Adieu

I am now in residence in New Jersey.

I left Georgia wearing sandals and with the top down on my Miata. I arrived at my new house in six degree temperatures and a howling wind. I almost froze to death unloading my car. Fortunately, I had stopped in Pennsylvania and swapped my sandals for closed-toed shoes.

Heavy snows arrived soon afterward and I became acquainted with rock salt and snow shovels. Happily, the electric snow thrower we ordered from Amazon arrived a few days after the storm and helps us clear our parking pad.

I learned what an ice dam is when our poor roof started looking like a glacier. The ice hasn't yet torn down the gutters or forced water inside the house, but the winter is still young.

The UPack trailer with my belongings was brought in after dark (which I had specifically asked NOT to happen) and knocked down a neighbor's cable line. Police were involved. Although the line was illegally low the police required the trailer to leave and said it would not be allowed in. This meant my goods had be transferred to a U-Haul truck; it took three trips and a lot of work before load-in was complete.

I now own a pair of snow boots and I located my father's Korean-war era floppy-eared field hat and a pair of heavy gloves in my newly-arrived household goods. I am prepared (I hope) for the remainder of the Jersey winter.

It's strange up here. Despite our location in a small town 35 miles from New York City, the people have been the most part impolite, superficial, and indifferent. Grits, cornbread, and hush puppies are not to be found. Movies cost about $15. Groceries are expensive. Property taxes are horrendous, $10,000 per year and up. Big box stores in nearby Bergen county are closed by law on Sundays. Gun laws are draconian (I would go to state prison for 30 years [mandatory sentence]  if I were to be found with a slingshot or BB gun in my car). There are a thousand other strangenesses, not all of which are pleasant. I am, however, here, and here I will remain, ice dams notwithstanding..