life is different for us here in Grass ValleyWe live in the boonies, now, relative to the 'burbs, anyway, where we have spent most of our lives. Houses are farther apart, of course, as lots are generally larger. Much more ground to cover, if you're a postal delivery person. Or a newspaper carrier. Or the trash/recycling truck driver. So, we are required to meet them part way (what's with that?!!). That means, everything concerning those services for us happens on Greenhorn Rd. Our road, Echo Glen, joins up with Hoppy Hollow (yup, hoppy, like a bunny) which feeds on to Greenhorn like a little vein on a leaf meeting up with the central vein. It is .75 miles to Greenhorn from our house. We like that, because it's quieter than living nearer the more heavily-traveled (relatively speaking) road.
Almost every morning (barring pure laziness) I walk to get the Union from our Union box (Mon-Sat) or the SacBee from our SacBee box (Sat-Sun). Like the logic? One of us may, or may not, walk to get the mail (that laziness thing, again) from one of the two mail condos in the afternoons (sometimes it becomes a paper/mail-from-yesterday walk in the mornings), and once a week we have trash/recycling pick-up, which we just cram into the Subaru and haul down there. We've discovered that this is only the second year that the trucks
pick up at all, out here, so we're totally cool with that.I love that walk in the morning. It takes 30-35 minutes, round trip; undulates up and down the hills and around the curves; and is heavily wooded. One doesn't pass more than three visible houses, though there are a few more than that hiding in the trees (if you're nosy). There are lots of bird and squirrel sounds and, frequently, deer, seen or only heard, picking their way over the dry, crunchy leaves. Sometimes, I keep walking past the mail/paper boxes and turn up or down Greenhorn and follow some of the other little "veins" like our own,
to check them out. I wave to all the (moving) cars that pass me on the little roads, especially ours. Those roads have names like, Manion Canyon, Jones Ridge and Pine Peak. Mostly, folks wave back. Sometimes I pick up trash, along the way.One neighbor suggested that we are walking it because we're new and that the novelty of it will probably wear off, soon. Maybe. I hope not. It will be interesting to see what happens when the weather gets a little more, uh, inconvenient. Or as we get older. Meanwhile, I like
the rhythm of it. I took some pictures of it, yesterday. It was overcast and misty. The photos (you can click on them to see them bigger) include a picture with the trash cans we forgot to pick up from the day before (oops). Is the "Hoppy Hollow" sign big enough, do ya think? Also, on the "Echo Glen" and "Hoppy Hollow" signs, the one that currently reads "The Chamberlains" should have our name on it. I'll get right on that...And who gets to
decide which goofy "slow down" signs get posted?Whew! How's your heart rate? Walk around a little and it'll slow down gradually...--Sandy
