This morning mom and I got up at the crack of dawn in order to set out on a journey to North Florida before it got too hot. See, we were making the trip in her scary old 1984 ChevyVan, which (in addition to having a cracked windshield, windshield wipers that always work – except when it rains, and a rat and ant infestation) has no air conditioning. As it got up to nearly 100F today, I’m glad we left when we did, although it didn’t save us from sweltering in that van for several hours. Our first destination was Lake City, FL, approximately two hours to the south of Waycross. Lake City is quite possibly my least favorite place on the planet, although I swear it has the gravitational pull of a black hole. Even though I have few friends and no relatives (well, except the crazy estranged one we don’t talk to) living there, it seems that every time I’m back in the States I end up making a trek there. It’s like some sort of unholy pilgrimage. Anyway, mom and I trekked to LC today because her good friend Kathy was having a yardsale, and she promised to give us good deals on whatever we wanted, and to give us a nice, fancy shelving unit for free. Now, as my house is still essentially unfurnished, that seemed like a good plan. It would have been a better plan had it involved air conditioning, but what can you do?
Mom and her van
A close-up of my mom
We stopped at the Suwannee River in Fargo, GA
We arrived in LC after two hours on the road, and we were just starting to get sticky. As soon as Kathy saw us she jumped up and said to us, “Boy do I have a yardsale horror story to tell you!” It turned out that the mother and oldest sister of a good friend of mine (who shall remain unnamed, although I’m assuming this person will recognize her relatives as she reads this story) went to Kathy’s yardsale early that morning, bought a lot of stuff, and then drove off without paying for any of it. Kathy was quite upset. I gave her the name of the two women involved in the yardsale heist, as well as their phone number. I’m sure they were surprised when they received the phone call! But what should they expect? It’s LC after all; everybody’s all up in each others business. She spoke with the sister who denied everything, but who claimed she’d call back after her mother (who was conveniently “napping”) awoke. I wonder if Kathy will ever get her money? True, it wasn’t much, but it’s the principle. Especially since Kathy has allowed my friend and me to have joint yardsales at her house in the past!
After leaving Kathy’s we drove to a restaurant called Phish Heads Bar and Grill. I was pretty dubious about the place because A) it’s called Phish Heads; B) it’s in LC; and C) it’s located in a run-down old strip mall. But to all you people still living in the LC Pit, it was actually pretty tasty. And the small spinach salad for $2.99 is actually quite large and very delicious! Anyhow, the place opens at noon on Saturdays, and we arrived at 11:50am. We decided to wait, and soon we were joined by several other people. My mom recognized one of the women and said, “Oh hi Delores!” The woman gave her a really confused look and asked who my mom was. Mom clarified: “I’m Sandy Keeler. We used to sit in the pew in front of you at St. James Episcopal Church.” The woman shook her head and said no, although she confirmed that her name was indeed Delores. They spent a few minutes trying to figure out where else my mom might know her from and then my mom asked if she was Delores Porter. Turns out she’s a Delores SomethingElse, although according to my mom she’s a dead ringer for Delores from St. James. Bizarre.
After lunch we drove from LC to Live Oak (about an hour to the west) to visit Frank and to get the remainder of our stuff out of his storage shed. (When my mom moved from FL to GA last year, she moved into a smaller house. She put the stuff she didn’t have room for into Frank’s storage shed. Well, soon it’ll be stored at my house. While this does mean I get a nice bookshelf and two nice end tables, it also means that I get to store a lot of crap I don’t really need. Ahh well.) We loaded our stuff into the van in the sweltering heat (this was probably while the temperature was at its peak), and I photographed some passionflowers growing in Frank’s field. Then, after some coffee smoothies, we drove back up to Waycross (another two un-air conditioned hours). Along the way we took a couple of dirt road “shortcuts” through some desolate pinewoods.
Passionflower
Passionflower
The long dusty road as seen through the cracked windshield.
Upon returning home and not discovering a suitcase waiting on the doorstep for me (no worries, we gave them my mom’s address, not mine!) I called Air France. Supposedly my suitcase arrived in Atlanta around 1:30pm today, and it should be in my possession sometime tomorrow. We shall see.
Mom and her van
A close-up of my mom
We stopped at the Suwannee River in Fargo, GA
We arrived in LC after two hours on the road, and we were just starting to get sticky. As soon as Kathy saw us she jumped up and said to us, “Boy do I have a yardsale horror story to tell you!” It turned out that the mother and oldest sister of a good friend of mine (who shall remain unnamed, although I’m assuming this person will recognize her relatives as she reads this story) went to Kathy’s yardsale early that morning, bought a lot of stuff, and then drove off without paying for any of it. Kathy was quite upset. I gave her the name of the two women involved in the yardsale heist, as well as their phone number. I’m sure they were surprised when they received the phone call! But what should they expect? It’s LC after all; everybody’s all up in each others business. She spoke with the sister who denied everything, but who claimed she’d call back after her mother (who was conveniently “napping”) awoke. I wonder if Kathy will ever get her money? True, it wasn’t much, but it’s the principle. Especially since Kathy has allowed my friend and me to have joint yardsales at her house in the past!
After leaving Kathy’s we drove to a restaurant called Phish Heads Bar and Grill. I was pretty dubious about the place because A) it’s called Phish Heads; B) it’s in LC; and C) it’s located in a run-down old strip mall. But to all you people still living in the LC Pit, it was actually pretty tasty. And the small spinach salad for $2.99 is actually quite large and very delicious! Anyhow, the place opens at noon on Saturdays, and we arrived at 11:50am. We decided to wait, and soon we were joined by several other people. My mom recognized one of the women and said, “Oh hi Delores!” The woman gave her a really confused look and asked who my mom was. Mom clarified: “I’m Sandy Keeler. We used to sit in the pew in front of you at St. James Episcopal Church.” The woman shook her head and said no, although she confirmed that her name was indeed Delores. They spent a few minutes trying to figure out where else my mom might know her from and then my mom asked if she was Delores Porter. Turns out she’s a Delores SomethingElse, although according to my mom she’s a dead ringer for Delores from St. James. Bizarre.
After lunch we drove from LC to Live Oak (about an hour to the west) to visit Frank and to get the remainder of our stuff out of his storage shed. (When my mom moved from FL to GA last year, she moved into a smaller house. She put the stuff she didn’t have room for into Frank’s storage shed. Well, soon it’ll be stored at my house. While this does mean I get a nice bookshelf and two nice end tables, it also means that I get to store a lot of crap I don’t really need. Ahh well.) We loaded our stuff into the van in the sweltering heat (this was probably while the temperature was at its peak), and I photographed some passionflowers growing in Frank’s field. Then, after some coffee smoothies, we drove back up to Waycross (another two un-air conditioned hours). Along the way we took a couple of dirt road “shortcuts” through some desolate pinewoods.
Passionflower
Passionflower
The long dusty road as seen through the cracked windshield.
Upon returning home and not discovering a suitcase waiting on the doorstep for me (no worries, we gave them my mom’s address, not mine!) I called Air France. Supposedly my suitcase arrived in Atlanta around 1:30pm today, and it should be in my possession sometime tomorrow. We shall see.
1 comment:
Jane, thank you very much for the link. Take good care.
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