We left the heat and humidity, and rains, of the Lowcountry, and traveled down to Florida for some heat, humidity, and rain. Actually the purpose of the trip was to visit my Mom in Bradenton and the kids in St. Augustine. On Friday we loaded up the Suburban with stuff of theirs, that we had the movers bring down, and delivered it to their respective final destinations. With their stuff gone it opened up some much needed space in the garage for us to be able to breathe a bit and have some operating room as we continue to go though our stuff, a lot of it which shouldn't have made the trip down to begin with.
My Mom had been doing her own version of editing down her stuff which is down to tons of pictures, awards, and bad artwork from my siblings and I early childhood.
It's more of the same, "What do we do with all of this stuff?". Like for most of us these memories are stored in bins and boxes which rarely see daylight until it's decided to drag them out and open them up. That's me below after waking up to my first real bike on Christmas morning. I was probably five years old there (1973) when we lived at 538 Mackey Avenue in Belford, NJ. Remember those banana seats?
Needless to say I came home with a box full of memories that one day my kids will have to go through when I croak, but they shouldn't complain as we've done our fair share of the heavy lifting that goes with downsizing and relocating.
The above picture was taken in 1972, when I was four years old. If I could go back now and advise my younger self on what to do, and not do, for the next 54 years I wonder what I would say. Looking though old pictures and stuff makes me think of the end of the movie Saving Private Ryan. In that scene an older James Ryan, played by Matt Damon, is seen standing over the grave of Captain Miller, played by Tom Hanks. At one point he turns to his wife and asks, "Tell me I'm a
good man", which is his way of affirming that all of the sacrifices other's made to save him, and the decisions he made in life, were worth it. While we all have our life stories, filled with triumphs and regrets, in the end we all hope we did good for others, a lived a good life.
And in between the stacks of reports cards and SRA results, remember those dreaded tests, were the reminders that even as young man I was a lady killer. The above is proof of that, a love letter from my early days at St. Rose of Lima grammar school in Freehold, NJ.
And then this picture fell out of a stack. You know what that reminded me of, right? Well, first The Fly Barn as I've been using the same type of lawn mower to keep the yard neat since I took over ownership a month or so ago.
And then it reminded me of the bad hat I wore this year up on the Vineyard while waking the flats. Same goofy hat, same goofy look. I think that's one reason why I keep all
of those love letters from my youth. Truth is I never really had style, or any kind of game, and really no girlfriend until high school. And if you look at me in the below picture from Disney
Disney World you can see why. Yes, that's a Peter Frampton t-shirt I have on, "I want youooo, to show me the way...." I can't imagine why I couldn't get chicks....
And then yesterday we braved the rains and took the drive from Bradenton to St. Augustine. It was weird visiting family and passing Disney World. Most times that I've been to Florida have been on a plane and in a rental car. In the end we drove 6 hours to Bradenton, then 3 hours to St Augustine, and then 3 hours home, give or take an hour or two. We had Luke on board so we had to stop for him along the way.
When we pulled up to the kids place it looked very much like Sun City. Homes that were done and homes under construction. There were Pulte signs everywhere. That's the home building company that does a lot of these communities down south. And while the kids unpacked their stuff I went and looked at the home under construction next door. Anytime I see a home covered in Hardie Boards or planks I stop and take a few pictures.
I'm always looking for ideas on how to trim The Fly Barn. As I made my way around the house I just had to take a look inside the dumpster, because that's what I do. Well that led to a quick dumpster diving session where I scored probably $100 with of Hardie stuff.
The amount of waste was mind blowing. The way it works is each one of these homes has a set amount of materials that are delivered, used, and then discarded. No one is picking through and saving pieces or sheets to save a buck. I guess it's not worth the time. Unfortunately people who live in the neighborhood use the dumpsters as well so it got in the way of my picking.
If I could I would drive around and pick through all these dumpsters and save a ton of money along the way. Like the other day with Ray and the refrigerator, "One man's trash is another man's treasure".
