When you wait for the termite guys to come fix the dry rot, and they don’t come for 2.5 hours, you get a lot of yard work done as you wait. Since I’m old and can’t move a heavy 66-gallon can full of yard waste, I park it on the street and then fill it bucket by bucket. I have five 5-gallon buckets. It’s much easier to schlep the pine needles, pine cones, foxtail weeds and dead leaves this way. I usually wait until I have all five buckets filled before I mess with the front gate, since there are dogs involved. Whenever I’m out front, they’re out front. They both suffer from FOMO.
I came onto the driveway at 7:45 a.m. and saw that the neighbor had not moved her car out of the easement of our shared driveway, so I called her and offered to move the car for her. She came out with the key, explaining that her pain was the worst in the morning. I got her car moved further up the driveway and turned around so she could drive forward to get out.
I asked to borrow her green can, and she hesitated, saying she wanted to fill up both of them this weekend. The woman uses a walker, and we both knew she wasn’t going to get that done.
“I’ll put the leaves you’ve raked into your can,” I said.
“All right,” she said.
I used her plastic rake and raked my way down the driveway. Along with the firewood she’d thrown away, it didn’t take long to fill up the first can. I took her second can into my back yard and cleaned up the leaves that were under the small tree that the tree guys removed the day before. I was always bumping my head on those branches, plus, the tree was growing into two fences. Now it’s gone, and the yard looks bigger.
I filled the can halfway and took it down the long driveway and parked it in front of her property for the Tuesday pick-up. I worried about how she would put her cans away and then realized that her helper woman works on Tuesdays, so she can put them away for my neighbor.
When the termite guys finally showed up in three vehicles (10:30), I told them I’d put the dogs out front (fenced) so they could work in the back. Pepper was at the window barking at them through the glass, and I could see that at least one of the guys was nervous.
The dogs and I spent the day outside. I kept raking. I filled bucket after bucket, distributing them over the three yard waste cans. It’s amazing how there’s always room for more when it’s leaves and pine needles.
I didn’t get gas today. I didn’t go to the grocery store and I didn’t get to thrift. Those guys worked until 5:00 p.m. They did a nice job, cleaning up, repairing the stucco, and taking away the rotten wood.
At the end, we discussed my property and the ghost that comes with it (the house was built in 1928). One guy offered to give me his phone number in case I ever decided to Airbnb it. I explained that the town had put it to a vote and now short-term rentals are illegal unless they are for 30-day leases, and only the homes in the Coastal Zone (one block over) can apply for short-term rental permits.
FIRST DATE, WORST DATE EVER! 