My wife (Angel Eyes or AE) first arrived for a visit last May. I spent many hours
cleaning the car, and the house. I took apart light fixtures cleaned and reassembled
them, cleaned under the stove and refrigerator and made the house as clean as it's
ever been. I bought new sheets, pillow cases and some pink bath towels, hand towels
and wash cloths. I washed them all and put them in their respective places.
Angel Eyes arrives at the airport and the plane was actually early so therefore I
was late. My son had procured a half dozen roses and we gave one of them to a
little old lady who has sort of adopted us. (you always give an odd number of
flowers) She brings us cookies, and various treats from time to time. Needless
to say she was ecstatic to get a solitary red rose (her name is Rose by the way).
So I arrive to see Angel Eyes standing there waiting for her bag to unload, present
the flowers and receive a hundred kisses and hugs. Angel Eyes meets my son, and
then she turns to me and jabbers at 100 mph in Russian. My max is about 25 mph.
So I turn and jabber at 180 mph in English (her max is about 35 mph) and she
laughs and we synchronize speeds.
The airport is well out of town and there isn't a tree to be seen, so naturally I tell
her that this is the Dickinson city center, and we see a shrub as we get closer to
town so I tell her that is the city tree, it's very famous and we should stop and
take a photo.
She laughs and we continue toward town.
We unload her bags, I make her some of her special tea. Which is camomile
tea with Russian honey, lemon and peeled sliced ginger. I prepared a feast
but she isn't hungry and explains that Delta was on a mission to make her
fat.
Angel Eyes become drowsy, and is shortly off to dreamland.
Angel Eyes is sleeping like an Angel when I get up at 5:30 am and drop my son
off at his work and then I go to my computer and tear into my work hoping to get
most of it done before AE wakes up.
Angel Eyes sleeps approximately 12 hours and comes to me sleepy eyed and smiling
(I am crazy about this girl) and we go in and put together some breakfast and then
properly caught up with sleep and nutrition AE starts reorganizing my world.
A little background,
A few years ago the economy in California tanked, my 94 year old Grandfather
who that year went elk hunting deep into the woods, shot an elk and packed it
out with horses had always been in peak physical condition suffers a heart
condition at 96 and is now bedridden.
He could get up and walk around but he needs his house remodeled and I drop
everything and move to Oregon to do the work for him and he dies a few months
later.
The economy sucks so I buy a camping trailer and drag it over the Rocky Mountains
to North Defreezing DaKota and I am living in a field in a camping trailer for the
next 18 months. The great advantage is that I am allowed virtually all the time off
that I need to visit Russia.
I make friends and many contacts and find a friend who is moving back to Oregon
and I jump on the house he is living in. I buy all his furnishings and take over his
lease. The land lady (Rose) loves me.
I never moved a thing. Everything seemed fine to me. I never dug into the lower
cabinets to see what was in there. I never dug around in the garage to see what
was in there. I bought all the crap my friend had left behind.
I never put anything in a cabinet below my knees because if I did I would have to
bend down and get it out of there. Nothing down in those cabinets was bothering
anybody so kind of like snakes, since they leave me alone, I left them alone.
I had visited Angel Eyes 4 times in her city over the past year.
AE wakes up fully revived with sleep and breakfast and EVERYTHING is going to
change
Stuff I've never seen before is drug out, cleaned, disassembled, reassembled,
organized and rearranged. I started to protest but could see in an instant that
any protests were fruitless. My phone started ringing in earnest and lots of
work was still to be done, so I retreated back to my work area semi oblivious
to the frantic activity around me.
I was summoned to go out to the detached garage to help lift some old furniture
and drag it back to the house. I have given up asking questions as to what was
going on since things seemed to be shaping up nicely enough.
AE had totally reorganized a hundred things in a much better, more convenient,
more practical and functional order and she seemed very pleased with the ongoing
result. She was happy, so I am happy.
It's time to pick up my son from work and I collect him and return to find that AE
had put together a tasty feast while I was away. We all ate and my son who
ordinarily treats housework like puss from plague victims pitches in to help with
the dishes.
Life is good.
