Diary of a Transplant (San Diego to Asheville/Hendersonville/Brevard) (Fletcher: fit in, theatre)

[a2zmom]

Jan, when my parents would take my sisters and I camping as children, we'd put marshmallows in coffee cans out on the picnic table for the racoons. Late at night, we'd hear them digging in the cans for the marshmallows!

[the Parkies]

Originally Posted by a2zmom

Jan, when my parents would take my sisters and I camping as children, we'd put marshmallows in coffee cans out on the picnic table for the racoons. Late at night, we'd hear them digging in the cans for the marshmallows!

Well... these raccoons don't need any encouragement to fatten up--LOL!

[the Parkies]

This diary gives you some idea of the many things we're thankful for. This evening we give thanks for the wind and rain, and the forecast for more rain tomorrow! We are thankful for this forum and for all those who participate, including its moderators. We could not name all of our blessings! Instead, we thought we'd post "Dear Abby's" annual Thanksgiving column for those too busy in the kitchen to read it on Thanksgiving Day:

COUNT YOUR BLESSINGS TODAY AND BE THANKFUL YEAR-ROUND

Today is Thanksgiving Day, so take a few minutes to reflect upon all the things for which you are thankful.

How's your health? Not so good? Well, thank God you've lived this long. A lot of people haven't. You're hurting? Thousands--maybe millions--are hurting even more. (Have you ever visited a veterans hospital? Or a rehabilitation clinic for crippled children?)

If you awakened this morning and were able to hear the birds sing, use your vocal cords to utter human sounds, walk to the breakfast table on two good legs, and read the newspaper with two good eyes, praise the Lord! A lot of people couldn't.

How's your pocketbook? Thin? Well, most of the world is a lot poorer. No pensions. No welfare. No food stamps. No Social Security. In fact, one-third of the people in the world will go to bed hungry tonight.

Are you lonely? The way to have a friend is to be one. If nobody calls you, pick up the phone and call someone.

Are you concerned about your country's future? Hooray! Our system has been saved by such concern. Your country may not be a rose garden, but neither is it a patch of weeds.

Freedom rings! Look and listen. You can still worship at the church of your choice, cast a secret ballot, and even criticize your government without fearing a knock on the head or a knock on the door at midnight. And if you want to live under a different system, you are free to go. There are no walls or fences--nothing to keep you here.

As a final thought, I'll repeat my Thanksgiving prayer; perhaps you will want to use it at your table today:

O heavenly Father:

We thank thee for food and remember the hungry.

We thank thee for health and remember the sick.

We thank thee for friends and remember the friendless.

We thank thee for freedom and remember the enslaved.

May these remembrances stir us to service

That thy gifts to us may be used for others. Amen.

Have a wonderful Thanksgiving, and may God bless you and yours.

LOVE, ABBY

An afterthought: Want an instant high? The surest cure for the holiday blues is doing something nice for someone. Why not call a person who lives alone and invite him or her to share dinner?

Better yet, call and say, "I'm coming to get you, and I'll see that you get home." (Some older people don't drive, and those who do may not like to go out after dark.)

Try it. And let me know the results.

P.S. Special greetings to those of you in the military who wrote from remote corners of the world to tell me that you are using my prayer on this Thanksgiving Day.


HAPPY THANKSGIVING TO ALL OF YOU!

With love from Jan & Bill

[Father John]

Dear Abby:

I found the family you may have been referencing.

I am asking everyone to pray hard for my brother and sister-in-law.

My sister-in-law's brother, "John" is hospitalized at the Mayo Clinic in serious condition. His liver is failing fast and he is first on the transplant list. He will not go home again unless he gets a new liver - and soon. This is very hard on her, of course.

John has been living with brother and sister-in-law for several years now and she has been taking care of him. Now he is on his last legs.

John's kids are now in town, staying with them - on top of them having a niece who was abandoned by her drug and alcohol addicted mother (my sister). They have numerous other issues (such as one vehicle that works and my sister-in-law out of work and a well that dried up requiring water to be trucked in...).

If that were not enough, my sister-in-law's father, who has been their lifeline of support financially and otherwise, has dementia and is failing fast. He has paranoid delusions (thinking people are out to kill him or to steal his money). His brother lives with him, but he recently told her that there are two brother's - a good one and a bad one.

My sister-in-law is beside herself trying to communicate with him. She has been unable to help him understand that John is dying.

Please pray for them. We are doing what we can here but we feel rather helpless.

My brother and my sister-in-law are both holding up remarkably well, but the strain is showing. And yet today, she said they are thankful for the blessings they have.

As for us, we are fine and doing what we can to help others like my brother and my sister-in-law.

[the Parkies]

Our hearts go out to you and your family, Father John! Imagine what little burden most of us have to bear compared with this big weight!! Again I think of the wisdom my mother often echoed: "I complained because I had no shoes; then I met a man who had no feet."

We will pray for all of you!!

Love,

Jan

[the Parkies]

The wind has been dramatic in Hendersonville since yesterday, and last night we were blessed with rain! At an early age I learned to love the wind. My mother and I walked many a mile through PA woods in spring and autumn winds. I think of her often when I hear the wind, especially now as it rustles the leaves....

THE WIND

He shouts in the sails of the ships at sea,
He steals the down from the honeybee,
He makes the forest trees rustle and sing,
He twirls my kite till it breaks its string.
Laughing, dancing, sunny wind,
Whistling, howling, rainy wind,
North, South, East and West,
Each is the wind I like the best.

He calls up the fog and hides the hills,
He whirls the wings of the great windmills,
The weathercocks love him and turn to discover
His whereabouts -- but he's gone, the rover!
Laughing, dancing, sunny wind,
Whistling, howling, rainy wind,
North, South, East and West,
Each is the wind I like the best.

The pine trees toss him their cones with glee,
The flowers bend low in courtesy,
Each wave flings up a shower of pearls,
The flag in front of the school unfurls.
Laughing, dancing, sunny wind,
Whistling, howling, rainy wind,
North, South, East and West,
Each is the wind I like the best.

Amy Lowell, 1874-1925

[marian2005]

Originally Posted by the Parkies

Our hearts go out to you and your family, Father John! Imagine what little burden most of us have to bear compared with this big weight!! Again I think of the wisdom my mother often echoed: "I complained because I had no shoes; then I met a man who had no feet."

We will pray for all of you!!

Love,

Jan

Father John,

I just saw this, and I definitely echo what Jan has said here. I wish all of you the best and hope that things get better.

[the Parkies]

Originally Posted by GroundControl

Hello Jan,

I found your posts very informative. My wife and I were thinking of possibly relocating from LA to Hendersonville or Ashville in a year or so.

Is there a way to contact you or your husband for additional info regarding the move from Southern CA to WNC.

I viewed the local paper there today and saw that there was a double homicide in Hendersonville this weekend.

Thanks,

Ground Control

Did you get our post? We're happy to receive emails at:
parkies@mchsi.com

Jan

[the Parkies]

Hi, everyone!

Envisioning living here and actually living here are two different things.

WINDOW WASHING
Given what we thought were outrageous bids, we did our own window-washing, inside and out. Glad we did. Hey, it wasn’t hard at all. (Maybe that's because BILL did it ). But that was not the case in San Diego, where it was comparatively cheap to hire—at least in our case. So—again—SURPRISE!!! (I contributed to the rest of the house cleaning. Honest! )

NATURAL BEAUTY / WEATHER
I had forgotten how long the autumn season is here! At lower elevations (like Hendersonville), there’s still plenty of color. Though the leaves are falling fast now, falling leaves are themselves a beautiful sight!! And the crisp daytime air (in the 60s) is totally invigorating!

Rain is predicted after midnight tonight—100% chance!! Praise the Lord! Please send more, God—lots more (just not all at once, please). I don't mind that it will keep me awake (again). I will cherish every rain drop and wish I had a tin roof!!!

Snow is predicted for Saturday evening/night here in Hendersonville. Friends, if it snows here Saturday night, I will definitely not sleep (again). I will dance in my PJs, tasting snowflakes and smiling at the moon, while the squirrels and raccoons stare in wonder. And I’m not kidding!

NEW WORK / NEW INSTRUMENT
I'm still planning to play for Black Mountain’s “Holly Jolly" (Nov. 30). Now I'm also invited to join our two “first” friends at a Christmas party performance in Hickory (Dec. 7). At the same time, they asked me to learn a new instrument (which they generously provided!) called a “bowed psaltry” (as old as the Old Testament), so that we could play three psaltries in harmony. I’ve been listening to CDs and thinking how cool that sound and that experience would be....

Who would have thought, when we moved here just a few weeks ago, that I’d be playing an instrument next week that I never laid hands on before? Luckily for me, the psaltry is easy to learn, but any instrument may be played well or badly, so... oh my... the joyful practice practice practice....

My plate is full just trying to keep up with these two wonderful "first-friends," so I feel a bit guilty accepting a new and urgent commitment, since it presents a bit of a conflict. But I did, bless my heart (ha ha)--because I feel absolutely called--and here it is:

EXCITING NEW EXPERIENCES
Honestly, it’s like a dream....! I was reading the H’ville newspaper last Friday when I happened to notice an announcement about a Messiah performance coming up next Sunday, November 25, 3:00 P.M., First Presbyterian, 699 N. Grove, H’ville.

Background: I have been too busy for ten years performing for weddings and parties in San Diego to even get to hear a Messiah performance, much less ask if I could join one--and, trust me, there's NO hammered dulcimer in ANY San Diego orchestra. Well, ha ha, the Spirit must have moved me last Friday when on impulse (still chewing my toast) I left a message for the Messiah conductor to ask if he could use a hammered dulcimer. (My message indicated that he should feel no need to call me back if he wasn’t interested. To be honest, I did not expect a response.)

Imagine. The conductor called back that very day--last Friday. I consider it a great tribute to his musical imagination and willingness to experiment that he came over to our house the very next day to meet us and hear me play a bit. Trust me--I floundered BIG-time (I'll spare you the details), but apparently this conductor was able to see beyond that, God love him. So I’m now part of the Messiah orchestra. Next Sunday. Trust me, it's no big part, and I wouldn't be comfortable with any big part. I'm thrilled just to be there at all.

And that marvelous man (and his wife) invited us out to dinner afterwards to meet a flutist he and his wife admire. And he made a special effort to get my name in the printed program “because you’re new in this area and I wanted to get your name out there.”

I found later (just today) from searching the Web that this same conductor is involved in "Early" (Medieval/Renaissance) ensembles. Oh my. My instrument is part of that period, and I happen to love that music and have experience playing it!

Handel couldn't have said it better: HALLELUJAH!!! HALLELUJAH!!!

I can hardly believe the events of these past few days. I AM ON MY KNEES IN THANKS!!!

Again... Who would have thought??? Envisioning living here and actually living here really are two very different things!!

OUR BEST ADVICE TO NEWCOMERS
Our most exciting recent experience began with a telephone call I made to reach out to our new community. So our advice is: Put your hand out so that someone can grab it. In this area—trust me—someone will!

Okay. On to the mundane stuff:

HOUSE SELLING & BUYING
We have had no new interest in our San Diego house. Meanwhile, it’s looking “tired,” so we are now repairing termite damage (common in our area), tenting the house (for termites), painting (entire inside and porch, decks, staircases), replacing hardware (like doorknobs), removing what very little was left of wall hangings and taking out old, well-worn office desks, which will leave only two couch settings and a king bed). That will all be done within the next two or three weeks and will leave nothing conceivable more to do.

Except that, now that almost all the furniture’s gone and the paint will be fresh, we’ll probably have to replace the upstairs carpet, too. We know that we need to quit sticking our heads in the sand about that. Even before carpet, we’re shelling out something like six or seven thousand dollars to do all of this—and we realize we’ll never get a penny of it back—but a house has to be maintained, as we see it, whether or not you happen to live in it. If it’s for sale, “eye candy” makes it more salable. So... sigh... we’re doing what we feel we have to do to a house we neither live in nor rent out.... And we may decide early next year to go ahead and rent it out until the market improves... though we are extremely reluctant to do that.....

OUR MOST RECENT INSIGHT
We’ve put our house-finding project on the back burner until we sell in San Diego—and maybe for some time after that, in fact. We’ve decided that living and getting involved here in H’ville for a year or so could easily influence where we want to end up buying. So for now we have no interest in buying—imagine that!—imagine hearing that! from folks who just last August bought and unbought a house in Weaverville. Oh my. We have never felt so unrooted, unsure, undecided--or so happy!!!

For all we know, we may end up buying a house here where we began—in Hendersonville!—because we are feeling SO comfortable and happy here in less than seven weeks—and in time may become SO “embedded” that it won’t make any sense to us to leave!! Maybe all we ever needed was to meet some of the more active people here in H’ville and get involved with them!

FRIENDS, WE HAVE LEARNED TO VALUE THE GIFT OF PERSONAL FLEXIBILITY.
Stay loose. Stay calm. No one has to buy a house until it’s certain it’s absolutely, unconditionally, forever and forever the right thing to do. And I’m only talking, of course, about people who are looking for their “last” house.

Like us.

We hope this post will help someone. (Please let us know?)

At our Thanksgiving table, we’ll remember ALL of you who have become our "virtual" friends!

Jan (and Bill)

[Father John]

What a glorious post - again! Thank you, Jan, for sharing the ins and outs of your experiences. While we each walk a slightly different path, there is great comfort in knowing that attitude and flexibility will see each of us through.

Dancing in the moonlight with snowflakes and squirrels! What a picture!

May we all have your joy one day - and we may if we only taste your attitude!

Thank you! Happy Thanksgiving!