Gettin’ lucky in Kentucky.

I hit the road a few minutes after five this morning and headed to Horse Cave, Kentucky. My goal was to purchase a vintage pedestal sink that Liz had found on Craigslist. I wanted an early start in order to beat Nashville traffic and fortunately didn’t have any issues. I texted the seller from the Kentucky welcome center and told him I would arrive at 7:30. He replied that he would be ready for me. Well, I arrived right at 7:30 and after I knocked twice he came to the door. Nearly naked. Five minutes later he came out and confirmed pretty much every stereotype of rural Kentuckians. We went to a barn behind the house and he showed me the sink. It was pretty, and in great shape. I asked if he knew any of its history, and he said “nope, my brother-in-law is the one that poached it”. I didn’t ask any more questions. I was about to start discussing the price when he began to tell me about the car in the barn. The story involved him being a mechanical genius and involved two separate women referred to as “crack whores”. Finally he wrapped that up and we got down to business. He wanted $175 for the sink and I offered him $160. That was mostly because the ATM had given me twenties and I didn’t want to have to asked him for change. He pouted a little and told me that three people had already offered him $150. I gently informed him that $160 was more than $150 and after a little more fussing he agreed. I loaded up the sink and hit the road. The drive back was uneventful, slowing only briefly on the north side of Nashville.

After unhooking the trailer I headed to Lowe’s to buy some 5 inch screws and wait for the nasty buffet to open. I got a couple of plates of food and some strawberry cobbler. Unfortunately the ice cream machine was broken. Back at the farm I went next door to talk to my neighbor James. We came back and toured the house. A little after he left, Hank, our banker arrived. He was happy to see that the money he had loaned us was actually being used to build a house. After his visit I finished organizing all of the tools. It was incredibly hot, and I was grateful to have my fan running while I did that. Dinner came from Dollar General. Just some junk. I finished the work day by unloading the last of the siding from the trailer. Lots of lightning bugs came out at dusk. I need to try to photograph them. After dark I stepped outside to relieve myself, and saw an incredible number of stars. I really am looking forward to living in the country.

The heat.

It is miserably hot these days. In the 90s pretty much every day, and it’s only June. The early morning brings slight relief but that reprieve is usually over by eight. And it is humid. I am getting somewhat acclimated to it. One thing that helps is not running the air conditioning in the car or spending much time in cooled spaces. That’s more easily done this week while I am sleeping out at the farm. My mother-in-law is in town and I am taking advantage of her help by staying at the farm and saving the time and fuel of a commute. With the windows open and my powerful fan running full blast it’s actually quite comfortable at night. But working out in the full sun is a whole different story. It really is draining. Some days I try to take a little siesta in the afternoon, but even with the fan going it is still pretty uncomfortable. It’s crummy to think that we have at least three more months of this.