Observations From Arkansas

Christmas Letter

To start, I am sharing my Christmas Letter as it has the background story of how we came to be living in Calamine, Arkansas. To be honest, Christmas card mailing is a blur, as it all happened while we were moving.

Dear Friends and Family,

We are trying to be very British and stay calm as we embark on a big change in our lives:  a move to Arkansas.  The moving van was here on Quimby Street on December 10, so you are getting a combined moving announcement/Christmas card from us this year.  (A Christmas miracle in itself,  given the level of panic around here!)  J

We really don’t remember much about the first part of the year, except for getting ready for the four day drive to Arkansas to spend the month of June with Machelle and Roger.  Our plan was to go and see how they were doing, and help with some projects around their house.  We enjoyed our visit with them and it was difficult to leave when the time came as we did like being there with them.

When planning for the trip we were particularly concerned about traveling with our cat, Sampson, as he had recently lost his sight.   We ordered a special carrier and dishes and worried how he would take it.  All for naught, as Sammy turned out to be a natural traveler.  He slept on my lap for the entire four day drive and, even though he was blind, he found his way around the hotel rooms.  He was amazing!

Sammy will now be relocating to Arkansas with us to live in Calamine, AR.   We were alerted to the property being for sale by the folks who own the house that we stay at when visiting, and they and Machelle and Roger went and checked out the house for us.  We made a bid, it was accepted, and then we applied for and were accepted for a VA loan, all within 24 hours.  It seems like a “God thing”, the way it all happened.  The key was “location, location, location”, as it is just a mile from Machelle and Roger’s home.

Then we planned another trip to Arkansas for September to sign papers and see the property.  We have 6 acres of land (mostly wooded), a small two bedroom, two bathroom house, with a family room type addition, a basement, and two garages.  One garage is large enough for two garage doors, and the third one is a tall RV parking type garage with storage loft and separate entrance.  (I think there is more garage than house!)   We will be busy, as it is definitely a fixer-upper. We were asked if we would take their flock of chickens, and when I was told that chickens eat bugs (like ticks) the answer was yes!  Plus, a tiny kitten showed up the first morning we were able to get in the house, so, of course, we took it in, too.  Thank goodness for Machelle and Roger living close by as they have been taking care of the animals for us. 

The best part is that we will be close to our daughter and son-in-law, Machelle and Roger.  Machelle had a rare form of cancer (Myxofibrosarcoma) during the lockdown last year and it was excruciating not to be near her. Also, you may remember that Roger is considered disabled due to a botched back surgery a few years back, which also makes us want to be near them.  Then there is the fact that, well, we are not getting any younger either, (darn!) and will probably need their support, too.  Besides, we do like it there.  It is peaceful and beautiful, and definitely rural.   There will be some culture shock, but Mike especially feels so much better and relaxed there

We are located in the northeast part of the state, and are 20 minutes from the closest little town, Cave City, (which has a good Mexican Restaurant, of all things), and about 40 minutes from a larger town, Batesville.  Batesville is where the hospital and medical centers are. (The VA for Mike is in Little Rock, but has some services in Batesville.)    We also can sign up for ambulance and life flight services.   The best part is NO traffic on the way to town.

After arriving back in San Diego we contacted a real estate agent and that started a whirlwind of activity.  We were advised to clear off and pack away all our tchotchkes (mostly my tea cups and saucers and teapots).  Well, that started Mike on a frenzy of packing!  He has been packing ever since.  (I can hear the packing tape on a box as I write this.)  This has been wonderful, except for when he “cruises” through the house to find things to pack.  If I cannot find something I ask him about it, and his answer usually is “I packed that”.  My answer usually is “I wasn’t going to take that” or “I was still going to wear that”.  He definitely is anxious to get to Arkansas!

One day, as we were massively stressing out to meet the listing photos and open house deadlines the proverbial light bulb went on.  We had interested buyers, why continue on like this?  The buyers are former neighbors who rented the house next door to us.  When the rental was sold they bought a house in Clairemont, but still called back every few months to see if any nearby homes were for sale. I called them, they were definitely excited and interested, and went to work on everything they needed to do to buy our house.  They came back and said they could do it (both are school teachers), so we went ahead and sold it to them.  The neighbors are really pleased with our decision.

We have 47 years of packing and clearing out going on, and I am thinking that we would get an A+ for procrastination as some of this should have been done a long time ago.  We are awash in a sea of boxes, both packed and unpacked. The stress level is high, but we are looking forward to our new adventure of living in Arkansas.  We are both born and raised Southern Californians, so it will be interesting, to say the least. 

We celebrated our 51^st Anniversary on November 21, and are looking forward to our new adventure of living in Arkansas.