Chugging Along

For weeks we hung out in limbo land. The buyers of Aspen Meadows were waiting on the closing of their house before lifting the contingencies on ours. We couldn't move forward with inspections at Oak Creek until they committed to Aspen Meadows. The current owner of Oak Creek has been very patient, waiting with us while we tried to sell Aspen Meadows.

Monday, the buyers of Aspen Meadows gave the green all-clear signal so we started scheduling our inspections. Brett drove up to Placerville yesterday with the first load of Brett's tools, my garden tools and patio furniture. I met him after work and we put it in temporary storage. He stood in the bed of the truck and scooted the furniture to the tailgate. His back is out and he can't lift or carry anything. Being a studly woman, I carried everything in and stacked it by myself. Brett did help carry the wicker couch. I felt elated to be working and not hurting. No broken foot, no sprained back, no bruised ribs. For once, I was in one piece.

I made us a dinner of lamb chops, asparagus and roasted potatoes. We opened a bottle of wine from one of the wineries up the road from Oak Creek. I stood in the hot shower and washed away the grime -- and then we slept like rocks wedged together in a quiet corner of a rushing creek.

So far this week we've had inspections on the well, the plumbing, the pest/dry rot and the mold we found in the upstairs bathroom. We're just waiting on the septic inspection and they were busy digging up the lids today. Everything is coming back pretty clean. The water in our well has a high iron content which explains the reddish stains in the toilets and the kitchen sink. But the water is clean.

This morning I went to work and Brett headed out to Oak Creek early to meet the mold guy. He called me mid-morning to tell me he was driving from our valley to the next, looking for breakfast. The road was beautiful and as he described the soaring pines rising above the road, his voice caught and I could see him clearly; his blue eyes wet as his heart filled with the peaceful beauty of the Sierra Nevada mountains, and spilled over.

Back at the property, he met the plumber, another neighbor and the seller's real estate agent. Being Brett, he immediately became best friends with all of them. He called me again when he was hitting the road for the long drive back to LA County. Every fiber of his body was fighting the leaving.

Tomorrow night I fly back to Aspen Meadows. Saturday we will load up the truck and trailer and make the drive back up to Placerville to put more equipment in storage. Brett will stay until Tuesday, working on making the fences secure for the horses.


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