The Big Move

This was the view out my front door tonight and really, if I found a pot of gold here on SCRANCH, it would not go to waste. Hell, I spent all the gold already just to get here.

Monday was a big day. I went for my first big run since I got here - 3.3 miles straight north, up a dirt road, pretty much to the Canadian border, then home again. I'm hoping to expand this mileage and run at least 3x per week. Hopefully, I won't get run over by a tractor.

Then, I marched into the bushy area between the two houses - what used to be a gorgeous garden when I was a kid - and attacked all the dead branches with a clipper and a hand saw. I emerged several hours later scratched up and bitten but victorious: My first burn pile!

Sawing above my head, I learned quickly to keep my mouth shut, lest I ingest chunky plumb tree sawdust. Keeping my yapper shut is good practice for me anyway.

But the big news on Monday...it was Time. As much as I loved having The Mae Flower behind the super-testosterone shop and astride the rust pile looking out to the church, her time had come to move on up to the west side.

Goodbye, Rust Pile!

The overall plan for me, as far as Brent is concerned, is that I should be as self-sufficient as possible, requiring as little or no trailer movement. Poor guy - he wants his life back, pre-Heather!

The move toward this ideal began one early morning, when I was awakened by Brent and his young electrician friend, Deanie, digging up the yard to lay down new electrical wire to Brent's childhood home. (My mom calls is "Perry's house" - Perry was Brent's dad.)

Deanie - multi-tasking.

So my new spot would have its own electrical box - done. Next up, sewer connection so I don't have to driver Mae to some dumping station to get rid of my dishwater and sewage. Although Brent hasn't lived in the house since the mid-80s, he knew that exactly where the sewer was and, hey, why couldn't I connect that way?

So, Brent and my cousin, Glen, got together and spent the afternoon building me my very own above-ground triple-pipe connection to the rural sewer system.

I felt kinda silly just standing around watching these two men - both of whom I have known my entire life - work so hard on this project. Out of the kindness of their hearts, they created a system to help me deal with my shit, literally.

Meanwhile, Brent tried to make me feel useful by having me fetch screwdrivers and whatnot but otherwise, I just kept taking photos. In situations like these, I'm not good for much else.

At long last, the connections were made and the levers pulled...the whooshing sound of nearly two weeks of waste water build up successfully sent to its proper place. Success! This means that whenever the levels get too high, I just walk outside, pull a few tabs and the issue is dissolved.

And then, just like that - meaning two days later - a rainbow appeared.