Selling the Ranch

Sep 2

6/30/2015

Well, tomorrow marks the first two weeks of summer. Based upon all the fun-looking things posted to FB, the Hardys have been slacking. Sigh. This is what happens when I’m in charge.

First of all, Xander is now officially too old for M&M summer camp. He’s quite delighted but I am scrambling trying to keep him occupied. There have been rumblings of going swimming with neighborhood friends and he came very close to going to Wild Waves. Sadly, Xander’s continued need to improve his writing skills put the kibosh on that plan. Maybe sometime in the future when he isn’t working at Sylvan or swimming at the Y. We just got his report card yesterday. Definitely more practice at writing.

One activity we’ve just started is OT for his terrible handwriting. Right now, it’s one hour a week down at Port Orchard Group Health campus. Wish we’d started earlier but…..

Let’s see; Sylvan, OT and swim lessons. Okay, we’re not just sitting around watching the bug zapper.

Fun stuff? Yes, there has been a bit of that also. Xander spent the first 5 days of summer at the Ranch. Always a good time. Last day of school, he and I met Tina in Darrington to exchange the kid; about a 3 hour drive for each of us.

Wendi and I had two childfree days where she worked and I…worked. But at least I was done in the classroom by Friday early afternoon (a personal best) and got to see the Avengers and Jurassic World. I’ll take it. Then Saturday, we drove over to the Valley for our niece’s wedding. Best wishes, Alana. Hope marrying at 18 isn’t a hasty idea. Granted, we Hardys waited well-over a decade to get hitched so maybe we’re not the best judges on this.

Something the boy and I are now doing on a semi-regular basis is working his shoulders. Robin the OT told us that you don’t get better handwriting by strengthening your dominant wrist but your dominate shoulder. So, we’ve been tossing the soft ball around (something we already do but now it’s with an academic purpose). Also, Xander is tossing a tennis ball at a fixed spot on the side of the house and (in theory) catching it. Further, I have introduced him to Manly Art of Chopping Wood. We’re actually out of wood to chop right now. Maybe one of the madrona’s will keel over from sheer Wendi Hatred. We can hope.

Speaking of my Beloved, she’s decided to quit Group Health. This process will actually take a long time as she’ll want to meet with all of her patients to discuss this. So, we’re talking months, not weeks. Months in which we will try to save as much money as possible. Which means I need to spend less.

Whoops.

You know what would help us save a big stack of money? If we could earn a boatload of cash by selling a couple of art pieces Tina gave us a few years back. That would be really cool. But in order to do that, it would be good to actually know how much they (two lithographs by David Roberts) are worth. Mother in Law has no idea; she bought them in the 60s from a wealthy friend with a cash flow problem. Doesn’t remember how much she paid but is sure they’re worth something.

So Brian has spent the past week investigating the exciting world of art appraisers. And by that, I mean “Pissing My Life Away Doing The One Thing Actually More Boring Than Watching a Bug Zapper”. Well, we’re close now. We took the pieces over to Seattle yesterday and gave Erin the Appraiser a stack of money to work her magic.

This process seems to be working in the opposite direction.

Be that as it may, we’ll get the report in a week or two. Lord Willing, whatever worth is assigned to them will be at least as much as we paid for the appraisal.*

Xander’s been racing through all the Doctor Who DVDs he checked out from the Library. It’s amazing how enthralled he can be by 25-35 year old BBC programs. (Oh, I mean programmes.) And he’s now figured out how to watch them on his computer. That’s…..learning, isn’t it?

At the end of the week, we head for Hawaii. Whoo-hoo! Just a few days back, I rented a car using our Hilton time share points. That’s a first time I’ve done that. For our last trip to the Aloha State in 2012, we waited too long to get a car. Now, a Jeep Grand Cherokee will be awaiting our arrival at the airport. That’s the plan anyway. And the $15 total fee we paid is 1/4 what the single taxi ride from the airport to the resort cost us our last trip. Take that….Taxi Person!

Naturally, I am working vigorously on my tan. Does anyone have one of those paint sample things? Because I may have gone from “porcelain” to “pearl”. Getting to “ivory” would be a nice end point before hitting the beach. Got to "represent" Puget Sounds and all.

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Sigh… And now the big news. When visiting Tina a couple weeks back, she told me she would be speaking with a realtor soon about putting the Ranch up for sale. Tina plans to stay in the Valley but I’m not sure what her living arrangements will be. She’s probably not sure herself. We haven’t spoken since then. Based upon the selling of the old Ranch House (where the oldest photos below were taken), she estimates the sale will take 1 to 3 years. I’m hoping for a long sale for purely selfish reasons but my head says the old Ranch House was on the market during the Great Recession and the economy is much better now.

Well, I can’t say I blame her. Not logically. It’s a huge responsibility with costly ongoing upkeep. And she’s just one 70-something grandma living by her self. Yes, Tina has every right to simplify her life but I will miss the trips east.

Correction, I won’t miss the long trips; just being at the Ranch. So much of my life, starting as a terribly uncouth high schooler in the mid-80s, took place here: prom, sneaking in a bedroom window after prom (Note to self: Don’t send this to Tina.), getting married, every Christmas since the late 80s and then watching my kid discover the Ranch’s magic for himself. And saying good-bye to the departed.

And, like all good things, getting the most out of this wonderful experience by sharing it with friends.

It will be hard to say good-bye. This place has been an island of stability for most of my life. Okay, its occupants have filled that role as well. :)

So, I plan to spend as much time as possible with my family over at the Big Valley Ranch this, well, summer, fall, winter, and so on. As long as we’re not trespassing on somebody’s else’s property. Xander hasn’t managed to catch all the fish in the ponds so we’ve got some work to do.

Time to drive the boy forth….

Brian

* File This Art Predicament Under: One of Brian’s Problems That None of His Friends Give a Shit About.