Our Adventuresome Lives

Some Things I’ve Learned About NC

North Carolina. The South. All of it is brand spankin’ new to us and a learning experience to be sure. But it’s great! We don’t expect it to be like California in any way and we are embracing the change and the newness of the culture here. So here are some thoughts and facts I’ve learned so far:

The insects are BIG here. A regular garden spider, like what we have in the fall at home, would be dwarfed by the monstrosities we have seen here.

Night time sounds like an insect orchestra. Kind of like what you hear at the beginning of the Pirates of the Caribbean ride in the bijou at Disneyland. I like it.

They like their drive thru’s here. A lot. There are drive through tellers here, not ATMs (they have those too), but actual tellers! I haven’t seen that since the ’80s in California. And you can order your groceries on-line and drive thru to pick them up at the grocery store. I’ve never seen anything like it!

Apparently there is such a thing as a forest box turtle. We have a little guy in the backyard that is getting ready to hibernate. Forest turtle. I never knew those two words went together. Who knew? Oh yeah, we also have snakes. Some good (grass and king) and one bad (copper head). I am not looking forward to running into any of those but I am told out here in the country, it’s inevitable.

It is legal here to wear your gun, on your person, in plain view. Yep. You need a permit to have a concealed weapon, but if you have your gun where everyone can see it, it’s all good. Go figure.

Good Mexican food is hard to find. We were warned about this. But we refuse to give up. We will find better than average Mexican food here. We must. For survival’s sake. We must.

I guess it is common to hang out with your mechanic and meet his family because “we probably have lots in common since we both have 2 girls and a boy”. Precious! Plus he’s got tons of old cars on his lot that he is working on one by one. Good photo ops! Yeah. They don’t grow them like that in Cali. I think that might become one of Troy’s new hang outs with the Scout. And I’m sure they’ll be happy to have him.

Well water tastes funny.

I do a lot more cooking here than at home in CA. The restaurants here are mostly sit down unless they are truly fast food (like McDonalds or Chick-fil-a). That changes our lifestyle a bit. No burritos to fall back on from Los Primos when the day’s schedule gets out of hand. So yeah. Lots more cooking for me. And lots more running of the dishwasher.

No surprise, but this place is quaint. There are farms where you can sign up to get a box of vegetables each week, fire station sponsored Christmas tree lots, and everyone in the neighborhood waves when you drive past. There are small town parades and corn mazes. That southern friendly feeling and welcome is everywhere. Quite refreshing. I feel like I’ve stepped out of 2010 into a movie or Norman Rockwell painting.

I am certain there will be more to add to this list in time. Until then, this gives you a taste.

-Dione

My Weather Rant

I have to say that weather here is the most erratic thing. Having lived in So Cal my whole life, I had the patterns there down pat. Especially by the ocean. Either it was foggy and 60ish or sunny and 60ish (or 70’s in the summer). It could get really hot and dry when the Santa Ana’s blew, up to 107 degrees. And, on extremely cold days in winter, down to the mid 40’s. This whole southern thing is throwing me for a loop. It has been incredibly cold, down to freezing a few times. Today it is raining, but not a cold winter rain, a thunderstorm! It has been in the low to mid 70’s these past few days. Quite warm when the weather that welcomed us here was in the 30’s and 40’s. It was hotter last night than most days have been in the past couple weeks. So warm I couldn’t sleep. Should someone remind Mother Nature that it is mid-November? I am so confused! Not only that, but the humidity goes up and down like a yo-yo. So dry that all of us have finger tips cracking to this, 95% humidity with rain. My body doesn’t quite know what to do. There really is no ability to adapt when everything changes every couple of days. 

So, with this rain and accompanying wind, most of our leaves are sure to be done, carpeting the ground instead of decorating the trees. It has been glorious watching this fall. Absolutely magical driving through eddies of vermillion, golden and burnt orange leaves as they twirl down the road. This is the stuff poetry is made of. It is a treat to sit our on our enclosed porch and take in the beauty, especially as it has been so warm. So, in honor of our departing fall I am going to add some last pictures that I took a few days ago. Hope you enjoy them. And I hope it motivates you to come visit….who’s in for next autumn?

-Dione

Life Here

Life here is pretty mellow. Right now we are mostly housebound, painting, unpacking and doing school. But when we do get out, we are either running to Home Depot for yet another paint sample or antiquing, on our determined quest for much needed incredibly useful furniture for this house. Now, this antiquing thing is a whole new venture for the kids and they are enthralled. Apparently, Taylor has a propensity for old telephones, books and records, me for old cameras (along with the big pieces I am hunting for), Caleb for old tools and car parts, and Eden for anything like a dress form, and old hats and gloves. There is a treasure trove of old antique goodies here. Everyone is helpful and readily willing to give you a discount. It is fun fun fun, but also time consuming. It is important to enjoy the process, because sometimes it can get overwhelming or tiring, when you can’t find the right thing. That is when it is a blessing to find some random piece of minutia to chuckle at. Such as a full poster of the Bee Gees. My kids wondered how that could have ever been in fashion. I am adding pictures Tay and I have taken along the road on our few outings so you can see what we see. 

-Dione

One Week Mark

One week ago we arrived in Weddington, North Carolina to our palatial rental, commencing a new life here in the southeast. This last week has been mellow, stressful, tiring, pleasant, beautiful, and settling. Everyone has been incredibly friendly here. We have been blessed to have Mike & Sue two doors down who have offered their help, invited us personally to the neighborhood social, taken care of our trash, brought us cookies, and pretty much been the most welcoming neighbors ever. Even driving through at a restaurant here, everyone says ma’am and what a pleasure it is to serve us. My kids ogle me with surprise and disbelief. Can people really be this nice? I hear a lot of, “That would never happen in California”.  We have had a cold snap here and now know that Charlotte gets one good snow a year at some point. That is news to us. But it is welcome. We are ready to embrace this whole experience, snow included. The fall colors are to die for out here. And when I say “out here” I mean way out here, since we are truly in the country. 

Here is how I know we are in the country. One, we are on septic and well water out here. Two, whenever let outside, Bjorn’s nose is glued to the ground due to plenty of squirrel and deer activity. He says it smells like heaven and this has turned our normally well-behaved dog into a force to be reckoned with. No amount of threatening or yelling will tear my him away from those delicious smells. Time for the electric invisible fence, I say. Three, We have seen numerous gigantic vultures feeding on road-kill, once including a large deer on the side of the road. Don’t usually see that on the way to Target in Costa Mesa. Three, my car is a beast. The roads out here are tiny narrow two-laned country roads. My behemoth has absolutely no room for error as it swells to fill the entirety of my lane. This is a new kind of driving I have never dealt with before. The roads are curvy and hilly, and if I make a mistake I will end up in a ditch or in the opposite traffic’s way. It is a challenge to be sure. If I had my Audi TT, all would be well (future dream car) but we wouldn’t be able to fit our groceries and would have to take up hunting and gathering. That isn’t happening. At least not yet. And lastly, the scenery is gorgeous. I don’t know when I will be able to get out and take pictures. Plus, as I just explained, there is nowhere for me to pull off with my car and not get hit by someone passing by. This is the seat of history for our country. Battle fields. Rolling pastures. Long railroads flanked by cool old brick buildings. Churches galore. Forest everywhere. And with the leaves turning right now, it is full of temptation. Too bad I have a whole house to set up and kids to teach and meals to prepare. Otherwise I’d just be taking pictures. If I could find a safe place to stand on the side of the road. 

-Dione

Halloween: Lake Providence Style

Well, we are two nights into our home. Still have some painting and steam cleaning to do. Ok, actually a lot of painting and steam cleaning to do. Definitely have some furniture buying and decorating to do (hopefully sooner than later so that I can unpack the hundreds of books we own, all of our delicate milk glass and Nica pottery and so that poor Taylor can get her clothes off of her floor and into a dresser). So much to do but Halloween waits for no one. The kids were really sad to not be home this year. It is a tradition to “haunt the house” every year now that they are big. But this move came at a tricky time. No matter how much they tried to plan, I was the motherly voice of reason that we just weren’t sure what Halloween would hold for us this year. But God knows my kids and how to take better care of them than I do. 

As we pulled into our development (hold term loosely, we are in the country), towing our trailer behind us we noticed a sign stating that there is a big Halloween “to do” in our neighborhood. The day the truck arrived our wonderful neighbor, two houses down, Mike came by and introduced himself and cordially invited us himself. So today the kids scurried around and put together ninja costumes (I will post pictures) and we went across the street. Most kids are young, some Eden’s and Caleb’s ages but it was great to meet people in the hood. Everyone has been really friendly. Somehow they already know that we are all from California. News travels fast. But the great part is that they actually have a hay ride and take the kids around trick-or-treating. And some houses give out full candy bars…remind me so we don’t get outdone next year. The kids are all out getting candy and we are manning the house. The little ones coming up with their adorable southern accents are killing me with their cuteness. This is a completely different experience, but we are embracing it and enjoying how different it is. Tomorrow it is back to school and work and projects. But tonight it’s Halloween! 

-Dione