It’s been a quiet week around Dahlonega. Apart from cicadas in the night (see below). On Sunday we went out to Cavender Creek Winery, and had a chat with the owner about the sale of the Montaluce Estate. This is a large property development a few miles East of Dahlonega which has dramatically failed to pay its way – it has now been twice auctioned off as a distress sale. The property includes a large number of undeveloped lots, a fancy restaurant and a vineyard and winery. It is supposed to feel like a little bit if Tuscany, though that is pushing the point a little. When you consider the money that has been sunk into this place, it was amazing that the auction only had a reserve of $1.5M. The local weekly newspaper promised to report on the result of the auction last week, but was singularly unable to find out what happened. The local winery grapevine was more forthcoming – apparently it raised $3.1M, though that is something of a bargain to my mind.
You may remember my reports of the crash in the night three weeks ago when a huge tree just outside the rental house shed a 70 foot limb, luckily missing the house. This week, we contacted the rental agent to ask nicely for a one month extension to the lease on the house – we have given up hope of completing moving out to our new home by the end of August. He confirmed that the lease extension was OK, but told us that the landlord is worried about the tree, but hasn’t got anyone to take it down yet. Not surprising – the tree is about 100 feet high, absolutely immense, with the base only about 30 feet from the house. And it is on a precipitous slope – I could not get down to it safely without climbing ropes. I cannot see how it can be removed without serious risk to the house both during removal and also from longer term damage to the foundations. I hope we are gone before it happens!
On the Build Site
At the back of the house, apparent calm has returned and all has been levelled (approximately). The septic system was inspected and passed fit for use, the electricity to the house has been connected (so far only to one power point), but Jonathan is due to come next week to get power to the remaining sockets needed for building work and to provide some interior lights.
Inside the building, trimming the house continues at a steady pace, chasing the deadline of the start of next week when Abel and the painting crew commence work. The same applies to the cabinets – though it has been decided that some of these will not be installed until after the painting, which is fine by us.
We are a little worried by a musty damp smell in the house. John Browning, the cabinet guy, is also worried about damp getting into the wood installed and causing warping and splitting. Builder Bill assures that this is normal – the moisture in the walls coming out. There is a huge fan whirring away all day to get some ventilation going. And now that electricity is coming on, Bob can return to commission the air conditioning system, which should make a huge difference to the dampness (albeit that we need to reduce the moisture content slowly to prevent damage to the cabinets.
So, it is looking like next week should see lots of progress – power, painting and air conditioning. The challenge will be to keep everyone from tripping up over each other.
Robin’s Thoughts on America
Continuing my intermittent Thoughts, Likes and Dislikes section, here’s my personally opinionated thoughts for this week on life in USA.
Magicicada
If you have lived or even visited temperate-to-tropical places, you are almost certain to have run into cicadas. These large flying insects are distributed around the world in about 2,500 species. The most distinctive thing about them to me (OK, entomologists may be hung up on other aspects of them) is the noise that they make. A rasping rattling sound fills the night – an incredible volume from such a small creature. It carries strong memories for me of an African childhood when the noise outside almost prevented sleep (though that may have been an excuse to explain away my voracious bookreading in bed).
Here in Georgia, there are lots and lots of these noisemakers. At present, the annual variety of cicada (which are present every year) are active every night. As soon as darkness falls, the racket begins and goes on most of the night, males trying to attract female insects by the power of their noisemaking. Whilst in the house it is a continuous monotone, going outside presents a very different impression. There is a staccato three rattles followed by a long vibrating buzzing. The tune rises to a crescendo and then the noise falls out of synchronicity and it becomes a chaotic mélange of rattle and buzz – until the tune picks up again and the symphony of the night finds its way again. The noise continues until long after we have gone to bed. In the early morning there are still a few cicadas noisemaking – I assume males still seeking a mate with any lady cicada stumbling home after a night on the tiles.
In North America there is also a species of cicadas with a very unusual lifecycle. The magicicada are found in broods, which emerge on a thirteen or seventeen year cycle. The immature nymph cicadas live underground for the set number of years, emerging as if by magic on a set day in the spring. In Georgia, there are 4 magicicada broods on a 17 year cycle (next emergences in 2017, 2021, 2025 and 2030) and one 13-year cycle brood (next emergence 2024). It has been postulated that the two cycles (interestingly, both prime numbers) have evolved over time to stop the various predators on this tasty (to birds and squirrels) treat from expanding their own populations to coincide with the mass emergence. This assumes that said predators are not as good at mathematics as the cicadas.