Kaimusailing

One of the problems from the grocery purchase using Instacart was my sliced ham was a slab of ham not thin slices for a sandwich. I wanted to make a grilled ham and cheese sandwich, my days are numbered here and I’m carefully planning meals. Rosie, the mother of the artist, gave me a big block of very sharp cheddar cheese. I sliced a slab of cheese and cut the slab of ham in half and made my sandwich on Sara Lee Artisan bread. The result was an extra thick sandwich consumed with some merlot. Not bad. Very filling.
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Robert purchased the Lehr propane outboard that I had reconditioned and the payment came from the guy he was working for on a huge restoration project, a big wood motor yacht. The guy also purchased my old C&C 24, Trillium, to learn to sail on. I unexpectedly ran into them both and got the fellow’s contact info and sent him a link to my blog when I sailed Trillium down to St. Marys. The link is here: https://www.sailblogs.com/member/kaimusailing/406777
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I reread the whole thing while enjoying a cheap merlot, free cheese from the Jones's, and Ritz crackers that had a strange vanilla flavor to them.
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I was sent a photo of some attractive looking black Labrador pups and their mother, Kahlo, up in Crisfield, waiting for me.
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Now I am counting just a few days until I am driving up RT58 to Virginia Beach, then over the Chesapeake Bay Bridge Tunnel and on to Crisfield.
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It would be the last Pizza Night in the boatyard and I had no guests, no customers. Chemist Geoff and his chemist wife, Karen, would come. He biked over during the late afternoon and said so. A couple on a motorcycle were on the communal porch, looked like Eastern European, as did the dual purpose motorbike. Rosie Jones, the mother of the artist, linked up with them and strode over to the porch. They were excited about pizza night and examined the oven, well that would be 3 more customers. Don, my boat neighbor here, stopped and said, I guess I don’t have to buy any Domino pizzas. I texted Irene and Robert who I doubted would show up. Irene didn’t reply, Robert replied late that he couldn’t make it. Rosie again came by and said her husband Larry and Irene and the motorbikers were gathered together and left. I expected the group to come to Pizza Night.
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I got things ready as usual and made a pepperoni pie with onion. I had a lot of onion and it goes good on pies, I put it on last so it caramelizes on top of the mozzarella. I made a second pie with the fresh oregano and fresh basil, a margarita pie with onion. The oven was lit and when it was up to temperature I put in the pepperoni pie. Geoff and Karen showed up with two bowls of salad and two kinds of pinot noir. Good. I had about 6 liters of merlot which they began to drink. It now was 5:30 and I expected the rest of the crowd to show up, but they didn’t. The second pie went in. I was not going to make a third pie unit the customers arrived.
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We talked about being from somewhere up North and being in Southern Georgia. Your neighbors are racist and have amassed guns to kill other people. Simple as that. Not an easy feeling. We don’t like guns, they can cause irrevocable killing and damage in a moment that may need a little time to subside. What is alarming to me is the planned attacks to kill other people who the assailant doesn’t even know, personally.
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The five outstanding customers didn’t arrive and when I biked around the yard, the motorbike and the Jones’ auto were gone. I can’t imagine what had happened. While we waited I baked another pie and then the propane tank went out. So I had two empty propane tanks and I’d be throwing out the 4th pizza, just like last week. Geoff and Karen left. I biked a few slices up to Robert who was holed up in his boat. He gets up early and works hard, then he conks out in the evening. He was still up and got some good slices of pie.
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I had an adapter that allowed a small propane tank to fit the propane hose of the oven, which normally is running on a large tank. I searched in the dark for the adapter and found it. I fired the oven up again and made the 4th pie, baked it, then shut it all off. I now had a ton of leftover pizza slices. I will be leaving in a couple days and I will be eating pizza for a couple days.
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The next day Robert said he was having trouble changing his license and registration from North Carolina to Georgia. It will just take a longer time than he anticipated. I spent the day cleaning up the -pizza mess and preparing items for the trip up to Crisfield. Doc of Doc’s Chop Shop agreed to help me sell the Universal diesel motor and also stow it where the bandits can’t steal it.
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I found out the people who didn’t show up for the last Pizza Night were dealing with a brief rain shower and one of them was having heart problems, not due to being in love. I hope they fare well.
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The next day I was taken to the airport by Geoff in his seriously decrepit Hyundai vehicle. It looks like going through a car wash would dismantle it. He says it is mechanically perfect and he drives it all the time. He has a pristine Austin Healey Sprite, a Porsche, and his wife has a serious Miata. They also have a nice white pickup truck. I chuckled that he picked me up in the Hyundai, which was loaded in the back seat with automobile tools. They were not for this vehicle, but for a neighbor who needs work on a busted Miata. He would not take money for gas and I would have jokingly offered him 5 dollars. He said if he broke down on the road, don’t go roaring by with my rental car.
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They gave me a Volkswagen Jetta, and the rate for a one way rental was more than a hundred dollars a day. Geoff said he would have sold me the Hyundai for $400, but his wife said he would be ripping me off.
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When I got to the boatyard Kaimu was blocked in. I couldn’t get near to load the car up with all the tools, clothing, and most of what I now own. They said 20 minutes and they’d clear it away. I left and drove up to Kingsland to Tractor Supply to fill my empty propane tank. They were out of propane. I drove back and parked as close as I could. Don, my new neighbor, said, “Are you taking lessons from the tattoo artist?”, referring to my other neighbor who parks in ways that blocks everybody else out. “When I tell him what you said, he’s gonna tattoo your ass!” You have to stand your ground around here.
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Today would have to be the day where it hits 98 in the shade. I did the 5 minute work and 15 minute cool down, like my doctor ordered, and loaded the car with a lot of clothes destined for the laundry, a few that were clean and wearable, tool boxes, bags of sundry items, but each time I did something I would be soaked with sweat and had to stop. Geoff stopped by on his bicycle and we chatted, but I had to get back to work and he said he would go to Pirate’s Point for a beer with his wife. They normally roar up the road in their red Austin Healey, but when I got there I parked the black Jetta next to the filthy Hyundai. We had a couple beers and I was going to treat them, but they paid and left, just like that. The bartender, who is very sweet, accepted a tip in one dollar bills, and wished me good luck on my travels. She poured a couple of perfect cold Yeunglings on a hot and humid day.
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The temperature and humidity didn’t seem to want to let up. I had loaded or stowed all the stuff outside the boat, but going inside caused instant heat stroke. I had to go back down and rest on the communal porch, soaked with sweat. A glass of merlot hydrated me somewhat. Then back at it, another crack at it, then more sweat, more merlot. I texted Robert, do you want some eggs, cheese, etc., and he said yes, he would return about 8 PM. I expected him to drop by, but when he didn’t I filled a shopping bag full of perishable items and biked up to his boat, where his vehicle was parked, and gave him the cheese, etc., and then had to grab the bike to get out of the way of a truck coming through the yard.
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I biked to the area behind Doc’s Chop Shop to take a photo of a spectacular sunset, then returned to pack away more things, and sweat some more. More sweat and more merlot. I wanted to get as close to completely packed as possible, but not forget any essential items. I wanted to sleep early and leave early in the morning. I had a couple of slices of pizza left for breakfast. I would make coffee, put it in a cup that Eloisa gave me, and get the hell out of here. The image is of the last sunset.