Time To Start

I am living proof that sometimes serendipity is better than brilliance. A couple of days ago two friends visited us, and we took them on a tour of Fannin County. Taking a tour of Fannin County is not like sightseeing in New York or Paris (though sometimes the locals in Fannin County can be just as unintelligible as in New York or Paris). As far as I can tell, there are four places to go in Fannin County: McCaysville, Blue Ridge, Lake Blue Ridge, and Mercier’s Orchards. All of them are worth a visit, but the real surprise was downtown Blue Ridge.

In the twenty plus years that I have been coming to Fannin County on vacations, my visits to Blue Ridge consisted of going to Home Depot and the supermarket, both of which are located away from the downtown. This time I went to downtown Blue Ridge, and I discovered that it is crowded with interesting places to shop, eat, and drink. It is not very large, but it has an old timey look and feel that reminds me of a Colorado ski town. Many of the places have porches and outdoor patios where you sit and eat or drink, and there are benches and rocking chairs in front of many of the businesses where you can take a load off.  

My friends were impressed that I choose to retire to a rural area that has an attraction like downtown Blue Ridge. I had to confess to them that I no idea what downtown Blue Ridge was like when I moved here. I came to Fannin County because it’s rural. The fact that downtown Blue Ridge is a pretty neat place is pure serendipity. What is it they say about blind hogs and acorns?

On another note, I have been exploring the back roads in my travels to and from Home Depot for supplies. On a couple of recent mornings, as I was driving on a winding country lane with the windows open and the local country station on the radio, I found myself grinning from ear to ear and humming John Denver songs. I’d like to take some photos and post them on this blog, but the roads are narrow and have no shoulders, so it’s difficult to find a place to pull over. If you don’t get completely off the road, you risk being taken out by an F250 pickup coming around the corner.

Meredith and I are beginning to bring some order to the house and workshop, and it’s time for me to start doing the things I came here to do. Many have asked me what I am going to do in Georgia. Finding things to do is not going to be a problem. 

 

Among the first priorities is figuring out where my garden will be and getting it in shape for planting in spring. I have two choices for the location of the garden. One is near the house, and the other is in the lower field. The lower field has the better soil, but that would mean a 200 yard walk down a hill and back up a hill every time I wanted to work in the garden. I’m not going to be running down for a couple of tomatoes if I put it there. I would prefer having the garden next to the house, but the soil is harder and drier and has more clay. 

 

Once I decide on a location for the garden, I need to fence it. I’m thinking the garden plot should be at least a 1,000 square feet. If I put a fence post every eight feet, that’s well over 60 fence posts to set. In addition to having a lot of clay, the soil is rocky. That’s great for stone wall building, but not so good for digging. The fence must be tall enough to keep the deer out and secure enough to keep out smaller critters. I know we have wild hogs, squirrels, raccoons, possums, weasels, and chipmunks around here, and maybe even a Bigfoot or two. It will be like Alcatraz when I’m finished. The bottom line is that the garden fence will be quite an undertaking. 

 

I need to lay out my garden beds and prepare the soil this fall and winter. Preparing the soil means breaking it up and tilling in organic matter, so I’m going to have to buy a plow for my tractor and a sturdy rototiller. There is no way in hell I’m going to dig up the garden by hand.

 

I’m need to get a lot of organic matter to till into the soil. Some of this will be grass I cut from the fields. After I cut it, I have to gather it and place it on the garden beds. That’s a lot of raking and hauling. I’ll probably try to grow a cover crop to turn under in the spring. Finally, I need to find a place to get large quantities of manure to till into the soil. There are some horse farms in the area, and there has to be someone who raises a lot of cows. I find this ironic. I spent my entire career trying to fend off the bullshit; now I’m eagerly seeking it.

 

Other things on my to do list:

1.  Get a pole barn built.

2.  Expand the side porch. There is a side door that enters the kitchen. You have to walk up stairs to a landing to get to it. I want to expand the landing into a porch large enough for Meredith to place a gas grill and a chair or two. This will be a large project for me. With my vast carpentry experience, I figure it will take me about as long as it took to build the pyramids.

3.  Write that novel I’ve always wanted to write. That means I’m going to have to be disciplined and set aside several hours a day to write.

4.  Get involved in the community. This will take some consideration. I could join a civic club, like the Jaycees, Rotary, or Elks, but I’m not much for organizations. I may try to join the county library support group since I intend on visiting the library often. I am going to sign up for the Georgia Master Gardner course that starts in a couple of months. It would be a good way to meet people and learn something useful at the same time. My fear is that the people who join gardening courses are either blue-haired old ladies or sensitive, save the planet, tree hugger types. While there is nothing wrong with either group, they’re not the type of people I tend to hang out with. I have a greater affinity to a ruder and cruder class of mankind. Rather than discuss the benefits of juicing or high colonics over herbal tea, I prefer sucking down a few beers and making fun of fat tourists. But, hey, now that I’m retired I may need to get civilized.

 

There are other tasks and chores to attend to, but this list should give you the idea that I will not lack for things to do here in my new rural home.