Something to ponder on as you wander on


Some liars are born that way, some are self-made; but the really great ones are elected to Congress…
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Wednesday, September 3, 2008

THE HOUSE part 2............

The town of Grove City was like most other small towns,,
Route 58 passed through the center,, with older brick
stores and building on main street…Every building looked as if they hadn’t had any work done to modernize them or to dress up their looks,, each one needed some repairs and a couple of coats of fresh paint,, all except the hardware store on the east side which had just recently had a new
sign put up,, the faded outlines of where the older sign had been could clearly be seen…

“Well at least there isn’t much traffic”…Dave said amused,, “And they don’t have any parking meters”…”Looks kind of dead thro,, only the two cars at the bank”…”Have you seen the Reality office?”…
“Well it’s still early,, maybe everyone is still at home”…”Ohh there it is”…
“Where?”…
“Over there,, next to the gas station,, it’s that white house with the picket fence in front”…”See the sign?”…
“Yeah I see it”…haven’t these people ever heard of paint?”… “Well,, you ready to go in?”…
“Not yet,, we still have a little time”…replied Melody after looking at her watch…”Lets find the college and see what it looks like”…
“OK,, uhh,, where is it?”…
It’s supposed to be on E. Main St”…
“I think we’re on Main St…must be farther ahead”…

The small college of Grove City was a sprawling complex of multistory buildings,, most of them appeared to have the same red brick and limestone exteriors in a federal style of architecture…Three large 4 story structures on the western edge of the campus seemed to be dormitories for the students…The campus area was well maintained with full grown oak and maples dotting the landscape…Since it was the beginning of summer,, Dave and Melody didn’t see anyone of campus…

“Well the college seems to be real nice”…commented Dave
“I like it,, it reminds me of a campus you’d see on a postcard,, I hope they offer night classes…or maybe I could just take some adult non-credit courses”…
“Hey,, take it easy”…ha ha…”We don’t live here yet”… Dave teased his wife…
“Ohh look Dave,, isn’t that sad?”...

Melody directed Dave to look at the burnt out remains of an old church on campus,, blackened remains of the outer walls and a part of the steeple laying on the ground were all that was left…

“There’s another burnt out church across the street”…
“I guess someone doesn’t like churches”…
“We had better head back for our meeting with that Yaleman lady”…
“Her name is Lisa,, and you be nice”…”Remember she’s trying to help us”…
“Well I’m sure she’s going to make her money”…”I’m not sure there’s much around here that your going to like”…
“I liked the campus didn’t I?”...
“Are you going to live in one of the dorms with all the hot freshman college hunks?”…said Dave as he smiled…
“I may just do that,, who knows they might like ‘older’ women”…
“I like ‘older’ women”…

Dave parked his Jeep next to the curb in front of the unkempt white picket fence that framed the front yard of the small white house that had the sign of Yaleman Realty in the front yard…The grass appeared to need to be mowed again and any flowers that had been planted in the spring were all now lost from view in the weeds…A small rusting wind chime hung from the porch eave…Dave and Melody waited on the front porch for someone to answer the doorbell,, Dave wasn’t even sure that it worked…Dave looked over to the gas station that was next door,, in the darkened doorway he could see an old man dressed in worn dusty jeans standing in the shadows,, watching them,, an old dog with only three good legs came out and sniffed the air,, then it looked over towards Dave and Melody baring its teeth…

“Oh hello hello,, come in come in”…said Lisa Yaleman,, a stout little woman of about 5’-2”,, see was easily 60lbs overweight for her size and had jet black hair,, but the most striking thing about her was her pale blues eyes…Dave thought she must be in her middle thirties…”I’m sorry I didn’t answer the doorbell right away,, I was in the back on the telephone…come in come in”…”I’m Lisa”…

Dave and Melody walked into the front room that was now the office for Yaleman Realty,, a single desk with 3 small chairs in the front took up most of the space,, an old Philco TV sat on the corner of the desk,, which was strewn with papers and photo books…Dave and Melody each sat down in one on the chairs…As Dave looked around the makeshift office he noticed photos on the wall with red stamped ‘SOLD’ on the photo,, they all appeared to be at least 15 years old…At the back of the house he could see the kitchen sink full of dirty dishes…

“My-o-my it certainly is good to have such a nice young couple visit our little town,, you must be Melody,, we talked on the phone last week,, and you must be…Dave,, is that right?”...

Dave just nodded as he listened to her sales pitch…

“Well we don’t get many young folks wanting to buy a house around here,, most people just drive on thru and go to New Castle”…”It’s a little more up to date then we are”… “But I do have a couple of really nice houses you might be interested in”…”They’re slightly older homes but their nice and clean and have all the modern conveniences”…”We don’t have any new construction in Grove City,, we’re just a small town,, sometimes I think time has passed us by”…
“That’s what we’re looking for,, a nice small town with charm and friendly neighbors that we can get to know”…”We want to be part of the town”…”We want to find an older type home,, that has some character,, where we can raise our family”…said Melody…
“Oh,, do you have kids?”…
“Not yet,, but we’re trying”…
“Kids are nice,, you can just eat em up can’t you?”...”They make everything worth it,, don’t they?”...
“Yes they do”…
“Well I’ve got three houses lined up for you to see,, would you like to go now?...
“That sounds like a great idea”…”We can take my car if you’d like”…replied Dave…
“Oh that would be just fine,, just fine,, mine’s a little small and sometimes it doesn’t run so good”…
As Dave,, Melody and Lisa were leaving,, Dave whispered to Melody…”Looks to me like she’s already eaten a couple of kids”…
Melody giggled quietly…

2 ½ hours later they returned to Lisa Yaleman’s Reality office…None of the houses that Dave and Melody had seen interested them…They were either too small or just didn’t fit into the dream house that Melody had in her mind…At one of the houses it was so packed with old furniture that they could barely see the walls…

“I’m sorry that I couldn’t find you something you liked”…Lisa said apologetically…”It’s like I said we’re just a small town,, not much here really”…
“That’s all right”…said Dave as they were standing near his car…”It was a nice day to get out of town,, we’ll just have to keep on looking”…”Sorry to waste your time”…
“No trouble at all,, no trouble at all”…”It would have been nice to have you”…
As Dave and Melody started to drive away.. Lisa yelled after them…
“Wait a minute,, wait”…

Dave stopped the car while Melody lowered the window,, Lisa poked her pudgy face in and spoke excitedly to them…

“I just remembered… there is one other house I could show you”…
“Is it like the other ones?”…”We really should be going”…
said Dave…
“No,, no wait,, it’s an older style house”…”No one has lived there for a couple of years,, it used to be the grandest house in town…it’s only 5 minutes from here”…
Dave looked at Melody and shrugged his shoulders…
“OK,, get in”…
“Just wait here,, I have to get the folder,, I’ll be right back,,
just a minute”…”Just a minute”…
“Well why not?,, we’re here anyway,, we’ll just stop somewhere for dinner afterwards…how’s that sound?”...
“Sounds OK,, we still have time,, and I’ll get a dinner out of you”…smiled Melody…

“Turn here turn here”…Lisa shouted as Dave drove down the blacktop heading north out of town,, Dave missed the gravel turn off and had to make a hard u-turn on the narrow road…The gravel driveway to the house was overgrown with weeds and potholes made for a bumpy ride as they drove deeper into the woods…A turn to the left led them to the front of the house Lisa had told them about…Dave parked near what used to be a curved brick walk with landscaped bushes on either side…Now all overgrown,, weed filled and looking like shaggy clumps of green and brown broken twigs…The front lawn area must have recently been mowed for the grass was only 5 inches tall…

The old three story Victorian house stood silhouetted against the backdrop of trees,, its brick exterior seemed to be made of the same colored brick that Dave and Melody saw at the college…Its wrap-around front porch was still there but it was in grim need of repairs with the posts and filigree molding missing most of their decorations…A large oak branch laid on the roof next to turret structure,, with a branch poking into the main roof…All the windows were intact,, except the large one over the front door on the second floor,, it must have been broken from the inside because glass pieces still remained on the porch roof,, reflecting the late day sun…All the wood trim needed to be scrapped and repainted,, maybe even replaced…The turret with its fancy wood shingle work needed the most repair,, its wood shingles of siding hung in scattered pieces on every side…The foundation walls were still intact,, at least it stood on well built stone and brick walls…Slightly to the right in the back stood an old carriage house,, its double doors stood open…The wooden structure half hidden in weeds and creeping vines…An old car could be seen inside with its rusting bumper hanging towards the ground…

“It’s not much to look at from the outside,, it needs a little repair work…But the inside is still in wonderful condition,, with all the original woodwork…Its barely been changed on the inside from when its was first built…Like I said it needs some work but it used to be the grandest house in town”…Lisa said trying to sound as enthusiastic as possible…”Come on come on lets go inside,, I’m sure you’ll see…I have the key here someplace”…Lisa searched thru her handbag,, spilling misc papers and a rusty key ring onto the ground…

“Oh,, there they are”…Lisa bent over to retrieve her papers and the keys,, she let out a slight giggle as she did so…
“Here Dave”…she said as she handed the rusty keys to him…”You better do it,, the door is heavy and it sometimes sticks”…
“Which one is it?”…asked Dave as he looked at the key ring with its five keys…
“Ohh,, ohh,, it’s the big key”…
A skeleton key of course,, thought Dave…
After unlocking the door,, Dave had to push it open using his shoulder,, as the hinges creaked their defiance the paneled oaken door finally gave way…The front parlor was gloomy and dark as they entered…Lisa pushed the top button on one of the old fashioned light switches and the entry chandelier sparkled and gave a warm glow to the room…The room was empty except for 2 small tables pushed against the wall…In front of them was the grand staircase,, its walnut spindles and railing winding their way up to the second floor…The entry parlor floor was black and white marble tiles,, set in a diagonal checkerboard pattern thru-out the room…Dry leaves and layers of dust covered everything,, with faded and peeling wallpaper on each wall…Rectangular shaped patterns of grime hung on the walls where photos or paintings must have been…

Lisa led them thru the various rooms,, always excited about how much of the original woodwork and trim still remained…All Dave could see was how much work had to be done…Melody was enthralled by the character of each room,, in her mind she could see the potential of a great one of a kind home…The kitchen on the first floor was a vintage 1970’s remodel with the cabinets having 3 or 4 coats of off white paint on them,, all the appliances were Avocado green which was the designer choice at that time,, the view towards the back showed an unkempt yard of 150 ft in dept with a rusting swing set tucked away in one corner…A side door opened onto the covered porch and then a rutted gravel path led to the old carriage house…While Lisa and Melody chatted away about the possibilities of the house Dave decided to have one more look around and to look at the third floor loft rooms and the basement…Dave found the doorway that lead to the basement tucked under the grand staircase,, after having pushed the light switch Dave cautiously descended the steep stairs into the basement,, he was careful to avoid the bottom step which was broken…Two bare light bulbs gave just enough illumination so that he could see his way around without bumping into any of the misc furniture and boxes that were stored there…In the middle of the basement stood a gigantic coal fired furnace that had been converted to oil,, the ductwork in places had come apart and were now dangling in midair…There was no hot water heater that he could find,, just some large piping that ran into and out of the furnace…

The walls were made from dressed field stones coated with wire and plaster,, the concrete basement floor was dry but covered in a fine layer of dust,, he could see where he had left his footprints…A lot of work to be done to replace the heating system he thought…He found it strange that there were no cobwebs or dead mice laying around…
After returning to the first floor,, Dave headed to the third floor attic rooms…After climbing the switchback stairs from the second floor he found only one locked door…Dave tried all the keys on the key ring and then tried to force his way in by pushing with his shoulder as he had done on the front door,, but the attic door would not give…Dave could see a shadow moving under the door but he didn’t hear any noises,, he guessed that maybe a raccoon had gotten in thru the hole in the roof…

There was nothing else for him to do but to find Melody and Lisa…Dave found Lisa and Melody chatting in the old drawing room,, discussing the design of the fireplace’s granite surround…

“Have you seen everything?”...he asked Melody...”We should be thinking about heading back home”…
“Yes,, I think so”…

On the way back to Lisa’s Reality office Dave thought himself lucky that it was only a short drive…Melody and Lisa continually talked about the house…It seemed that neither of them stopped to take a breath…He would have a hard time convincing Melody that there was just too much work to be done to fix the house and that it would cost more than they could afford…
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To be continued

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