On Being Old--14 "D" Day plus Three Weeks

Once again the visual changes to the room are not dramatic, but I must say it is beginning to look like a room. The dry wall guys did their magic by putting the second layer of patching compound and sanding the walls smooth. Dust is everywhere…the tables…the chairs…the plates…our mouths…


Mark and his wife, Dianne, descended on us with color charts and ideas. Rosemary took the lead because she has the eye. So we selected the colors for the kitchen, foyer, living room, and the kitchen windows. Yet more decisions.

We popped out of our cocoon. The plastic covering all the openings has been removed. The painters put a prime coat on all the walls and the ceiling. What a transformation with only a little color.

The flooring guys finished the installation of the hard wood floors, and it looks terrific.  Next comes the staining and sealing.  We try some patches of different colored stains, and reach another decision point.

By the end of next week, if all goes well we’ll have our cabinets installed. Really starting to get exciting.

Ciao

On Being Old--13 Cape Cod Caper-Afternoon of Day 3

After a leisure sail from Martha’s Vineyard we boarded the bus to take to Quincy, Ma with a stop in Plymouth.In the harbor in Plymouth lay moored a replica of the Mayflower.  Those original pilgrims had to have been a hardy lot.  I can’t imagine bobbing like a cork on the Atlantic Ocean for thirty days.

                                                    

 About a hundred yards from the spot that we viewed the Mayflower was a columned monument that marked the landing place of the pilgrims.  Looking down inside this structure was a stone rather than a rock—I expected a large jutting, rocky crag.  Apparently people over the years chipped pieces of the rock for a souvenir so that the marker looks more like a dinosaur egg than a “rock”.Once back on the bus our tour rep informed us of a special treat.  She asked if anyone ever saw the National Monument to the Forefathers.  No one ever heard of such a thing.  Not more than a quarter of a mile from the Plymouth Rock the bus turned a corner, and there in a field loomed this enormous edifice.  A statue dedicated in 1889 stood in this location for over a hundred years, and I never heard of it.

                                                    

      I walked around the monument not believing what I saw.

The top figure – Faith- symbolizes the virtue which inspired the Pilgrim’s journey to the New World. She holds a Bible in her left hand, right hand uplifted to heaven, her foot on Plymouth Rock, and seems to call to all to trust in a higher power.

Surrounding the central figure are:

Morality—a seated female figure holding in her left hand a book inscribed “God”, in her right the scroll of Revelation.

Education—a draped woman pointing to a book in her lap with figures of Wisdom and Youth in niches on either side of her.

Law—a draped male holding a book.  His chair is supported by Justice and Mercy.

                          Liberty—a helmeted man with a sword in his right arm and a broken chain in his left.  On either side of him in niches are representations of Peace and Tyranny, meant to symbolize peace under the protection of liberty, tyranny having been overthrown by its power.
 

The ride to the Boston Marriott Quincy left me with time to contemplate the achievements of those daring people who braved the hardships to create a new world for themselves and those that followed. They created the opportunity for me and the many others before and after me to live in a world free to pursue dreams without fear of repression. We live in a great nation.

Ciao

On Being Old--12 Cape Cod Caper-Morning of Day 3

The Cape Cod Caper-Morning of Day 3


Although Martha’s Vineyard is closer to the mainland than Nantucket, our travel time was about the same. The ferry speed was much slower. Our arrival at Oak Bluff was greeted by the only monument to a Confederate soldier in New England. Gingerbread-style cottages lined the coast line like silent sentinels.

The bus ride to Edgartown brought us passed sights such as Lake Tashmoo; the oldest tree—300 plus years old—on the island; and St. Elizabeth Church.

We wandered the quaint streets of Edgartown and found a marvelous restaurant, the Atlantic, on Main Street on the bay. We shared some oysters and supped on Atlantic clam chowder along with a wonderful Ahi tuna sandwich. Fortified with a robust glass of Port, we left our comfortable surroundings for another stroll through the streets. We would have enjoyed more time here, but more experiences await us.

Our bus stopped at the Methodist Campground. Once again the area was dotted with brilliant colored, gingerbread-style cottages. Many of the homes had a theme, such as the Wizard of Oz house.

As we boarded the ferry, we were treated with the panoramic view of the approaching storm over the Nantucket Sound. So until our bus ride later this afternoon to Plymouth on the way to Boston…

 

 

 



On Being Old--11 "D" Day plus Two Weeks

So, the pace seems to have slowed down a bit. The activity in the house has not been as frantic as at the outset. Work is progressing but is not very evident. The city inspector put his blessing on the electrical work. The following day three different guys appeared to put up the dry wall. The following day they patched all the seams and screw head indentations. Now we can only watch the plaster dry—not too exciting. By the end of next week we anticipate a beehive of activity.
Met with Mark to go over some last minute details about the cabinet installation. More decisions. Our heads are spinning already. Not much more to report. So for now…

Ciao

 
 
 
 
 

 

 

 

On Being Old--10 "D" Day plus 10

The Dimark guys are moving right along. Randy roughed in all the electrical work – there’s a maze of conduit in the substructure. Sure glad Randy knows where all the wires start and end. Ed look likes Dexter in his breathing mask, poncho, and latex gloves as he filled the spaces between the ceiling joists with insulation. This work “ain’t” his favorite. Meanwhile, Robert stood in sleet storm of insulation as he handed the sheets of insulation to Ed. Ah, “ain’t” youth grand!

The plumbers showed up late in the afternoon to do a bit of re-piping so the walls and ceiling could be worked on next week. However, the city inspector never showed up. Won’t be here until Tuesday – what a bummer! As I loo around our town, I don’t see any re-modeling going on, only many fro sales signs – a result of our economy. So, how busy could the inspectors be?

The week ends with some dramatic changes. Walking through our front doorway, you can see all the way out to the backyard. What a difference! We now have a much better perspective of things to come. Really starting to get excited, still in a state of turmoil, but excited.

Ciao

On Being Old--9 "D" Day plus a Week

The first week blew by, and Rosemary and I are still speaking to one another. It’s amazing to see what creatures of habit one becomes. Small changes in routine cause a tremendous mental commotion. Even taking one’s daily vitamins become somewhat stressful…they’re in a different location…must be taken at a different time. I guess I’ve become somewhat anal.


The dust is everywhere. You can taste it in the air. You can feel it on your clothes. It covers the dishes you dine on. These are small things compared with what our boys put up with in Afghanistan and Iraq. I better stop complaining. Guess that’s why they don’t consider old geezers like me for the military.

A point has been reached where changes are not evident…infrastructure alterations—a new sub-floor or a new electrical panel. The disruption in lifestyle compounded by the lack of apparent changes brings about a mental exhaustion. The guys are doing all the work, and I am getting tired.

No pictures today. Not much to see. Within the next few days we are anticipating some obvious and visual alterations. So, for now…

Ciao

On Bing Old--8 "D" Day Plus 2

The guys from Dimark have been working hard even though things do not look like anything is being accomplished. All the dry wall has been removed from the walls. After removing the ceiling we now only have the skeletal structure of a kitchen.


Exposure to the attic space revealed a beam spanning the center of the kitchen. Mark informed us the beam could be raised – a minor hitch in the schedule.

Friday found Ed, Robert, and Randy – when he wasn’t working on an electrical condition – on the rock pile better known as the slate floor in our foyer. They pounded and chipped and pried the better part of the day. The mirrors were removed from the wall. We had forgotten about the gold wallpaper that covered all the walls when we bought the house. The place reminded us of a giant Christmas present.

Mark and Robert laid out the position of all the cabinets and the center island on the floor. Things certainly have an odd perspective with the room so bare. Our job for the weekend is to determine the exact position of the island and a focal point picture.

Next week starts the framing of the walls and the raising of the beam.

Ciao

On Being Old--7 Cape Cod Caper Day 2

Today a high speed, two hour ferry ride whisked our group to Nantucket. The town, a typical tourist area, found only a smattering of people roaming the uneven cobbled-stoned streets, since Labor Day had passed. After a short walk from the pier we discovered a quaint whaling museum. An interesting lecture informed us of the whaling trade that flourished on the island. On the main floor from the ceiling hung a skeletal structure of the most desirous whale of the trade, the sperm whale.


A light rain turned into a torrential downpour forcing us to take shelter in a restaurant where we tried the area’s noted sandwich, “the Lobstah” Roll. After all the hype we did not find the sandwich very appealing. Anyway we waited out the storm.

The afternoon tour took us past sights such as the First Congregational Church; the oldest building on the island– “a salt-box” style [slanted roof]; and an old mill. Before boarding the ferry back to the main land, we had to take a short ice cream cone break.

Upon our return to the main land, the bus awaited to scurry us off to the Chowder House for a lobster dinner. Rosemary and I looked forward to this meal and were sorely disappointed. The whole lobster was cold and water soaked and the mussels near inedible. The efficient and fun staff was not good enough to offset the poor meal.

On a whole today’s experience – especially the people we travelled with – rated as a desirable piece of candy.

Ciao

                             

 

On Being Old--6 'D' Day

Today was ‘D’ Day. Mark and his band of merry warriors -- Ed, Mike Robert and Randy – descended on our home. Work began in earnest. Three of the guys started taping plastic on the doors leading from the kitchen, while Randy disconnected the electrical power to the double oven.

Before long our first floor looked like a set from “Dexter”. We felt as though we were breaking through a cocoon as we walked from one room to the another. Mark issued his instructions like a drill sergeant…remove this cabinet…put the refrigerator in the dining room… move the table to the liging room…and so on.

Our desk and cabinets were gone, the stove moved to the garage followed by the gas and electric range. Before long the cabinets on the far wall dropped out of sight leaving the red ceramic tiles like the decimated walls of some castle in Portugal.

After lunch the long cabinet housing Rosemary’s ironing board congregated with the mounting pile of wooden cabinetry in the garage. The linoleum was skinned of the floor. A peek into the kitchen showed the dismantled center island missing its butcher block top.

I took a computer break, but the rat-tat-tatting—like the opening marching scene from the old-time radio production of “Gangbusters”—stirred me to come downstairs. Ed, Mike and Robert on hands and knees pounded flush hundreds of staples that held the old flooring in place.

So the day ended as the men swept the floor clean and put away their tools. A way good-bye and the promise that they would return at 8:00 AM the next morning.

Wow! What a day. Rosemary and I were exhausted, and we only watched the work performed. Just think only fifty-nine more days to go.

Ciao