A Few More Oddments

 I seem to be fluttering about ever since I finished the Big Barn Clean Out.  Sort of like having a project hangover.

A random Bob flashback.  When we were first starting to see each other, he invited me to an art show put on by his dormitory.  His entry was "White Chalk in B Major."  It was a piece of white chalk with "B Major" written on it, in a test tube, on a plaque labelled with the title.  

I knew that this was a guy that I wanted in my life.  (That piece of white chalk might still be around somewhere)

At the museum, one of the educators came to visit the baby beaver, and said that her husband thought a perfect name for a beaver would be "Merkin."  Three of us snorted and giggled.  The rest looked shocked when it was explained.  Then I had a moment, because I automatically thought "I can't wait to tell Bob this one."  In my mind, I can hear his howls of laughter.

After work, I went to the vet's office to pick up some flea and tick preventative.  The cats are all indoor cats now, and therefore don't get directly exposed, but any time I go outside I seem to find ticks on me - and I don't want to pass it on to them.  I was chatting with the receptionists about the tick problem, and the joy of the daily body check.  I related a story of the time that Bob spotted one on my back and was trying to get it off.  It hurt really badly; he kept digging at it with the tweezers, and I was bleeding, but he couldn't get it loose.  Then he grabbed his glasses, looked, and said "never mind - it's a mole."  That got laughter - and then they both talked about what a nice man he was, and that they missed him coming in.  That felt good, to know that they still remember and think fondly of him.

Those two events must of engendered the brief dream that I had.  I had come home and laid down for a bit after lunch.  I wasn't even completely asleep, but I had just a short dream.  I don't even remember it, other than that he was leaning back in a chair and laughing and reached out for my hand.  It was good to see him.

This morning I had to make an extra trip back to the museum because I managed to forget to turn in my keys yesterday.  There was a nice moment there - I hadn't seen one of the volunteers for a few months (our schedules haven't matched up).  I've written before that sometimes I wonder how the college kids feel being paired with someone the age of their grandparents - and relieved to find that they usually seem to like it.  She came over and gave me a hug - always welcome!

When I came home I put the second coat of paint on one of the ceiling panels.  I only have room in the cottage to paint one at a time.  Of course, now I have plenty of room in the barn, but the cardinals like to roost in there and I didn't want droppings on my paint job.  While it was drying I did some weed whacking for awhile.  And, easily distracted, decided that I needed to do some brush clearing.

So finished whacking, put the second coat of paint on the second panel, then got out the clippers to start clearing/cleaning up this area, which has azaleas (which I wanted to keep) and a lot of other stuff that needed to go.

There was a reason I wanted to tidy up this small plot.  It's actually a small graveyard.  The first animal in there was the goat of my heart, Don Simon Xavier Christian Moreno de la Cadena-Ysidro, aka "Sid".  Over time we had a few other goats - Shazbat, Franzie, and the Lady Dulcinea, as well as the one-eared sheep Vincent Lamb Gogh and the little black sheep Nekoosa DuBois.  But Sid and I really bonded.

One day at a store that had decorative cement statues I saw an amazing one that looked just like Sid.  Alas, it was a) quite expensive, and b) weighed a ton.  Some time later, Bob came home from the flea market, looking pleased with himself- and he had that statue in the truck.  Oddly - I can't remember how we got it out again (maybe Warren came to help us?)  But I loved it.

I knew it was in that overgrowth someplace.  After an hour or so of hacking and pulling, I had it back.

It brings back memories of sitting outside, letting the animals out to graze after work.  Of taking walks in the woods with them (they would follow us).  And of a man who would do darn near anything, just to see me smile.