What Happened To Our Summer?

Previously I wrote about trying to figure out where my wife and I were going to take our son this summer. Many of the plans mentioned in that post have been solidified but it still only reveals one small aspect of our summer scheduling. I wish it were that simple but that is simply not the reality in which we live. There are many other factors playing into the rearranging of days, times, projects, vacations, and obligations that many of us have to juggle during this time of the year.

In addition to our desire to escape for a day or two at a time we also have many other things scribbled into the small grids that summarize our season. The next group that we have to account for are the various projects that we are having completed at the house over the next couple of months. These include the small items like garage doors, landscaping (i.e. tree removal), and interior door installation. And then there are the not so small projects that I hope to see completed like the HVAC overhaul as well as deck and porch construction. All of these take a lot of time and, right now are a bit in flux with regard to timing which is why we need to keep a few spots open.

Next are the family events that round out the calendar and that have been scheduled for months. This doesn’t just include the picnics in August but also the times when we need to schedule times to get together with family. There are so many things happening at this moment that it has become necessary to schedule these weekends. Of course, there are also a few times, granted they are few and far between, that we have scheduled to meet up with friends as well.

Day trips and local events have also become important in our schedule as we want to take the time to explore the communities around our home and also find different places for us to visit on a regular basis. Finally, there are the obligations that we have both during the week and on the weekends that we have little flexibility in scheduling. Did I mention that we need to maintain our home and property too… yeah, that requires allocation of a few weekends. So, at this point, it is surprising to find that there really isn’t a great deal of free space remaining on the calendar and the few open weekends that do exist are going to be welcomed as a respite from the chaos of the season. That is, of course, if they don’t get filled up with some unavoidable occurrence between now and then.

Mortgage Monday: More Estimates

Whenever work needs to be done at the house that is beyond my limited capabilities, it is rarely a simple process to get that job done. Early last week I was finally able to set aside the time research some of the contractors and other service providers in the area. Home Advisor was actually a pretty useful tool for this in addition to work of mouth and local publications. We have had our project list pulled together for some time now and I did receive a couple of estimates for a few things that we need done but I am never one to settle for a single quote. So, with a break in the chaos of the week, I pulled together a list and got on the phone making dozens of calls and leaving a multitude of messages. With all the research done and calls placed, the rest of the week was filled with fielding responses to my queries.

The first set of calls that I placed was to some of the reputable tree service companies in the area. There are at least three trees that need to be taken down around the property and probably a few others that will need to come down in the near future. Heading into this initial investigation I knew that this is an expensive proposition as a couple of the trees are at least a hundred feet high and not in an easy location on the property. Additionally, at least one of them is so far gone that scaling in the trunk is not going to be a possibility. Of all the companies I called I was only able to get a hold of one of them who stopped by the house on Friday and delivered an unofficial estimate at a figure that I was in line with my thought process.

The next call was to a company to replace our garage doors. While one is still serviceable the other door is useless at this point and given the age of both it just makes sense to replace the pair (as well as the motors). Again, I already have a quote for this project but it is definitely one that I believe can be beat by, hopefully, a significant margin. This is one of the companies that I will have stopping by the house this week.

The last group of correspondences were to a few of the recommended general contracting firms and smaller craftsmen in the area. The one recommendation that I did receive to install some doors to my office was booked… and when I say booked I mean that he didn’t have an opening in his calendar until February 2017. A couple of the other companies I contact gave me a call later in the week and will be coming out to the house this week as well. It is definitely going to be busy around the house with all of these people coming and going but at least I will have a few sets of numbers to work with.

Mortgage Monday: Snow!

The weather forecast late last week was a bit of a reality check as we braced for our first major snow storm in the new house. Thankfully the oil company made a delivery (still hoping that they will call us beforehand next time) earlier in the week so that was one item off of our list. Thankfully we had previously discussed this scenario with our neighbors who assured us that they had never had any issues in the winter either with clearing or with regard to losing power. However, this feedback tends to be subjective and we were at that point without a snow blower or a generator.  

While I was able to find a snow blower for sale just before the storm hit us and we picked up a few supplies we were still wondering how things were going to progress especially since we still don’t have any means of emergency power. The big thing was what the snow and wind will do to not only the house but the hundreds of trees that surround us? Additionally, what will our road look like during the storm and immediately afterward? All of these things were running through our minds as the flakes began to fall late on Friday night.

By the time we got out of bed in the morning we noticed that there was already some progress made on our road despite not having hit the midpoint of the storm. Check one item off the list. With over a foot on the ground already it was also a good time to clear the driveway so that, the following day, the final cleanup would be manageable. A few hours later and we could easily make our way to the street… really glad we invested in a decent snow blower!

The following day was clear and sunny allowing us to survey the 25-30 inches covering our property. Thankfully, the light snow combined with the constant wind kept the whining trees and roof clear. After a full morning and early afternoon of snow removal (with a few breaks here and there to spend time with our son) we were completely dug out and I was ready to head into work the following morning.

Our first snow storm is now behind us and now we definitely know a few things that we didn’t a couple of weeks ago. Our power and cable remained connected for the duration and the plows went up and down our street about every 30 minutes. While it took some time to clear our massive driveway, it was completely manageable. However, I think we are going to look at a generator in the near future just in case. Add one more thing to the list of things we would like to do… a small addition considering all of the previous unknowns.

TMI Tuesday: Unusually Warm Weather

Haven't needed this yet!

When we originally went to settlement on the house we accepted the fact that we probably wouldn’t be able to enjoy the outdoor space until the spring. Well, we were definitely wrong in making that assumption as the weather has been oddly warm. Because of this, our son has been able to go outside in little more than a sweatshirt or light coat (at most) and take in the clean air. He has also been able to enjoy looking up at the countless trees which he has done since we first started carrying him outside last spring.

One of his favorite spots in the yard, probably on the entire property including inside, is the gazebo. While he hasn’t spent a lot of time in the yard (it still gets dark quickly this time of year) he always has a smile on his face when he is sitting in the middle with one of his toys. And the toy is pretty much secondary as he spends more time looking around and making cute sounds rather than playing. I’m just glad that he likes being outside rather than staying cooped up in the house.

With the warm weather, he also likes having a slight breeze in the car whenever we have to go here or there. It’s actually pretty funny, and cute, hearing him take in deep breaths as soon as we crack the back window. Hopefully this doesn’t continue once the weather finally realizes that it is supposed to be freaking cold out and the slightest air leak into the car leads to hours of shivering.

At the same time, I am curious to see if our son likes the snow. While he has seen it, he wasn’t able to fully process what it was at the time or enjoy watching it flutter through the trees. It should at least be an experience watching his reaction to both the flurries falling from the sky and the resulting blanket across the yard. He would probably enjoy watching everything from the dryness of the gazebo.

It is nice knowing that our son enjoys the outdoors and I am already looking forward to not only his reaction to the snow but the warmth that is supposed to come about with the spring and summer. He should be quite mobile by then and I am looking forward to exploring the property with him. After all, I haven’t had a chance to see everything yet either.

Mortgage Monday: New Noises

THAT. WOULD. SUUUUCK!

Each place you live has its own set of noises that you have to get used to over time. When my wife and I were in Metuchen it was the sound of our neighbor’s alarm clock that he never turned off in the morning before heading out. In Bala Cynwyd, it was the sound of cars driving through the parking lot on the other side of our ground floor window. In Chester Springs, it was the constant flow of traffic, the heavy feet of the neighbors to the right of us, and the DIY obsessions of the neighbor on the other side.

Now, in our new home, the sounds are much simpler. We are not on a busy street and even when the occasional car or buggy drives by we can’t hear it through the windows are we sit back from and above the road. The neighbors are on the other side of the trees and while we can see the houses between the barren branches, we rarely see our neighbors and have yet to hear any noises. The sounds that we hear late at night are the small things like the boiler turning on or the heat makings its way through the pipes.

When we step outside there is a bit of white noise in the distance from the highways but that was something that only took a couple of days before we didn’t notice it. Now all we hear is the wind rustling the last of the stubborn leaves on the trees, the occasional deer walking through the woods, and recently, the misting rain as it collects on the roof and drips into the gutters. These are the most common sounds that we hear which are relaxing rather than annoying.

However, there are occasions when we hear other noises. While we can’t hear it from inside, there is a rooster a few doors down that really enjoys upholding the cliché associated with mornings. And, being where we are in relation to more densely populated areas, there have been a couple of weekends when we knew that someone had just bought a fresh batch of ammunition the day before. But, again, while bothersome to some, these sounds, especially given their rarity, don’t bother me.

The noises that we dealt with in the past were annoying then and they still bother me now. These new sounds are sometimes relaxing and other times we don’t even notice them. They are a part of our life in our new home and I guess that simple fact, that we either like or are indifferent to them, reinforces the fact that we made the right decision and truly found our home among the houses.

A New Season

While the weather has been slowly cooler over the past several weeks, there is something about the official first day of fall that enhances the subtle breezes, sharpens the colors, and enhances the smells that come with the season. Many of the trees may still be green and the sky remains un-fowled but there are subtle hints of the changes that will soon be upon us including the scattered leaves rustling between the leaves of un-mowed grass. And, of course, there is the smell of the burning foliage that sporadically wafts across the highway while on my way home from work each night.

However, the season is a little different this year. While I enjoy the coolness of the evenings sometimes venturing out to breathe the crisp air, we also have to make sure our son is dressed appropriately for the changing weather. As if we didn’t have enough stuff before, now we carry extra layers wherever we go and make sure that the colds he inevitably cycles through aren’t exacerbated by the chill in the air. After all, I want our son to enjoy this time of year as much as I do and, so far, he seems to be doing just that.

From time to time, shortly after getting home from work, I will pick up our son and take him outside. The dusk is still bright on the horizon and the air retains a hint of warmth which allows us to enjoy the time together without worrying about the dropping temperature. I love watching his eyes move from tree to tree studying the colors, shapes, and size of them. He watches the cars speed by slowly coming back to focus on the horizon as the orange and red takes over the sky. And when something is particularly interesting he usually starts slapping my arm and turns his head to look at me seemingly asking “Daddy, do you see that?”

Fall was already my favorite time of year and moment like that are making the season even better. While he is still young and may not fully appreciate all the changes that are taking place, the sense of wonder that he has accentuates the feeling of autumn for me. I hope that is one thing that he never loses when he looks at the world around him. Sometimes I lose sight of it but it really is an amazing creation in which we live.

Tu B’Shevat: Celebrating New Life

I’ve always found it interesting that during the darkest time of the year when the trees seem lifeless under a snowy and icy veneer that we celebrate Tu B’Shevat. Of course, this is the view from the diaspora when many of these seemly oddly placed holidays reflect the life and vibrancy of the homeland. As Chabad.org summarizes:

Tu B’Shevat, the 15th of Shevat on the Jewish calendar—celebrated this year on Wednesday, February 4, 2015—is the day that marks the beginning of a “new year” for trees. This is the season in which the earliest-blooming trees in the Land of Israel emerge from their winter sleep and begin a new fruit-bearing cycle.

Legally, the “new year” for trees relates to the various tithes that are separated from produce grown in the Holy Land. These tithes differ from year to year in the seven-year shemittah cycle; the point at which a budding fruit is considered to belong to the next year of the cycle is the 15th of Shevat.

We mark the day of Tu B’Shevat by eating fruit, particularly from the kinds that are singled out by the Torah in its praise of the bounty of the Holy Land: grapes, figs, pomegranates, olives and dates. On this day we remember that “man is a tree of the field” (Deuteronomy 20:19), and reflect on the lessons we can derive from our botanical analogue.

The fascinating thing that we have to remember when these holidays come around is that they are celebrating the Jewish homeland. This is what draws our thoughts and prayers to Israel. They are subtle reminders that no matter where we are in this world we all focus or faith and our being on one central holy land. Today, which began at sunset this evening, we celebrate the bountiful land that not only sustains our bodies but also our minds and our spirit.

However, this year I can see the season of new life in a very personal way as our son is nearly ready to join us. It is during these cold months that he has grown so much and developed quite the personality as he insists on playing with his mom and dad and responding to our voices more than ever before. The trees may seem dormant here but our baby is fully embracing this holiday by not just beginning a new year but beginning a new life. At some point in his life we will be sure to show him this land to which we are so strongly connected.

Smells Like Spring!

The weather has been getting much warmer lately and it is only a matter of time before we begin seeing the green leaves peek out from the stark brown branches. Even the grass seems to be returning to life as the sun slowly warms the soil. It is a comfortable time of year when the windows begin opening and the breeze whips through the windows of cars.

It is also the time of year when the seasonal smells begin filling your nostrils. Not the floral and earthy aromas of midseason but the transitional wafts that make you question the seasonal change. They make you long for the scentless season that has just come to a bitter end and make you eager to move things along to the hot and sweaty sweltering summers.

I began my commute home with the windows down, the heat off, and the radio just loud enough to hear above the din of the wind. The pace of the drive was like any other day with the occasional slowing down and speeding up (because no one understands the concept of constant speed) and weaving in and out of traffic (including right in front of me) of the mindless drivers in a hurry to advance three car lengths before their exit. With the aroma of spring asphalt flowing freely I noticed the sharp olfactory notes of cars that have experienced a particularly rough winter.

As I arrived home this evening I was confronted by one of those smells that is stuck in the middle of the change. While the flower beds looked very clean and aesthetically pleasing, the full bodied and bold fog of feces seemed to wrap around my head, permeate my clothes, and leave my nose clogged with the perfume of poo. Nothing like spending your evening in a sealed off apartment (we are on the first floor with the pile of poo chips just on the other side of our wall) smelling like a cow fart trying to get work done at your computer.

However, the welcoming scents and sounds will soon fill the air as grass is cut, trees are trimmed and chipped, and the rain steams on the pavement. These are the smells that I am looking forward to and what I wait for every year. Fill the air with thunder and the clouds with lightening following a day when the grass has been cut and I could just sit back, relax, and enjoy the sensory experience of the season. But, until that time, I am stuck here sniffing turds.

WTF = Winter’s Tenacious February

I woke up this morning to the sound of a heavy rain slamming into the ground. The kind of rain that has a purpose. We knew it was coming from watching the news the night before but we didn’t expect the echoes that the weighted water would cause just outside our bedroom window. I don’t know if it was the expectation of what I would inevitably find on the other side of our apartment door or the rhythm of the rain, but I had a hard time getting out of bed.

After a quick shower, I poured a cold cup of coffee from the day before and cracked open the door. The giant drops were a change from the frozen flakes that have plagued us for the past month but as soon as my shoe splashed onto the sidewalk, I was wishing that it was snow. Carefully I placed my other foot on the concrete and before long my feet began to slide as I walked toward my car.

I have always found that the best way to determine the condition of the road is to walk on it. With this thought in mind, I walked across the parking lot and found that while there were slick spots, the asphalt wasn’t too bad. The trees however looked like they decided to take up yoga during the night. With branches bent in an unnatural fashion, it was inevitable that there was going to be limbs, if not entire trees, along, on, and across the roads this morning.

It was with this thought that I began my journey to the office and it wasn’t long before the traction control began flashing on the dashboard and the brakes were pumping at the end of the driveway. Within a quarter mile of the apartment building the slalom began as I joined a line of cars weaving back and forth around trees on our way to the highway. The important thing is that the tires retained their grip and people kept their distance so we all managed to make it through the inoperable traffic lights, down the road, and onto the Schuylkill Expressway.

With few cars on the road, the ride to the office was pretty quick. While there was nothing eventful across the three lanes heading eastbound, my peripheral vision was overloaded with the constant motion of bending, breaking, and falling branches all along the highway. Nothing impacted the commute and I pulled into the office in about the same amount of time that it usually takes in the morning. The only difference in my arrival was second guessing my usual parking spot under one of the trees. I wasn’t about to take the risk when there were plenty of spots out in the open.

And this is how the long day of power outages and failed internet connections started. What seemed uneventful in the beginning of the day and was pretty safe, has been a bigger PITA than a foot of snow on the ground. And this is, by no means, an end to the winter weather for the week.

Sensing the Season

It has felt like fall for a couple of weeks now. There were also a couple of crisp days before then but the consistency only just started to take hold. This may be my favorite time of year but the temperature is only half of the equation.

Today was the first day that I was really able to enjoy the season. Not because of the official announcement yesterday that the season had changed but because of the fact that today was the first time that it started to envelope all of my senses not just one. The sights, sounds, and smells are beginning to fill the air.

I enjoy the crunch under my feet of the freshly fallen leaves; the first line to fold in the seasonal change. While some may view the suicidal foliage in a way that foretells of the bitter cold just a few short months away I prefer to enjoy the moment that we are living in now. The year is too short to always be looking toward the darkness of winter; seasons are meant to be enjoyed.

Those same leaves give off the aroma unique to this time of year and one that is really hard to explain. Soon it will be joined by the comforting scents of the fall harvest and freshly carved pumpkins before the cold takes hold and mutes the olfactory experience. There is a lightness to the air that with a cool dry breeze the season wraps around you the smells of the season.

Looking up, just outside our apartment door, the edges of the leaves are beginning to burn with the autumn palate. Each leaf is unique in their chameleon change but all adding the overall collage of colors while retaining the memory of the summer arbor just beneath the branches. Soon the horizon will be filled with the fire of fall for all but a fleeting moment that will, undoubtedly, leave us wanting more.

This is a season of beauty and of change. While the departed summer is a time to relax for many this is the time of year that lets be slow down a bit from time to time just to enjoy the world around me. It is the time when we can’t help but be amazed by the world around us and we pursue new adventures and endeavors simply to partake in as much of the season as we can before the slumbering season takes hold of us and the calendar flips over to a new year.

This is the time of year to start something new and to emblazon our memories with new experiences like the flamboyant foliage around us etches their transition in our minds. This is the time that the slowly descending temperature brings us together and holds us to the warmth of family and friends. This is the season to share with the ones you love and to embody the passion that is portrayed in the trees around us. This is, by far, my favorite season.