News from Walla Walla

It has been just a week since the trucks pulled into the driveway at our new home, first the rental truck I drove and then the pickup that Dave Berry filled carefully with fragile pictures, boxes also marked ‘fragile’ and some key plant containers.

It has been an up and down week, getting things unpacked, placed and starting the process of learning our way around a new home and a new community. I’m starting to remember which closet lights turn on from the inside right, and which turn on from the outside left, but there still plenty of habits to unlearn and new ones to acquire.

I approach home ownership a bit differently than Noel does . . . a little bit more concerned about thermostats and other devices that come with no instructions or instructions written for contractors needing to know clearance requirements and wiring diagrams.

There is a timer on the gas furnace that seems to turn on a fresh air exchange (for SIX hours a day) that cannot be adjusted other than cranking the timer around to some time zone in the EU so that it doesn’t come on at 2:00 a.m. in our time zone.

“Gas Fireplaces for Dummies” does not appear to be available in a Kindle edition yet but I’m still hoping . . . In Ballard, I took the fireplace apart, cleaned the glass and got it all back together. In WW, I did the same process, and started looking at the pilot light instructions.

The process looked the same in both places but there is a solid looking silver fixture built into the floor next to the fireplace here . . . that’s the gas control, the real estate agent had said confidently. I looked in the “stuff” drawer where the fireplace installation manual was thoughtfully left and sure enough there’s a big brass key marked “fire log valve control.”

But when I go to use the brass key on the silver valve . . . the key has a square opening and the valve in the floor is round. They do not match and I’m at a loss for how to turn the valve on the floor. I tried the pilot-lighting process anyway, and yay, the gas is already turned on, the pilot light sparks up, and when switched on, the fireplace fills the room with cheer and warmth.

Today dawned sunny and warm and we took advantage of the break from yesterday’s rain to walk a few blocks over to the nearest park. Which turns out to feel a lot like Shadle Park, with a lot of play fields, open spaces, and magnificent maple and other deciduous trees, just turning into fall colors.

I have two job interviews next week and have already been to a community meeting sponsored by a group called the “Grandmother Round Table” where a speaker described people like us as "quality of life immigrants."

I think we’re going to like it here.