaching Marguerite and her keyboard so she played just a few more before stopping and going to the fire.

The couple from the Marlin hung around the campfire until eleven thirty when they walked home, in almost total darkness, a few stars lit the sky, and in penetrating cold.

At home they dressed for bed, pulled the covers up snug under their chins and waited for sleep to catch up with them.

DO OVER

Sunday, August 30, 2009

It was a frosty morning in spite of the sun.  The temp had dipped to thirty seven and the moisture on the cars and grass had turned a nice white, a forecast of what will soon follow.

At nine Onie started the coffee and tea while the writer brought the paper in.  When she was seated at the table with her coffee and paper the writer went to his laptop to finish the notes for yesterday evening and record the starting events of this day.

The tea was steeping and the shower waited.  Soon, after hot cereal for breakfast, they would both shower, dress, pick up Marguerite and head off to church.

Back home from church both changed clothes, Onie so she could fix lunch and Tom so he could start back to work on the “project”, with Don’s help

When lunch was over Onie began sorting clothes for tomorrow’s wash.  Tom headed off to find Don.

At Don’s he and Julie were cleaning up from last night’s party.  Tom helped and when the cleanup reached a stopping point he and Don went to the Marlin.

A short discussion ensued about the construction of the metal TV supports and how the TV would be mounted on them.  Once a plan was formulated Don quickly began putting it in motion.  An hour later it was in place.  He and Julie wanted to leave for Anchorage at four.  It was time for him to go.  Tom thanked him for all his work, gave him a couple of packs of smoked brisket for when he gets home and wished him a safe trip.

Lightweight metal frame and mount in place.

With the metal frame in place Tom tried to fit the TV onto the wall mount attached to the frame.  It wouldn’t snap in place.  It seemed that the antenna and power plug were coming into contact with the frame itself.  A trip was mad up to Kurt’s to get a metal hole saw.  Back in the coach holes were drilled to accommodate the antenna cord and power plug.  In the process metal shavings went all over the front part of the coach as well as the dash.  With two nice holes now in the metal frame the writer lined the holes with layers of Gorilla tape to keep the wires from chafing as the coach moves down the road.  Then the TV was again placed in position to attach to the wall mount.  It still didn’t fit.  A close examination determined that the frame was about half an inch too close to opening.  The frame would have to be disassembled, moved back and reconstructed.  An hour later that had been accomplished.  Now the writer cum woodworker tried to place the TV on the wall mount.  Voila!  It worked.

TV is in place and secure.

By now it was supper time and past.  Onie served our plates and a tired pair sat down to eat.

When supper was over we sought the warmth and comfort of our bed.  The TV played until it was lights out.

Outside it was dark by ten, and cold.