This is my story so far.

Geraniums, red or pink, are favorites for the deck

My cousin told me, years ago, that it is no fun having to take care of two houses. 

She lived in Florida and in the summer she and her husband came up to their cabin in Franklin, NC.

She said they spent most of their time cleaning and repairing things at the cabin. 

I will be going back to my home in the mountains very soon and I know there is much to do there. My ongoing downsizing project will keep me very busy, and getting help for the little things that need repair or replacing is always a challenge.

When we first moved to the mountains we still had our house in south Georgia. For almost two years trying to maintain that house and the big yard was overwhelming for me. We tried renting it and that turned into a real fiasco. We found the motor for the garbage compactor in the kitchen missing. We were shocked about that and never found out who or why that happened. My bicycle was stolen. I think because my house on the farm was fairly isolated and not easily seen, thieves found it ripe for picking.

At this time, I have some friends watching my house and checking on things, while I am away. My new neighbors said they would keep an eye on it, also. And when I leave this apartment in the city to go back home, I won't have to worry about it at all. My sister and BIL will take care of it. So having two homes will not be such a problem as it was in 1995.

I know people who come up to the mountains every summer and go back to Florida for the winter months. I think it would be easier if there were two people instead of just me making these trips. A friend who bought a cabin in the region of my house about the same time Barry and I moved in just sold her place. She is also alone and I think it probably became too much to care for. A house owns us, we don't own the house. The house demands we paint, repair, and keep things running. 

The husband of one of my cousins said, "We used to like to travel, but now it takes a U-Haul just to carry all our medications."

I thought that was funny at the time, but I am beginning to understand his comment.

City living is hard to get used to. I have learned the hard way that I should not get on the city streets after 3PM unless I want to wait in long, long lanes of traffic. And I don't try to make a left turn between 3 and 6:30 PM. I have had to make many right turns to get to a place to make a left turn. In Hayesville,  the only time I deal with much traffic is when the summer residents come. I will never complain about that traffic again. I might have to wait for two or three cars before I get on Hwy 64 to go east or west, but that is not a problem. 

I have enjoyed the restaurants in Roswell and the change of food choices from what I have at home. It is easy to order and pick up meals when I don't feel like cooking. Although Slopes Bar B Que is under new management now, I can still order a good vegetable plate to go. They cook southern like my mother did, not the new fancy-pants southern cuisine most Atlanta restaurants serve.

I really like my little kitchen so new and clean, but my Frigidaire refrigerator has not worked properly since it was installed. After calls and more calls, I had a repairman come out. He took the freezer door off and re-installed it, but I still have icicles hanging and frost on all that is in there. I guess I will start the phone calls again.

What I look forward to:

Thursday, April 28, Carroll Taylor will host Mountain Wordsmiths on Zoom at 10:30 AM. I will speak that day about my friends, Kathryn Stripling Byer and Nancy Simpson, both gone now, but I will read some of their poetry as we celebrate Poetry Month. 

We will have Open Mic and everyone who is attending is urged to read a poem, one of their original, or a poem they like by another poet.  I hope poetry lovers everywhere will join us. To receive the link for the meeting, contact Carroll S. Taylor, at vibiaperpetua@gmail.com  

I am also looking forward to seeing my friends in the mountains again. I miss them while here, even though I love being with my family members. I want to have a get-together with people I trust to have had their vaccinations and who are following the CDC guidelines. I still wear a mask when out in public and I will continue to wear one until CDC says I have nothing to fear. I had my second booster today.

In May I will teach another memoir class on Zoom. I have had a number of writers who want to take the course, so that will be enjoyable. I will post the dates and times in the coming weeks. 

July brings us to festival time in the mountains of North Carolina. In our little town of Hayesville, there is a huge festival held in the town square. NCWN-West, our writers in western NC and Georgia, will have a booth for two days where we will meet people from far and near. We will hand out brochures and fliers about our organization, about our local writers and hopefully sell some books. I enjoy meeting all the people who come by and chat with us. We also give away a number of books.

I have been invited to speak to the Kiwanis Club here in Roswell in September, so I will be back then. I look forward to meeting more folks here in the city where I will be spending time this winter. I am contemplating teaching writing at the local adult recreation center. I stopped by today and they don't have any writing classes on their schedule. 

The big event I will be attending soon is the 50th-anniversary party for Gay and Stu. It was originally scheduled for January but had to be postponed due to COVID. It will be fun to see so many of my family and Stu's family plus their friends. I think it will be a wonderful way to start the summer. 

Let's go forward with hope and joy, with friendships and plans to help others where we can. While we are faced every day with the horrors of war in Ukraine, we must be grateful that bombs are not falling in our country, and I hope everyone will support our president and our government as they do all possible to stop the killing over there. Those who support Russia are not true Americans. 

I hope you have things you look forward to in the coming months. If you want to share them, I would love to hear them here.