Cold day at the farm..
Yeah. Today Pilot_man and I loaded up and rode from ATL out to the wilds of Whitesburg to check things out at the farm. We tried to get in, but my super hidden key kinda only works on the deadbolt. I musta accidentally flipped the other lock on that door; I was getting nowhere fast. We ran into town for lunch with some friends and picked up a battery for the garage opener at Wally-World.
The farm is a former and future home for me.
Imagine the company’s reaction almost two decades ago when the Carrollton fishwrapper proudly proclaimed, “Delta Pilot Buys Drug Farm.”
Smisson field began as a hydroponic pot farm. The details are hazy, but basically, the hangar had a loft built into it above the top of the door frames. The second floor had plug-ins all along the roof/ceiling, and the electricity bills must have been enormous. The power company and the DEA traded notes, and a infared-eqiupped airplane flew over in january. There was a thermal mushroom over the hangar. The folks who owned the farm were packaging the stuff into cans of “motorcycle grease,” and selling it to their friends.
The rumors are they buried a ton of money somewhere on the 50 acres, but we’ve not found it. Yet.
Enter Valium. He was a Delta pilot, former USAF fighter jock, aerobatic competitor and airshow performer. When we were neck deep in the airshow stuff, Valium opened the doors to me, and when he died, I moved in for a while to help Mrs. Valium keep the place up. Huge house, 50 acres on rolling wooded land, runway, hangar, pool, lake. Paradise, for a pilot or someone not used to life in the city. Pure hell for a city girl. She held on for a while, and after I left, she bought a place in Carrollton.
It was a great social hub for pilots from the world over; sofa beds were present in nearly every room, and the house hosted many fly-in sleepovers when darkness set in while nobody paid attention. After being gutted in the estate sale, and sitting vacant for two years, the place is really kinda starting to look rough. I took classmate CBram there during indoc and it was pouring. One gutter was backed up in a downspout, water everywhere, splashing against the wall. No good. He’s in for a room, so is Pilot_man after today.
Today we tackled that gutter, and found that cleaning gutters in 20 degree weather, days after a heavy rainfall, is a good deal. The mud and leaves froze together and I simply reached in and pulled out frozen chunks. Perfect. I situated the gutter shield grate thingies back in place, and hopefully I won’t have to be back on that roof anytime soon. I’m scared as heck of heights.
Anyway.
We’re looking for roomates. Based in ATL? Love airplanes? Cool with a 45 minute drive into ATL? Need a crashpad or a room? Drop me a line.