christmasUpon moving to Bear Valley Dave and I had a few years of bizarre living situations. Our first place was a triplex .... As I think back .... I don't think I ever really knew who lived at the other end unit but between us was a group of kids from Santa Cruz up in Bear to work at the ski resort for the winter. With them next door I realized how obnoxious I must have been as a neighbor in my party days.
From there we moved to the lodge in Bear Valley. It was closed at the time and we moved into the back hallway while renovations were going on. It was a lot like the shining .... but we had a place to live right in town even if it was a bit noisy during the day with the remodeling staff and a bit noisy at night with "ghostly" type noises.
After our stint at the lodge we moved up into the subdivision into a basement apartment. The folks who rented the main house were the family of the owners of the ski resort and they partied non stop. They didn't like me much and I didn't like them much. It was a mutual dislike. They would party till 3 - 4 in the morning and I would get up at 6 in the morning and blast a little Meatloaf Bat Out Of Hell just to show my appreciation for being kept up the night before.
We had some friends .... and they were building a house further down the mountain and were going to move in and live there while they finished it. They needed renters for their home in a small subdivision about six miles down the hill from B.V. It was a cute little house and the rent was about the same as we were paying to be miserable so we opted to grab this opportunity and finally have a little home of our own without neighbors on top of us or on the side of us or anywhere to close to us.
We gave our notice the beginning of November and were to move in the beginning of December. It was prime renting time so our landlords had no problem renting our unit to some other seasonal ski resort workers needing a place to live. Moving in December in B.V. is an experience in itself having to snowcat or snowmobile your belongings out .... and then back in again to the new house .... fun stuff .... lemme tell you ....
December comes and we call .... can we move in? No .... it's going to be about a week longer .... this puts Dave and I in a really crappy place. Like no where to live .... in December .... at 7100' in the Sierras. A friend .... hearing of our mess then offered to let us stay in his basement unit .... for a week till they got out of the house we were moving into. We took what belongings we could to the house, piled the rest in the truck with a tarp and some in the car .... and some up to our temporary digs .... that week comes and goes and we still can't move in .... it's going to be another week .... our friend says to go ahead ... stay put .... no one is coming to stay with him till New Years.
Another week passes ... I'm starting to freak out a bit since my parents are coming for Christmas and I don't even have a place to live let alone a room for them to stay in .... and what lodging there is in B.V. is completely booked through the holidays.
Finally around the 20th we get the ok to move in ..... it takes about two full days to get our belongings into the house .... I have not shopped .... we have no tree .... we have our auto shop at the time and I'm working two other jobs besides that. I'm starting to really lose it .... and an overwhelming panic / sadness sets in that Christmas is going to be a bust this year.
I was Postmaster of our little town at the time and on Christmas Eve as I was closing up the post office and preparing to go home and get ready for my mom and dads arrival I get a call to come to the General Store .... someone has left something there for me. I was a bit put out .... feeling rushed and unorganized but closed up and walked down the hall to see whats up.
As I walked in there were a few of our good friends standing around and in the middle of them was an adorable little tree ..... a box of lights and ornaments sat next to it and a couple of presents as well. Word had gotten around that we were busy .... moving and working .... and did not have a chance to do much to prepare for Christmas. And so a few folks got together and gave us one heck of a gift. Needless to say, I shed a tear or two.
I was taken aback by this small town generosity. Family looking after family, that is what we were actually .... more than friends .... a small community that depended on each other for each others survival. The twelve years we lived there I saw this type of thing happen over and over again. A whole town coming to the rescue of someone .... a group of folks who could pull together to make sure that someone else had what they needed to get through.
That Christmas turned out to be one of my most favorite. My parents had arrived early .... Dave had gotten them into the house. I came home with a little tree and decorations and for the first time in years my dad and I decorated a tree together.
cllecr told me a great story in the spirit of Christmas about visiting children in the hospital that were unable to be home on that special day. Today when I go to town I am going to take some of my excess toddler hats and drop them off at the hospital. Just in case a kid there could use one.
Merry Christmas everyone ....
Peace. J.
From there we moved to the lodge in Bear Valley. It was closed at the time and we moved into the back hallway while renovations were going on. It was a lot like the shining .... but we had a place to live right in town even if it was a bit noisy during the day with the remodeling staff and a bit noisy at night with "ghostly" type noises.
After our stint at the lodge we moved up into the subdivision into a basement apartment. The folks who rented the main house were the family of the owners of the ski resort and they partied non stop. They didn't like me much and I didn't like them much. It was a mutual dislike. They would party till 3 - 4 in the morning and I would get up at 6 in the morning and blast a little Meatloaf Bat Out Of Hell just to show my appreciation for being kept up the night before.
We had some friends .... and they were building a house further down the mountain and were going to move in and live there while they finished it. They needed renters for their home in a small subdivision about six miles down the hill from B.V. It was a cute little house and the rent was about the same as we were paying to be miserable so we opted to grab this opportunity and finally have a little home of our own without neighbors on top of us or on the side of us or anywhere to close to us.
We gave our notice the beginning of November and were to move in the beginning of December. It was prime renting time so our landlords had no problem renting our unit to some other seasonal ski resort workers needing a place to live. Moving in December in B.V. is an experience in itself having to snowcat or snowmobile your belongings out .... and then back in again to the new house .... fun stuff .... lemme tell you ....
December comes and we call .... can we move in? No .... it's going to be about a week longer .... this puts Dave and I in a really crappy place. Like no where to live .... in December .... at 7100' in the Sierras. A friend .... hearing of our mess then offered to let us stay in his basement unit .... for a week till they got out of the house we were moving into. We took what belongings we could to the house, piled the rest in the truck with a tarp and some in the car .... and some up to our temporary digs .... that week comes and goes and we still can't move in .... it's going to be another week .... our friend says to go ahead ... stay put .... no one is coming to stay with him till New Years.
Another week passes ... I'm starting to freak out a bit since my parents are coming for Christmas and I don't even have a place to live let alone a room for them to stay in .... and what lodging there is in B.V. is completely booked through the holidays.
Finally around the 20th we get the ok to move in ..... it takes about two full days to get our belongings into the house .... I have not shopped .... we have no tree .... we have our auto shop at the time and I'm working two other jobs besides that. I'm starting to really lose it .... and an overwhelming panic / sadness sets in that Christmas is going to be a bust this year.
I was Postmaster of our little town at the time and on Christmas Eve as I was closing up the post office and preparing to go home and get ready for my mom and dads arrival I get a call to come to the General Store .... someone has left something there for me. I was a bit put out .... feeling rushed and unorganized but closed up and walked down the hall to see whats up.
As I walked in there were a few of our good friends standing around and in the middle of them was an adorable little tree ..... a box of lights and ornaments sat next to it and a couple of presents as well. Word had gotten around that we were busy .... moving and working .... and did not have a chance to do much to prepare for Christmas. And so a few folks got together and gave us one heck of a gift. Needless to say, I shed a tear or two.
I was taken aback by this small town generosity. Family looking after family, that is what we were actually .... more than friends .... a small community that depended on each other for each others survival. The twelve years we lived there I saw this type of thing happen over and over again. A whole town coming to the rescue of someone .... a group of folks who could pull together to make sure that someone else had what they needed to get through.
That Christmas turned out to be one of my most favorite. My parents had arrived early .... Dave had gotten them into the house. I came home with a little tree and decorations and for the first time in years my dad and I decorated a tree together.
cllecr told me a great story in the spirit of Christmas about visiting children in the hospital that were unable to be home on that special day. Today when I go to town I am going to take some of my excess toddler hats and drop them off at the hospital. Just in case a kid there could use one.
Merry Christmas everyone ....
Peace. J.
