A Ladder to the Basement

  

Every old house has its flaws, and our house is no exception.

Show above is a top view of the new stair to our basement.

Here's a three-quarter view from the bottom:

Winter at Ringwood State Park

The fog started in Sloatsburg...

... and stayed with us as we followed Sterling Mine Road into Ringwood.

 We decided to take a cruise through Ringwood State Park.

Shopping Cart Traffic Jam

A few days after my arrival in New Jersey Heather and I made a run to Home Depot to pick up several hundred pounds of salt. I was taken by this pile-up of carts.

Six Damn Degrees

I understand this is probably not the best way to launch this blog, but really! Six degrees on March 6?

I will be forever thankful I stopped in Pennsylvania and changed my sandals for closed-toed shoes.

That's because when I arrived in Ringwood it was six damn degrees Fahrenheit and the wind was howling. I nearly froze to death just unloading my car.

Hello, New Jersey style!

That was January 30th. It's now the end of the first week of March. It's eight in the morning and it's the same six degrees and it won't go above freezing today. In Atlanta, where I wore open-toed shoes and short-sleeved tops all year long, the high will be a sweltering fifty degrees.

I understand it's been the worst winter in living memory, but WTF, New Jersey? This is the welcome you have for me?

I did not know what an ice dam was before I got here. Now I know. There's a half-ton of ice frozen atop our gutters, threatening to come down on our heads and oh yes, flood the house when it finally starts to melt.

I had never had my hands on a snow shovel. When it snowed in Atlanta, which it does on occasion, I would just wait until noon and the roads and my driveway would be clear. In New Jersey I have become intimately acquainted with that implement of destruction, and with the ice scraper I carried in my cars for twenty-five years and never used. I have learned to wear gloves, and a hat that covers my ears, and even scarves, which I have never worn in my life.

It's not that I'm complaining. Really, I'm not... Oh, wait! Yes I am. I am complaining! Do people really endure this every winter? Must I go through this again next winter, and the winter after that?

Spring will be here in two short weeks. I know today will be the last day of really cold weather-- but damn you, jet stream!

Why the Title?

With the exception of four years in France and two in Arizona (both when I was a child), I have always lived in the American South. On January 30th, 2015, I moved to Ringwood, New Jersey. This blog chronicles my adventures and feelings about my relocation to the Northeast.

Grits are a staple in the South and always played a role in my breakfasts. Every restaurant serves them. They're difficult to find in restaurants and diners the northeast, and even more difficult to find in a form that's possible to eat. And so I have named this blog No Grits for You!

If you ever saw the Soup Nazi episode of Seinfeld you'll know where the title came from.