“Remoted – Hybrid” – Day 586 (Saturday)

Chicken!

After being awakened for the first time two hours after to sleep, because that is the norm, then at 2:30 am by the guests of the neighbors across the street who were engaging in their usual loud and prolonged middle of the street goodbyes, then again at 3:38 am because that’s within the golden hour for early wake ups, and again at 4:45 am, there was finally a glorious stretch of sleep. At 8:15 am, I woke up for the day. 

The final stretch of sleep before getting up was glorious, but the late wake up made me miss two potential activity options. One was a volunteer clean up event at the rail trail that seemed interesting weeks ago when I read about it. The other event was the monthly Finnish breakfast, which Mom was attending. Both began at 8:00. Danggit. There was coffee and light breakfast in the living room and episodes of New Girl on Netflix. Next on the day planner was a National Park Service Walk penciled in at 10:00. Nope. That option also did not happen.

Up close, not an air machine.

In the success column, I finally got air into the tires at gas station number four. It had been a couple weeks since conceding defeat at station number one with the "out of service" sign and station two with the inaccessible air pump. When I pulled in to station number three at what from the street looked like an air station, it turned out to be advertising signs for vape products. 

On the other side of the building was an air station with two dedicated parking spots and, surprise, a seemingly functional pay phone. Unfortunately, the air station required four quarters for tire air and five for vacuum, but all I had was one quarter for the cart at Aldi, bills, and plastic. The store behind me seemed busy, so it onward to the place down the street.

At station number four, there it was, glistening in the sunlight – an air station, easily accessible from multiple angles and with a bank card reader. I removed the caps from all the valve stems, then inserted my bankcard to the machine for four minutes worth of air. The transaction was rejected. I tried again. Rejected again. It was into the store for quarters. 

Back at the air machine, a black BMW was now parked. I told the woman in the car the card reader was out. My quarters were inserted and the machine sprang to life. I went around the car adding air but couldn’t tell if anything was happening. The lady in the BMW started coaching me, and thank goodness or I might still be there. Near the end of my four minutes, I gave up and ceded control of the pump to Lady Beemer. She aired her tires while I started the Jeep. The dashboard display informed me that the passenger side was fully inflated, but the driver’s side was still low. As Lady Beemer got into her car, I thanked her for the help for the tenth time, then grabbed the pump, still active from her quarters, and finished off my tires, feeling like a dunce.

At Hollis Hills Farm.

Then it was off to Fitchburg on fully inflated tires for a fundraiser event at Hollis Hills Farm. The beautiful fall day featured sunshine, nice temperatures, and live music in the open space beyond the apple orchard. There were chickens and sheep. There were 70 raffle baskets and many were spectacular. I saw a friend from long ago, and we got to have a quick visit. 

The leaves in North Central Mass are still not quite at peak color, but the hills were still pretty and it was great to be sitting on a hill looking at more hills in the distance. That is one of the things I missed while in Middle Tennessee, where it was relatively flat.