Lest anybody feel I'm having fun, let me assure you that this move, and it's details ... are serious efforts. While I've been doing a bit better with my health, nothing is fixed. In fact, I'm over four months onto my injections, and the telltail signs of them wearing out are evident. I'm still better prepared to deal with it all then last year.

Now... the move. I really didn't want to go. I've spent 32 years on this property, but it can no longer meet my needs. The shop is extremely pinched and it located smack in the middle of town. This was almost outside the town limits (seemingly) 32 years ago. The huge lot behind me (thus beside the shop) was a vacant field. Circumstances didn't allow me to buy that lot back then. A Dr scooped it up. Later resold it. It's developed now. The whole mood of the area is tighter, controlled. I'm grandfathered in ... but I don't think a cloud if yellow soft coal smoke and a ringing anvil would fly here now.

I have no place to test shoot now. I've joined clubs, but they have been distant and full of issues to deal with. All of my expenses have gone up four or five times. Traffic is tight. The police are frantically writing any and all tickets possible for revenue. There is a display of flashing lights, without exception, on the bypass day and night. Half the cars have one if those "coexist" bumper stickers on them today.

My home was a project purchased by a young man full of craft skills. Today, the young man us nowhere to be found. And no company wants to work on my home. The roof it high and complex. They don't want to pay insurance for their men to work on high, steeply pitched rooves, when plenty of simplistic work is ripe in the area. I can't even get a yard service. You think I lie about that ... don't you? It's true. Yes, they will take the job early in the Spring. And dump me just as soon as they sign better jobs. My lot has hills. Rock walls. Stone paths. Shrubs. Flower beds. Fences. They want to blow in on their zero turn hotrod and be gone in ten minutes. Mine takes 90 minutes with a rear bagging self propelled, and weed trimmer. They won't do it. We've been thru it year after year.

I need a warmer climate. Just a fact. The wet and cold make me ache terrible. That won't get better. The house and shop are full of stairs. Actually, it just hurts. It's not exercise. You Docs tell me ... how come "exercise" is supposed to make you stronger and build endurance; but the body will not grow to tolerate the routine you perform every day of your life? Haha.

So; we took about eighteen months and researched our move. Made the trips to study, explore, verify, purchase. Closed out some looong term obligations here. And now, we move. Not so simple when you explore it. Moving companies want a LIST of what you want to move. That would take a year to catalog the shop. Then, do YOU want to explain the difference between firearms and airguns to the representative from the moving company who comes to see, inventory, estimate? "Well, those racks if guns aren't actually guns ... you see". And that ton of gun parts ... ah ... isn't. And they can't be scratched. . Those chemicals are just normal ... Ah ... chemicals. Those high pressure tanks? Pwhat?? . Nevermind. We'll get it ourselves.

And, we are doing it. Have not forgotten any of you. I'd have been far more pleased to be I'm a better place and position at this point in my life. But decades pass, areas change, health isn't a given. You adapt. I'll get it done. You don't want it done nearly as fast as I do. I'm chronicling it here so you will watch it happen. Wish us luck. Say a prayer for us if you care to. We'd appreciate it.

Gary and Kelly.

Please forgive the typos in the above cell phone post above. It's too long to edit on the cell screen ... Won't load and scroll when it's that extensive.

Hello Gary,

I can't speak for anyone but myself, but I've wondered for years why you stayed up north for as long as you did. The climate on the eastern seaboard just isn't amenable to your line of work, both from a weather / seasonal perspective and from a socio-political angle as well. It's just a plain fact that most of the eastern states are actively hostile to the whole concept of firearms ownership and the shooting sports. As you've pointed out earlier if it looks like a gun, the general public there is likely to call 911 and roll the SWAT team. They make no distinction between airguns and firearms, as far as they're concerned it's just another one of those dreaded "assault weapons". A sad state of affairs, but a reality in most urban areas these days.

The only surprise to me is that you ended up in the Florida panhandle. I'd have thought Texas.

Hi Sean,

I went to Texas once, and then Kelly and I went to Texas together. The distances between any and all needs killed that for us. Want a Walmart? It's an hour north. Want a Dr.? That's an hour or two South. Shopping center? Two hours to the edge of Austin, etc. Hospital? Good luck. Everybody was extremely quick to comfort your concern about hospitals by offering that they have "life flight" helicopters if you need something. Sean, I know you did wonderful work with flying medical choppers in Alaska. They all do great work. I'd still rather be the 7.2 miles from the hospital in Fla., then NEED the helos. ;?)

While in Texas, we drove, and drove, and drove. My leg hurt. My back hurt. Days dried up. And, you'd still only seem to get to one or two of your needs. Thenext one on the list was another hour some other direction. You wouldn't get to the whole collection of stuff, with your trip. Unless, you went to Austin or Dallas, etc. Then, you had the madness of the city traffic to deal with. We turned out of the car rental lot at the airport in Austin, straight onto four lanes of stopped traffic. Stayed that way for some time. Lovely. Then, in the little towns, a mile or three outside town, the road might just turn to dirt or gravel, if you got off the main artery heading cross country. The "local roads" all went to dirt before you got to where you were going.

And then, believe it or not .... everybody who didn't have an interest in either selling us a place, or selling us the idea of Texas ... had a rattle snake or poisonous centipede story. Guy came into the diner - white as a sheet. Sat down and started telling everyone he'd just narrowly missed sitting on a rattlesnake while turkey hunting. That prompted the waitress to tell how her cat had killed a rattlesnake IN HER HALLWAY at home. She'd gotten up, at night ... just had a "feeling" about something. Turned on the light. The cat was laying there beside a dead rattlesnake she'd killed in the dark hallway. Waitress said ... "ah - THAT'S why the cat had been so interested in the kitchen sink cabinet for the last two days!!!

Then, several locals told me ... when asked about snakes .... they'd say ... "heck - don't worry about rattlesnakes. It's the poisonous centipedes that are far worse!!" They can get a foot long. Each leg terminates in a spike fang. They lock on - dig in - and you need pliers to get them off. Well .. after a few people tell you this stuff ... you think about it. Then, when you are staying in a real nice place ... and walk over to the patio door to pick up a leaf pod that must have blown in ... and ... it's a dead SIX INCH armored poisonous centipede with fangs for feet!!! YUCK!!! But - snakes on the road, snakes on the sidewalk. Endless snake stories. And, endless cute little signs sporting rattlesnakes. Must be something to the concern. But .... don't mention this stuff to Texans ... 'cause that just proves you are a whimp. Hey - one fella we saw several times, kept telling us how a baby goat he had must have been snake bit. It's head had swollen to the size of a basketball. It bleated pitifully. Got worse as the daily stories came in. We have two little dogs. Dozens of grandkids. It just all became unappealing.

Now - I know someone is dying to tell me that Florida if full of snakes and worse. I know. But - we purposely bought far from the water;. No swamps. No ponds. No desert. We are aware. And, we'll see. But - so far ... there has NOT been a snake under every leaf. I'd know. And, God Forbid ... somebody is bitten ... we have medical nearby. Hey - we also inherited a cat - and another roams the woods. Cats keep rodents down. Rodents are snake food. Cats also kill snakes and worry them.

Well, that's my story. And ... there's not a tree in Texas over twenty feet tall. As a famous person once said ... the plants and ground are not friendly. We love the pines, oaks, magnolia of our area. And, it's rolling hill area. Maryland's beauty isn't gonna be beat. But - it's out of my price anymore. And, we seem to have found a pretty good match for our sensibilities.

;?)

Gary

I can see how the whole "snake under every cowpie" issue would be a bit of a turn-off. Texas is a big place, and some parts are bound to be less hospitable than others. It looks like the part you were looking at was the part that's ideal for rattlers instead of people.

I actually really liked the panhandle part of Florida when I traveled through there, though them heat and humidity can get near-unbearable in late summer. The spring and fall are quite nice, and winter is very mild typically. You do get some pretty scary thunderstorms with occasional tornados, but that's just part of living in Florida.

Best of all, the beaches there are beautiful white sand and go for miles and miles. We used to regularly head down to Panama City, FL on long weekends. Back then they called it the "Redneck Riviera", and probably still do. It was pretty rough-and-ready back 25-30 years ago, not all that family friendly with lots of bars and public drinking. I understand that it's been gentrified and condo-ized and that they've cleaned up their act quite a bit since then. You'll probably want to take a break from the more popular beaches near town when college spring break comes around, but the rest of the year ought to be great.

One piece of advice though. If anybody offers you some free Kudzu vine shoots to dress up your landscaping, burn it on the spot. The stuff makes bamboo look like a sickly weakling by comparison. You park a car too near the stuff and you've got maybe two weeks until you can't see it anymore.

Hi Sean,
Yes - I do know about Kudzu. Lovely stuff. haha,. We didn't know about bamboo 20 years ago - but we know Kudzu. Often threatened to plant that to grow over the bamboo!!! hahah.

Kudzu over bamboo...yikes! Talk about going from the frying pan into the fire...with that you get both!

The area you are in is one of the best in Florida. As far as storms in the north part of the state, i think you are in good shape as I have lived here most of my life and most run up the coast, I am speaking about hurricane,s and the worst I can remember hit down south. As far as gun right,s in this state. It is EASY to find a place to shoot. When I go to the Wyoming Antelope club shooting range, every range attendant want,s to watch my target at the 50 yard. The Yukon GS will be pounding 100 yard target. Other fellow shooter,s stare at my target when the line is cold and you walk to replace the target. Nobody like,s the idea of my air rifle showing better accuracy than their powder burner. If you want to know about the regulations about firearms they have a bring your own machinegun every friday, found that out by accident. Hernando sportsman club is where all the hunter,s hang out. Wife bought a new Kimber in 45 caliber and everyone wanted to shoot it, They are very friendly and it the first time I shot an AK 47. Not all bad.

And best of all, FRESH BOILED PEANUTS every fall! Yum....

Do tell? More info. please. I love peanuts. But ... fresh "boiled"???

I to like peanuts...Stay Away from the boiled ones is my advice. i have tried them 2 different times and had to 'Spit em out' YUCK... just sayin

Seems a nice roast would be the way to prepare a fine peanut. Just my experience. hehehe.

Story: My maternal Grandfather, in his 60's (during the 60's as well) ... built a small retreat property in a river valley in West Virginia. He loved to share it. He built a few cabins on the property. Had a big ole garden there. Well, upon one visit ... he told us his peanut crop was ready to pick. Among the leaves of one row of the garden - were to be found a fine crop of roasted and salted peanuts. He had a "roasted thumb". hahah.

Gary

I like 'em roasted too, but there's nothing like a fresh salty bag of hot, slimy boiled peanuts. They dig them up a bit early still on the vines, wash them, and boil them in brine until the shells are like tissue paper. The peanuts inside have an extremely unique consistency, not quite solid, but not mush, almost like fresh cheese curds but a bit softer. The taste is different too, still peanuts, but different. It seems you either love 'em or you hate 'em, not much in between. Definitely a southern-only specialty.

They sell them in cans, but it's not the same as buying them from a roadside stand, and you can't do that outside the deep south. as far as I know.

Gary,

If you're serious about never having tried boiled peanuts, they aren't bad. They resemble the taste of potatoes a bit to me. A necessary part of being a Cracker Floridian.

Northern Florida is also pecan counrty, every store north of Ocala sells bags of them. Your area specifically is HUGE oyster country.

Lon

Figures. I don't like oysters.
Well, I'll find something to eat.

Found another reason to leave Md. With your outrageous tax payment, you get a coupon or two to the land fill. Was good for $20 or 22 bucks as I recall last year. I gathered up stuff and took it in this heat. Well, that's all been changed. It's worth about half as much now. And there are little clauses of stuff that make it less yet. Gimmick a day here any more. All to get another dollar from you.

Sitting in a pitch dark shop. Heck of a storm. Been really seriously hot yesterday and today. Big heavy rain now. Lightening seems to have knocked put the power. I was waiting for the backup generator to kick on ... Then recalled I don't have one. Haha. Well, there is the generator in the war wagon ... In Florida.
This is a nice break from packing and moving things. Hope the power stays off for a while. Haha.
I'm sure I'll regret saying that as the stress mounts. I'll most likely be working by torch light in a couple of hours ....

YES that power outage is a pleasant break from the task at hand. We just had all that HOT 100 deg weather in Mich hear but it only lasted about 3 good days. Maybe it picked up some lake water on the way by contributing to the ever decreasing lake levels(sure)By the way the peanuts have to come right out of the boil for them to be the best dont stop at the road side stand unless you see them cooking (STEAM!!!)How many trips do you recon you will be making all together? Have you listed your house yet ? A friend of mine in the shop just moved to pennsylvaina from here in Mich with his tribe and him and his wife both found well paying jobs but not having any luck with his house sale yet. not trying to bring ya down but not sure where your at but house market in mich is crap. Well you got a few hours of daylight left go out side and crack of a few shots at the old soup cans its almost 4th of July maybe the po po (southern slanguage for police)will chalk it up to fire works hahaha

Thanks
Kurt

Cajun boiled peanut,s are the bomb.

Rule number one for any food item termed "Cajun": Do NOT ask for extra-hot.

Extra hot, bad idea.....

Hi Gary

I haven't visited here for way too long, there's been a lot happening and no shooting!
Pleased to hear the shift is progressing, a massive task but the end result looks likely to be fantastic. Everything you need in one place, range and all. And heaps of space, though I am sure you will manage to fill it and then some in no time at all.

All the best for the rest of the shift.

Regards

Neil