I might as well talk fishing since it's been a bit. If I had to put my hands on my gear right now it would be impossible. I saw the above picture on some Facebook page showing the catch a father and son made in one of the backwater lagoons in Palmetto Dunes in Hilton Head. I've driven through there and even walked some of the property but it's mostly a live and or stay there and fish kind of place. You basically need a pass to get through the gate, like most plantations or resorts on the island. Funny thing is my sister and her crew are down there now. I hope they got to wet a line.
I haven't been on the river watch which is weird as by now I've usually had at least forty hours in and a fish or two to hand. A quick look at the USGS graphs show me things are looking real good.
While the flows may be off from the norm, and we're probably still way to dry after the winter we had, the temps are looking real good, maybe too good. The river is running at 15,700 cfs and the water temps are near 55. While the shad fishing has broken open to me it's still too skinny and too warm for the first week of April. If water temps are a trigger for spawning then things may be early, or are already underway. My buddy took the ride to one of the Chesapeake tributaries last weekend and had luck on the fly rod at night. He found tons of herring and bass on them, and most were already spawned out. I should take some time and gather my stuff as I feel internally I'm missing out on something in my normal spring rituals.
One thing about having a dumpster is it's just go time. The more and harder you work the more you get done. Period. But that bull-in-a-China-closet-approch doesn't work for all home selling preparation operations. During my house survey I realized I looked over, for eight years, some things that need attention, especially if someone is going to plop down some serious money for the house.
The entrance to our home is pretty stunning. In an effort to pretty things up I thought about painting it over. The problem is a close inspection shows all of the dentil work has lost its detail after about 100 years of paining and subsequent weather. You just can't paint over it. And that's where speed and work comes to a quick halt. You can't rush a heat gun and picking through lead paint. And so it begins.
Next week we'll host the realtor team that will handle the sale and hopefully they will give some guidance on what to do or not before the house goes to market. What a seller thinks is important might not be to the buyer, so it can be time and effort wasted. To me, the entrance is the big first impression, and this one can be spectacular when it's all buttoned up.
What's also slowed the process is being down to one strong hand. This laceration wan't acquired from the work of filling the dumpster but from a much needed break during some day drinking when Theresa and I paused for a bite and a beer over at Al's Airport Inn. Said to say I had to direct the minor surgical procedure, and even redo two of them, as you need to grab some meet to approximate the edges of the wound. I didn't want to say anything, and be that APN guy, but I had to. I need this to be closed and stay closed, and clean.
I was trying to cut a hole in a to-go container and a serrated knife and soft flesh met at the wrong time. I can't imagine the patient's faces when they get a load of my hands of horror as I approach them to start an IV or put in a foley catheter in the ED this Friday. I don't know how surgeons keep those surgeon hands impeccably clean and own a home where they do the yard work and tackle home improvement projects. Well, maybe they don't roll like me.
We've set the to-market day as May 22nd and hopefully we'll meet that deadline. With springs arrival the landscape is coming in nice with everything coming in nice Ana green and the house shows best during May, before it gets unbearably hot inside during the summer.
I checked out the neighborhood yesterday on Zillow and saw that a few homes are coming close to market. There's one coming on with 3,900 square feet for $1,375,000 which is a nice number and will be interesting to see what kind of action it gets, and if it moves quickly. If it does I'll increase my lead paint poisoning exposure to try and get every dollar we can from the house. The bigger the get the better off we are starting anew in South Carolina.
What's funny is we just never know as we scan Zillow every night. Is our future home already on the market or is it to come? There's so many options, price, size, and location within Sun City that it's hard to zone in when we don't know when or how much scratch we'll be able to help in the search. We've capped out searches to a max of $450,000 but there's more in higher price ranges. The last thing we need is more space than we need.
So while Theresa is looking at what kind of kitchens a listing may have I have my sights on more important, to me, spaces. One listing had the most glorious room that would serve me very, very well.
It was a garage view that was an image towards the back of the gallery. It showed the garage and a secret little staircase located in the corner. The next picture showed a beautiful space which could become a fly tying room or a safe room where I could go and hide when we're just about to kill each other.
The 55 and over homes in our price range are basically 2 bedroom and 2 bath at around 1,300 square feet with no where to run and hide, or have a messy Man Cave space where I can feel at home. Part of me needs to have a space that isn't organized or sterile. One like this just might do.
So what does all of this personal stuff have to do with The Average Angler and fly fishing? Well this blog has documented the journey of a fly fishermen, like you. No doubt it's just a chapter in my life's book. And the next chapters will hopefully include fly fishing and guiding in and around Hilton Head and Beaufort, South Carolina, and not about burning lead paint, loading dumpsters, and getting stitches.