The wind was dead calm early this morning, skies hinting at rain. Deb reported drops on her windshield as she drove east on the county road, and eventually the wet stuff arrived on The Mountain.
We didn’t get much at all — as the farmers of my youth would’ve quipped, “Scarcely enough to settle the dust.” Rain’s in the forecast three of the next seven days, so here’s hoping that holds.
Behind today’s brief showers came more wind. At times it was as strong as yesterday’s, which I didn’t see comin’. I glanced outside at one point and saw that our Gadsden Flag was on the ground.
The fabric wasn’t torn, the grommets hadn’t pulled out, and the flagstick didn’t snap. The four screws holding the bracket yanked out of the corner trim of the cabin, and the entire flag-and-holder assembly fell as one.
I knew I had a box of decking screws longer than the wood screws I’d used originally. But instead of reaching for those, I thought I’d see if I had something better in my salvage pile. I found a handful of hex-head roofing screws, three inches long, used but straight. I don’t recall where I scrounged them. They offered four times as much “bite” behind the fixture as the screws that failed to hold.
I re-mounted the Gadsden bracket and placed the flag back in its holder, then gave the Arkansas and American flags’ brackets the same upgrade. I didn’t even have to take those flags down — I simply removed and replaced two screws at a time.
Easy and free — that’s why I save stuff. All three flags fly over The Mountain again.
This would be furnace-repair day. Our guy showed up around 1pm, switched the unit on and it lit on the second try — obviously, I wasn’t expecting that. After a while, though, we were able to get it to produce the troublesome low-frequency hum and refuse to fire.
The tech and I talked through possible causes and reviewed options. We agreed that Deb and I have reached the point of diminishing returns. We won’t be keeping this camper or spending another winter depending on its furnace to warm us. There may still be cold weather coming this year, but we’re almost out of it.
And so we won’t be fixing the furnace. It’s the most sensible thing we could do.
Eight miles, 20 minutes. That’s what Google Maps told Deb when she plugged in the address for the Marion County Fairgrounds this evening — as soon as she got Home from work, we’d hopped in the truck and headed that way.
It’s Primary Election Day in Arkansas. That’s where we vote.
We don’t often go out at that time of day. So in addition to partaking in a sacred rite of citizenship, we enjoyed sights and sounds we rarely encounter beyond The Mountain.
Golden light on western slopes. A ball of fire in an orange sky. A chorus of spring peepers.
The pleasure of coming Home.
Take care of yourselves, Patriots. Stay calm. Stay sharp. Stay free.
#WiseUp #LibertyOrDeath
#LetsGoBrandon #FJB