DANGEROUS PLACE TO LIVE

We live near the airport. No, the planes landing and taking off don't bother us. Most of the air traffic is in the daytime and the runways are parallel to our neighbothood so the planes don't fly directly over us. Even when we first moved in, we seldom noticed the noise.

But last year, a plane fell as it was taking off. It landed on a house beneath the takeoff runway path a few blocks away from us. Sadly, the pilot was killed. The house was damaged but no one was home at the time.

Okay. These things happen. Right?

Then a few days ago, another accident. This time the plane was en route to Savannah-Hilton Head Airport but the pilot had engine trouble and headed for our little airport. He didn't make it. Instead, he landed on a roof some distance from the end of the runway. (And from our house, thank goodness!)

Here's a picture of the plane on the roof

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The homeowner was out in the yard when the plane alit on his roof. His wife was on the back patio relaxing. Can you imagine their disbelief? 

There was a happy outcome. A paramedic was nearby and rushed to help set up a ladder to get the men down. Neither the pilot nor his passenger were seriously hurt. Some scratches and cuts to the legs did lead to a hospital visit but it was brief.

The pilot must have been very experienced and very lucky to have pulled off this landing!

As for my guy and me...

We look up everytime we hear a plane going over. Just to make sure it's staying in the air, you know?

CANDY

I don't cook except for making candy. I make the old-fashioned kind. Like fudge:

And divinity:

And pralines:

And my favorite that my mother used to make when I was a kid, peanut butter candy:

Tomorrow I get to cut them and parcel them out. It's hard to know who eats candy and who doesn't nowadays but I've never had anyone refuse it. My petsitter gets a package and also the vet's office for their loving care of my sweet cats. Then my critique partners and some other friends.

I try to give it all away--yes, I do, I really do!--but somehow there always seem to be a few pieces left over.

Guess they'll take care of those pounds I've struggled to lose.

COMMUNITY BAND

Forgetting our whining about all our tiny disasters, we went over to the mainland Thursday for a concert by the community band. This one had a theme of classics. Like the William Tell Overture. That always make my toes tap. The medley of Beatle tunes was familiar while The Klaxon March wasn't. (This is a salute to the car horns, or klaxons, on old classic cars.)

The band's members come from three counties. Since anyone who plays an instrument is welcome to join, they have senior citizens, high school students, middle school students, and everyday business people. Several are band/music teachers at different schools who have some of their children playing.

They believe music should be free to everyone though a donation is always welcome. There was no one in the lobby to take it when we left, but I will see if I can send a check this week because the music was well worth it. The hour went by very fast.

This photo was taken before the place started filling up. I thought from the red shirts it might be a Christmas concert, but it wasn't.

Anyway, the evening was a nice interlude before the man comes to see about the leak in our roof.

POST THANKSGIVING

Tuesday night, relatives came down for Thanksgiving. Wednesday the toilet refused to drain. We called our great plumber who showed up about lunchtime.

The outside pipe is overgrown with tree roots. He freed the stoppage but said it would probably need a bigger auger and to call him this weekend if it happened again.

We took showers, washed dishes, flushed, and checked the sewer pipe gauge. The water seemed to be going down a little at a time so as long as we stretched things out, it was working.

Thursday morning, we got up and no, the gauge was still too full. We hated to call Mr. Baker on Thanksgiving so we didn't shower, flushed sparingly, collected water from washing dishes by hand in a pan and threw it outside. (I suspected long ago I'd never make it in the good old days when everyone had outside toilets; this collecting used water and taking it out convinced me for sure.)

Friday morning we called Mr. Baker first thing. He came right away with a friend and a larger auger and evidently (I didn't see it) got out a huge wad of tree roots. So the water is flowing again--for the time being. We will still have to have the drain dug up and replaced.

So another tiny disaster to add to last week's list.

Along with the sweet potato souflee that tipped as I set it on the table. Marshmallow topping slid right off along with some of the sweet potato mix. We put more marshmallows on and toasted them though, and it was still delicious.

Once we got the table cleaned up.

Oh, well. The year is coming to a close. Maybe our luck will change.

Hope everybody had a happy Thanksgiving, too.

TINY DISASTERS

We've had a strange year. Unexpected things keep happening.

The first of the year, we lost one cat and soon after, the other. Then I had a broken tooth that had to be crowned. Then the transmission of my car broke and needed replacing. Then both cars needed new tires. The plumber had to come because the toilet tank would ony fill when the bathroom sink faucet was turned on. We got a rat in our bird feeder and had to take them down. My eyes started acting up again.

The first of this month, my guy's old car started having problems just before a trip to north Georgia. At thirteen, I guess it had good reason to fall apart. I wish it could have waited another year but...So we bought a car.

Then the back bedroom sprung a leak after a record rainfall that had streets impassable and the backyard flooded. Then our door from the garage to the house decided it didn't want to be opened. My guy took off the door knob but the lock wouldn't come out. The door didn't budge. The locksmith fortunately had tools and said, yep, the mechanism was broken but the knob was okay. So he replaced the innards.

Finally, up in north Georgia, waiting in the eye doctor's office seven hours from home, the lights went out. We sat there two or three hours, refusing to leave since we'd have to reschedule and make another trip. Luckily, the lights did come back on and several people had left so we were able to get out about dark.

None of these things were terrible calamities but when they just keep coming, I can't help but wonder if I'm living wrong! I'm hoping next year will be better.

And the back bedroom still has a trashcan under the hole in the ceiling for water to drain. We've not yet been able to get anyone in to check out the leak.

Sigh.

OUR FIFTEEN MINUTES OF FAME

The movie people have wrapped up filming and are out of here, but we locals are still impressed with what they did in the old part of town. They not only brought in old cars and hired locals as extras for the twenties era story, they also packed in dirt to make the town street (in the movie block) look like an old-fashioned dirt road!

Here is a photo of the town. Don't we look like Ybor City, Florida? All the hispanic names on the stores and the spruced up storefronts add to the illusion!

A lot of local actors scored roles. I think this is where they waited for their shot at fame:

I have no names but their costumes were great! They kept walking back and forth in front of where I sat in one of the squares. Don't know if they were going for make-up or snacks or what, but it was exciting to see them. One man claimed he was having such a great time that he'd have paid to be in the movie!

Alas, all is over. Our moment of excitement has come and gone much too quickly.

Thank you, Ben Afflect, for picking us to play a part in Live by Night! It's given a much-needed boost in the economy and let us see how beautiful our town can be when it's all dolled up.

I don't know when it's coming out but it's bound to have a big local audience!

CLASSIC CARS

At the Stewbilee a couple of weekends ago, we had a classic car show. There seemed to be more pickups than usual. Here are a few:

And there were some outstanding cars. Like this pink Cobra, which the sign says is a memorial car:

And this 1967 BMW. According to the sign, there are only about a hundred fifty of them in the US!

And I loved this station wagon. Wonder if the surfboard on top comes with it?

This picture doesn't fit in with the classic cars but I thought I'd put it in. As we were leaving Stewbilee, railroad tracks cut us off from the parking area. Guess what we heard approaching? Yep. A train. We had to stand and wait while the train stopped and the engineer got out and switched tracks. Took about fifteen minutes before we could get across to town and our car.

But the day was well worth the inconvenience at the end though!