“I Hear You Knocking” is an R & B song written by Dave Bartholomew and first recorded by Smiley Lewis in 1955. I may not be the jilted lover featured in this golden oldie, but I know what it is like to be hammering away at a door that just won’t open. I don’t have the keys. Not yet. Soon, though. Very soon.
“Imagination allows you to think of the journey worth making. Motivation gets you started. But, it’s patience and perseverance that get you there.”
Ernie J Zelinski
We may not own the house, but we do own the lot and the dock. So, on a 90 degree day, we decided to tie a couple of tubes to the pier, and to float around, staring at a house that loomed over us, calling to us, “Come on in. The bathrooms are clean and the showers are warm.”
Nothing quite like being buoyant, and gently rocking on the rippling water while being taunted by your own almost-home.
The deck must be completed, the concrete slabs and walkway must be poured, the yard must be seeded, the propane and appliances must be delivered. That may (?) be all that remains before we can get the occupancy permit. That piece of paper, with authorization to proceed is the Holy Grail of this entire journey.
So, back to the campground we go. So close and yet, so far.
There are some positive aspects of campground living, but after NINETEEN months, you really have to utilize creative thinking to come up with them. I am amused by some of the ideas that “permanent campers” have come up with in order to create inviting spaces for weekend get-away spots.
What really amuses me, however, is what I term the “Sunday-Poop-Parade”. Although our site is wooded and relatively large, it is right next to the dump station, the place where weekend warriors dump their sewage tanks. There is always a huge line-up of trailers and 5th-wheels and motor homes that must discharge their waste before heading home. It’s a crazy traffic jam that lasts for hours, and if you happen to be situated a bit downwind, which we are, it is a malodorous ordeal.
It did not take long to determine that Sunday should be excursion day.
We did take a short trip to traipse around historic, downtown Fredericksburg. It is a town worth visiting, with many 18th and 19th century architectural gems. Both Revolutionary and Civil War Era landmarks cover the town. Parking is free. There are shops, restaurants, and magnificent mansions. Spending a Sunday in Spotsylvania County unquestionably beats the Poop Parade.
One last humorous tidbit: When we returned from our sojourn, we found a Bearded Dragon just lying around in our campsite. Clearly it was a pet, since it was on a leash, and was tethered to a child’s toy. You cannot make this stuff up. We placed a tent spike through the toy to keep the little guy from wandering into the nearby road. We know very little about lizards, but we did come to the realization that Gypsy would consider it a toy that would need to be gutted and dismembered like all of her other toys. So, we contacted the office who collected our reptilian friend, and kept it safe and happy until the owner could be located. It’s always something…
Stay tuned for more of life’s oddities….
Retired and Rambling 