How's it going and what's up? As is often said ... Not much. How about you?
Well, as many of you know from reading Cristina's recent posting in Tidings, the announcement of my replacement(s) was premature. I am reminded of the famous, though often misquoted, remark by Mark Twain when a newspaper writer in London wrote to him to inquire about his health and reported death. The great humorist replied, in part, "The report of my death was an exaggeration." Perhaps he might have said, as I just did, that it was premature. These things happen and we move on.
At this point, I have been thanked and gifted, but am still in charge of the Property Team. I am hopeful, that my replacement will be found soon. Until then, you will have to make do with me for a while longer.
I am reminded of a story which I will amend to suit our locale and to make a point. As the story goes, two folks were walking the beach in Rye on a gorgeous evening featuring a very large and bright full moon. One says to the other, "Isn't that a wonderful moon? I feel I could just reach out and touch it!" The other says, "True .. and I wonder ... which do you suppose is closer ... the moon or Boston?" The other says, "The moon, of course!", to which the other says, "How can you possibly say that?". The other replies, "I can't see Boston." As you probably have surmised, the "moon" in this story is a proxy for any of the various people who could lead the Property Team just as well as I, and "Boston" is a proxy for my actual replacement. You see, the moon just might be closer than Boston, but I surely hope that is not the case.
This is the time of year when the obvious, readily achievable, short-term grounds tasks are unavailable to the Property Team and we move inside. The winter days inside present us with tasks that are often, perhaps mostly, more of a challenge. Yes, we have routine inside work that gets done weekly, but some tasks such as painting of walls and selected repairs take more time and resources than is typically available on a Thursday morning, so the work has to be spread out over time. We have to work around known building use and sometimes leave some tasks partly completed and, perhaps, unsightly. That is the nature of doing property work with volunteers. We do what we can.
The new highway sign has been released for manufacturing in Alabama and is scheduled to be completed and shipped to our installer in New Hampshire by April 7. I am hopeful we will have the new sign in place by Easter. We engaged another sign company (Portsmouth Sign Company) to upgrade the lighting for the informational sign near the chapel. This work has been completed. I have not yet seen the results, but I have heard from a couple of folks who tell me the sign is now well lighted. Hopefully, this upgrade will help inform passers-by and people entering our property, especially in these dark days of winter. As most of you already know, there is no electricity available to illuminate the wooden church sign at Fox Run Road. We have to rely on the headlights of passing vehicles to illuminate that one. I would like to find a more robust solar-powered lighting system for this sign. If anyone has ideas on this, please advise me or someone on the Property Team.
David Mercer