May 18, 2024

Sweet Potatoes

I woke up early on Saturday morning. Watching my wife lying down beside me was the prettiest thing I had seen all week. She stirred and then turned toward me, scooting up into my arms. There, we snuggled for a good half hour before getting out of bed. Was there anything in life better than a Saturday morning with the person you loved? Nothing topped this feeling.

My wife fed the dogs and then we had a cup of coffee together, picking up our tradition of sitting on the couch and debriefing, always talking about how we slept, dreams we had, what the weather was going to be like, and what we had planned for the day. Breakfast, we decided, was imminent.

We drove into Wilson and sat down at the Cracker Barrel, our current rage for eating breakfast. The food, as always, was great, and before we knew it, it was time to leave. Time flies when you’re having fun, as the saying went. After eating, we made a quick stop at Target and Lidl to get groceries for the next few days. Then, we filled my wife’s car up with gas before driving home and unloading everything we purchased.

My wife cleared out all the old produce from the refrigerator and placed it on the counter. I chopped it all up into small pieces and then took the scraps out to the worm bins to feed them. A couple of weeks ago, I had filled the bins with an inordinate amount of vegetables, and to my surprise, the food was completely gone. Today, I replenished the food and watered the soil to keep the worms moist, a requirement in order for them to respire. The earthworms, numbering in the hundreds, if not thousands, now had plenty of food to eat and grow strong. I wanted them nice and fat for the days I went fishing.

After feeding the worms and putting away the groceries, we sat down at the dining room table and registered our vehicles online. In Texas, we had to get our vehicles inspected and then pay a registration fee, which was about fifty dollars. It was nice that, in North Carolina, each vehicle inspection only cost us $13.60, but, to my surprise, the registration cost twice that and also encompassed an annual property tax for each vehicle. The two cars together cost almost five hundred dollars. Still, I couldn’t complain, since the property taxes for our home were about ten percent of what they were in Austin.

We also made a call to the county trash service center, and they actually answered the phone, even though it was Saturday. We told them we had not received the updated placard, and they planned to have someone process an application for us. They also told us to drop off our trash and if a worker approached us, to ask them to call the office and they would verify we could use the facility. Problem solved. We loaded the trash into my SUV and dropped it off without issues.

After we came home, my wife pulled out two Melon Pan pastries she purchased at H-Mart. We made coffee, sat at the table, and delighted in the tasty snack. Once we finished, my wife got busy studying while I sat down to write at my desk. After a few hours passed, we both felt hungry, so we changed clothes and headed into Bailey. Bailey, a small town in Nash County, was the closest town to Sims and sported a grocery store, the Piggly Wiggly, as well as other amenities like a doctor and pharmacy we visited. Today, Bailey was hosting their annual Sweet Potato Festival, and we were excited to go.

When we arrived at the location, it was relatively easy to find parking. The main street was closed and after we parked, we walked up the road where there was a stage with a live band, a plethora of food trucks, games and activities, and booths for various clubs. Vendors set up a couple of dozen booths on the easternmost end of the road to sell goods or advertise their services. It was a big day for a small town.

We drank tall glasses of freshly squeezed lemonade, one with strawberries and the other with peaches. After, we ate a barbecue brisket sandwich and some macaroni and cheese. The food was fantastic. We walked around a bit, taking in all the activities. There was a really tall rock-climbing wall and an axe throwing booth. My favorite sights were the packed street, which was normally quiet, the American flag that was hoisted on a work vehicle with a long arm, and the general feeling of having a live band playing music. The noise level of the band, however, was enough to make my ears physically hurt. I snapped some pictures at the event and took time to photograph a fire engine and train that were in the area. We had an excellent time.

After we arrived home, we took a little time to cool off from being out in the sun. Then, my wife told me she was going to study until 5:30 PM, after which she was going to sit outside on the porch to relax for the evening. I received an official invitation. I sat at my office desk, splitting my time between writing and editing photos.

At the designated time, we put away our work things for the day and moved outside, where we put on some music and drank a cold beer together, hung out with the dogs, grilled some chicken, and looked at all the different birds coming to the feeders. After dinner and a slice of leftover birthday cake, we got cleaned up and headed for bed. It was a perfect Saturday evening.

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May 17, 2024