Show Me

[yogi]

Missouri is the "Show Me" state; ask Gary. I think he knows something about that. Well, Missouri is going to have its chance to show me all it has to offer because two days after I post this blog, my beloved wife and I will be making the 310 mile trip to our new home in O'Fallon.

Friends and family respond to our announcement with a lot of questions. Most of them simply are, "Why?" The answer is not simple and I'm not sure I appreciate all the reasons. Our first thoughts of leaving town occurred a few years ago when my wife of many years could not leave the house all summer due to allergies. She got a series of treatments over a three year period, but nothing obvious came from them. One of wife's sisters lives in Florida and when Kathy went down to visit one year, breathing suddenly became easier. That was the seed for this crazy idea about moving.

The next few years we decided to make improvements in our house to increase its appeal to potential buyers. It's not cheap and we knew we would never recover all that we put into it even if we did sell. If we did not sell, we would end up with a nearly new house after all the upgrades. While all this improvement was going on, the state in which we live, Illinois, became less and less appealing. One result of the criminal political system was a dramatic increase in property taxes. It was so dramatic that it would wipe out our emergency retirement funds in less than ten years. Since we could not do a Brexit, my wife and I decided to become immigrants. Well, that's not what it's called when you move from one state to another, but the idea is the same. We were economic immigrants looking for an ideal place to settle.

All the house projects eventually were completed and the time arrived to make a decision about selling or toughing it out in the Chicago metro area. Oddly enough, wife's allergies seemed to have become minimal and effectively cannot be considered a factor in the move decision anymore. We don't know why she improved after some sixty years of previous problems but she did. And now it was just a simple financial decision.

O'Fallon is a lot like the place we are leaving without the high cost of living. Life is about 30% cheaper down there and at least ten degrees warmer all year long. We checked out three different states and ultimately decided O'Fallon has everything we could hope for in a new home.

So, here I am in my empty house. They took nearly all the furniture yesterday. There are a lot of mixed feelings going through my mind at the moment. It's sad that corrupt politics is making it necessary to leave my home of 71 years. Given the racial hatred in Ferguson that ended up with a dead boy a couple years ago, you got to be wondering why we are moving just down the road from the scene of all the excitement. Well, we lived through the sixties in Chicago and what is going on today is just another night in Chicago. Until cities are in flames and the National Guard has to be called in to keep the Democratic Convention under control, I'm not too impressed. Certainly not afraid. But, I'm sitting here feeling like the elephants who look for their ancient burial grounds. Is it instinct that is driving us to do this migration? Or is it a sense of adventure that my faithful partner and I have never realized before? I don't really know at this point. I now leave it up to you Missouri: Show me.

[Kellemora]

I think you will like O'Fallon!
My son lived in St. Charles County for a long time, but is now back in St. Louis County after he returned from living in Florida, and my brother is still out there. He lives on his Yacht at the Duck Club. He had a serious fire and is in the process of restoring his boat.
Let me know when you get settled in, and perhaps either of them can show you the sites, as well as what places to steer clear of if you head toward downtown.
I was born and raised in Des Peres, which is the town north of Kirkwood, but lived in Creve Coeur for over twenty years before moving south to Knoxville, TN, my wife's home city.
I never planned on moving from the house I renovated just for my senior years, but the best made plans of mice and men often get changed for reasons beyond our control.
Wish I could afford to move back home!

[Icey]

Well it's certainly an adventure for you and your wife, Yogi, but your decision can't have been easy after living in one place for so long. I'm sure you'll have mixed memories, and hopefully most of them'll be good, but saying goodbye to a place where you raised your family's bound to be tinged with a little sadness.

I wish you both all the best, and hope that once you settle into your new home, you'll post another blog about what a good move you made!

[pilvikki]

I think this'll be a real adventure for you! looking over the map, it seems you picked a great spot near parks and rivers and a country club, lol! still, the first few weeks will be disorienting and you might find yourself walking into walls and driving into the wrong direction. just before it becomes automatic again.

as a person with a suspect gypsy gene in my blood somewhere, I get restless after a few years in one spot. once I've gone through this corner of the world I might start looking around again...?

please post pictures!

[yogi]

For those of you without Farcebook or Tumblr accounts, where I already posted this photo, here is a view out the window of our homeless shelter. For the moment we are staying at the Eaglewood Resort and Spa, which is part of the famous Medinah Golf course - seen in the background. That's the roof of the lobby on the righ with all the a/c units on it. And, if you look real close at the horizon, you will see some blips. Those are skyscrapers in downtown Chicago, some 25 miles away.

Thank you for the words of encouragement. You are right, Marjaana. We have been lost several times already when we went down there to find our new home. You are also correct about it being a lovely community. We originally were going to settle in Lake St Louis, undoubtedly one of those lakes you saw on the map. But, O'Fallon was more homey and akin to where wife and I grew up. I think you are right that it will all become comfortable and instinctive in a few weeks, but I don't know if it will ever feel like home.

[Kellemora]

My son had a house in the Lake St. Louis SWAMP. He couldn't wait to get out of there!
It looked nice the few times we visited him, but it had several problems, mosquito's due to the lake being too shallow, and all the community rules.
Good think you looked at O'Fallon instead, it's a thousand times nicer, and the folks are more pleasant.

[pilvikki]

it's rather funny how that works...

I spent 45 years in Canada but never felt comfortable there, although the countryside looks just like 'at home', the people are nice enough. perhaps the pace was too ratrace?

I've only lived 13 years in finland (continuously) and always felt at home as long as I didn't hit the bigger cities. in Sweden I felt comfortable as well.

now here I thought i'd never get used to the strange customs, strange language, strange - and fugly! houses, landscape full of vinyards, but i'm fine.

go figure. and going by that you'll probably settle in soon enough.

[yogi]

We made it. Here is a picture of our new house:



Here is a picture of the command and control cernter:



Here is a bunch more on Tumblr if you are interested: http://yogihacks.tumblr.com/

[Icey]

Hey - that's nice Yogi. I'm sure you'll love the place once you've got used to it. Your command/control centre looks a bit bare atm, but I'm sure you'll soon have it to your liking once you get a desk and shelving/cupboards in. It IS an adventure - it's great!

Do you have easy access to shops?

[yogi]

I don't know if you will be able to see this map, but it shows O'Fallon as Google Maps knows it.
https://www.google.com/maps/place/O'Fal ... 90.6998477

The city is about 8 miles long from north to south with a main highway (hwy K) going down the middle. Everything you could possibly want is somewhere on that center Main Street. We are located at the north end along highway P, right inside the last red box that defines the city. That means we are no more than 8 miles from anything we could possibly want. LOL Well, maybe there are some things we need to travel further to obtain, such as the nearest Ikea store is 30 miles away in St Louis.

We are running on bare essentials at the moment, and in some ways it's kind of fun. The Command and Control Center will have to be rebuilt, which is why we may very well be going to Ikea. All the hardware will be here by the weekend but most of the furniture was left back in the old place. The new owners there wanted it for their office operations.

[Icey]

Thank you - I got it.

Well I think you're going to enjoy yourselves, and it'll be lovely to get new stuff in and build the place up to how you want it. I hope you have a lot of luck and many happy years there. It's a big change, but hey, many of us do it at some stage, and it's never too late.

It looks like you have plenty of countryside around you as well; really nice.

[Kellemora]

Awesome Yogi!

If I could afford to move back home I would, but I can't do most things I need to for myself anymore, so it would take bigger bucks than I would ever have again now.

I know you'll enjoy living there!

[Icey]

Aww, that's a good "heads up". : )

[yogi]

I don't know if it's just me, or what. It seems that the people here are ... friendly. Then again, I've only been here four days now and that friendliness can all change. I got myself a lawn mower this morning. Now I feel like a real home owner and will be out there cutting grass in a couple days. Our furniture arrives tomorrow or I'd be cutting it then. We are also expecting weekend guests; my wife's sister and her spouse. We told them that they will be moving furniture if they come at this particular time, but that didn't stop them.

[Icey]

Take the friendliness as a good sign, Yogi. You sound a bit cautious of it though! Of course friendliness can change, but I think if you and your wife respond to it pleasantly but slowly, and don't immediately get into the"BBQ at our place tonight", you'll soon learn who's going to be a genuine neighbour against one who just wants to know all your business and then leaves it at that once their curiosity's been satisfied.

Hope all your furniture arrives in one piece, and I'm sure that your sister and brother-in-law won't mind if everywhere's upside down. Rome wasn't built in a day was it, but once it is .... I'm sure that it'll feel like home pretty quickly.

[pilvikki]

i'm the same way, quite cautious around new people. after all, you don't want to cozy up to one like one of the villagers here... she will in no time start running your life and the only way to save oneself is to be rude, hints simply don't work.

the minimalist look is familiar, our ikea furniture for this house took a month to get here. then we had 36 boxes of 'furniture" and it took another month for punkin to put it together. I did a few pieces, but it was her; some boxes I couldn't even move by myself! everything else came in one, complete piece... which I much prefer.

[yogi]

This is what I'm up against when it comes to mowing the lawn.

Our house was built at street level, which is the first photo I posted in this blog. There is an incline from the front of the building to the back which the top left picture depicts pretty well. One of the strange customs they have here in Missouri is to place the air conditioning compressor on a platform that hangs on a wall of the house. All the ones I've seen up in the Chicago area are on the ground on top of a bed of pea gravel. I asked the builder why it's done this way and he didn't have an answer. It just is. Okay, it just is. The point of that picture is to show the slope of the land on the side of our house. The picture below that is our back yard. The fences mark the back edge of my property and you can see they are significantly lower than the grade at the rear of the house. The slope is even steeper than on the side of the house. What you can't see is the storm sewer drain on the side of that fence. The people who live in those row houses must love it because it keeps storm water out of their living rooms.

So, you see, I have a three tiered property: street level, mid level, and Just A Few Inches Above Hell level. I have to maintain the lawn from the street to that fence. If you ever mowed your own lawn, you know that pushing a mower up a small slope is a chore. Pushing it up a 30 degree or 45 degree slope is a feat for somebody with super powers. Obviously. It is because of those slopes that one would use a self-propelled mower to cut the lawn. A little power assist can go a long way, but all the mowers I've owned over the years only had a single wheel that was connected to the motor - usually one of the back wheels. That works quite well but I never had to negotiate the likes of Mount Everest which I knew would be a challenge for any self-propelled mower that is not of commercial quality.

When I went to the local mowing supply store and explained my situation, they recommended a Husqvarna mower with 4WD - four wheel drive. I've known about off road automobiles that have it, but never saw a grass cutter with such an arrangement. The amazing part of this machine is that it costs less, significantly less, than those single wheel dive Toro's I've been used to. I was so thrilled that I bought it on the spot and had it delivered the next day. It took several days for the grass to grow tall enough to need trimming, but I was excited to try out my new toy when conditions were right. The usual strategy is to cut diagonally on a slope or across if the incline isn't too steep. Well, I had four wheels worth of power to deal with so I took the hill head on and straight up - after whizzing straight down which, of course, was no problem. I was shocked at the response of the mower going up hill. It had more power than needed even on the back 45 degree incline. It was going up hill faster than I could walk behind it. This abundance of power made the chore so easy that I can't wait until the grass needs cutting again.

Thank you Mr Husqvarna wherever you are

[Icey]

You had to get a mower like that Yogi - or pay for someone to do the job for you. Those inclines would've been a monster to mow with an ordinary machine. Pleased that you're getting sorted, anyway. It all looks lovely.

[Kellemora]

Sounds like you got the right mower for the job Yogi!

Not that it would work on your yard, but I had an uncle who mowed while sitting on the back porch having a beer, hi hi...
He added a rope to the side of his mower and tied it around a tree, then set the mower loose holding the rope taught. As it made each turn around the tree, it kept the rope taught. When it got close to the tree, he would set down his beer, and move the mower down to the next tree and start the process all over again. Then by hand, finish the few spots it missed at the apex between the outbound edge of the trees.

One place I lived had a steep bank, so the FlyMow I brought with me when I moved there would not work. Scalped ridges big time. I went and bought a little 18 inch reel type push mower for like 35 bucks and like how well it cut, I wound up using that tiny mower to do the whole front yard. I later bought a gas powered, self-propelled reel mower. You can't beat the look of grass cut with a reel mower, stays green instead of having brown tips. Unless you keep a razor sharp blade at all times on a rotary mower.

[pilvikki]

love your family, gary!



as for mr Husqvarna, well...

Husqvarna (pronounced [ˈhʉːskvɑːrna]) was originally a military arsenal founded in 1689 to produce muskets for the Swedish Army.

there's also a gazillion sites about the meaning of said name, yet nobody seems to be able to connect hus = house and qvarna = mill. housemill? sure, lol!