Dearest Rachel –
There are some days where I just feel like I have to keep you appraised of everything that’s been going on. What is it the song says? “A line a day, when you’re far away”? Yeah, I haven’t exactly been able to keep up with that. Sure, there’s plenty to talk about (which is how I manage to at least write you every day), but very little is about what’s actually happening to us on a day-to-day level.
On the other hand, would you even be concerned about the dealings of earth at this point? Haven’t they all ‘grown strangely dim’ in comparison to the light in which you now dwell?
Not to mention, after a certain amount of time, things start to be a retread of things I’ve talked with you about already. Even as today was a little unusual for all the errands that I had to run, most of these errands are the sort of things that I’ve run at various times in the recent past; the tasks are just re-shuffled and several crammed together in a single afternoon.
I did spend much of this morning at the app at the office, assembling the skeletal frames of future missives. And then I wild away about an hour or so reading my news feed – curse the Internet for being such a distraction. sometimes I wonder how we ever got things done without it; at other times, I wonder how I’ll ever get anything done with it running in the background.
After that, that was the trip to the attorney’s, where I had to take care of the monthly retainer fee. I also dropped off at the binder that you had brought back from Macomb so many insurance documents. Frankly, I doubt that any of them are actually still valid for your folks, but I’d rather he look at them than I. I didn’t ask him about the issue with the homeowners insurance and Two Feathers, as he didn’t answer, but rather his secretary/wife. We talked about how things were going for me – you know, the usual chitchat – but that was about it.
I had planned on going home for lunch, and eating leftovers, but there was this place near the attorneys office that I’ve never tried, so I decided to get a small snack from there. Spoiler alert, there is no such thing as a small snack from any sort of fast food joint anymore: it’s always a meal. Guess I’ll save those leftovers for this evening, after I meet Erin for our Tuesday evening walk.
The rest of the way home was just a series of stopped various grocery stores. Chorizo from Mariano’s, frozen vegetables from Aldi, and a bunch of other things from Meijer (so I can use all the coupons I get from the credit card statements before they expire). And no, none of this was entirely planned (well, aside from using the coupons at some point) – I’m not that kind of shopper, and never was. You know that.
Once home, I pull out my receipts to record them in that spreadsheet I’ve been working on since 2006 – yeah, I know, ridiculous isn’t it? – and a slip of paper over it I’d written on to remind myself to get dog treats got pulled out with them. So I had to bundle myself back into the car, and go get those.
And it was at this point that I finally got myself up to the office room in order to do my ‘homework’ before Jan gets here tomorrow. The long and short of it is, now all the books that were on the floor are on one shelf or another.
And before I go on about that, I need to let you know about Daniel. I guess for the last couple of days, while I’ve been at the office across town, he’s been going through his room, and pulling out a huge pile of old clothes that no longer fit him for me to bag up for donation. He’s doing this all on his own, rather than working with Jan on anything. And while this means that his progress is considerably slower than mine (or rather, ours), he’s actually getting things done on his own, without my prompting him. And yes, I made a point today of thanking him for that. I don’t do that often enough.
He also keeps a fairly close eye on Chompers throughout the day, while I’m out of the house. Apparently, the old boy has been somewhat fussier today than normal. Well, everybody has better and worse days – it shouldn’t come as any surprise that this applies to dogs just as well as humans. So for the time being, I’m outside with him, basically spelling Daniel from dog duty.
Not that the old boy is making any right now. It’s just, he’s no longer Daniel’s responsibility while I stand here outside with him.
All in all, a fairly humdrum day, despite being something other than a 9-to-5 office experience. Still, this is the sort of thing that we would talk about in the evening: “How was your day?” “Well, it was like this…” That’s married life for you, isn’t it?
Along the lines of retreaded events, I’m hoping? expecting? Erin to actually drop by this evening, as the raspberries are still continuing to ripen, and I’ve had my fill – as have Ellen and the folks. For all the picking that each of us has done, you’d think none of us had done anything.
She’s made excited noises about the idea of gathering from our bushes; let’s just see how enthusiastic she is about what’s available – and whether she’s got the foresight to bring enough in the way of containers.
Well, it seems that Chompers has had enough out here; he’s started to whimper like he doesn’t want to be where he is. So I need to take him in, which is fine, because I also need to get in touch with Erin for our weekly walk. I’ll talk to you later honey. Love you.
P.S. Just as I came in, set The old boy down with his water dish, and headed off to wash my hands, a cicada shook itself out of my shirt. I have to admit, my first instinct was to pick it up toss it in the bowl, and flush it down. But I know you wouldn’t appreciate that, so I wrapped it in tissue and flung it outside. It was only after I came in that I realized “I should’ve taken a picture; who’s gonna believe that happened to me?” But when I get to the space where I think he landed, he’s long gone. I guess you can take comfort in the fact that he got away unscathed. And that you’ve trained me well. Love you.
Letters to Rachel 