Judging by what I hear from my friends up North, it’s beginning to look (and feel) a lot like Fall. Trees are turning. Mornings are chillier. Kids are throwing footballs around in backyards. The signs are there.
Here in Ozarkansas, not so much.
Oh, we’re definitely playin’ football down South, but most of the leaves are as green as they were all summer. The high today was 90°F. Lows have been dancing around the 60°F mark. It’ll be a good while before cider and bonfires feel just right.
Thursday on The Mountain started out sedately enough. Deb and I loaded up the Ranger and made a fresh-water run, taking time to enjoy the half-mile round-trip.
The more often we do this, the more efficient we get, and today we filled more than just a big blue barrel. We put four gallons into a five-gallon bucket for “priming” the black tank, a precaution we always take after dumping it. And we filled a four-gallon backpack-type sprayer we just picked up to keep handy by our burn barrel (in case any embers get loose).
Sure, we could’ve filled both of those back at the homesite, either from barrels or from the RV’s onboard tank. But by doing it at the well, we returned with a full 55 gallons dedicated to our regular supply of fresh water.
When I’d finished my hydrochores I came back inside, brought out a crock stick, rubbing alcohol and Benchmade “Blue Lube,” and I proceeded to clean, lubricate and dress the edges of my everyday-carry knives. The ritual reminded me that our cheap Fiskars loppers have struggled recently to actually lop, probably the result of my hacking away at hard, dead cedar branches bigger than the tool was designed to cut.
I strolled down to the shed, pulled out the dull by-pass loppers and ran a finger along the cutting surface — as I suspected, it was rolled badly into an unmistakable “wire edge.” The only tool I had (here) that’d give me a fighting chance to put it right was an ordinary flat file. I wasn’t sure how well that’d work on a curved blade, but I gave it a shot.
To my surprise, it worked great. A bunch of test cuts afterward showed that the edge was restored, putting the tool back into service.
While I was doing that, Deb was surfing the web and making calls, shopping for the rest of the appliances we’ll need for the cabin. She did her research, and based on what she learned she narrowed down the brands and models we should consider within our budget. And she found some good deals.
All of those deals were in Harrison, an hour away. So off we went.
Our first stop was a scratch-and-dent store we’d visited back in February. There we chose a stackable laundry pair — in a woodsy shade of green, believe it or not — which had a laughably minor ding in a place no one will ever see. We also bought a new-in-box microwave/convection oven that was on sale.
Next we drove toward downtown and a little hole-in-the-wall shop specializing in refurbishing appliances and buying large lots of closeouts. They had a Kenmore refrigerator-freezer that really filled the bill for us — French-door fridge, bottom-drawer freezer, no icemaker and no water dispenser. It was part of a special buy accompanying the closing of Sears retail stores.
The fridge will be delivered tomorrow evening. The washer, dryer and microwave will be here sometime Monday. That completes the list of appliances we’ll be buying.
I sat down this evening and ran some rough numbers, considering the street price of what we’ve bought over the last week — woodstove, freezer, laundry, microwave, fridge — and comparing it to what we paid. By looking for discounts, being open to alternative channels (like Facebook Marketplace) and scratch-and-dent merchandise, along with paying in cash and not being afraid to ask for a better deal, we saved almost 53%.
Again, that’s not versus MSRP — we paid less than half of the going rate.
We closed out our trip to Harrison with a visit to the campground where we spent so many months. The hosts became friends, and they were as glad to see us as we were to see them.
And y’know what? I don’t miss it. I don’t miss the campground life, as much as I enjoyed it at the time. I don’t miss the hiss of the highway. I don’t miss living on the edge of a commercial district.
Harrison served its purpose, back then and again today, and served it well. But it seems I’ve moved on — just as I knew I would.
We had dinner tonight right back where we belong, in Yellville, at Carolyn’s Razorback Ribs — perfect.
Take care of yourselves, Patriots. Stay calm. Stay sharp. Stay free.
#WiseUp #LibertyOrDeath #Ungovernable
#LetsGoBrandon #FJB