Dearest Rachel –
It’s a sight I don’t see very often when I head out to the office in the mornings…
No, it’s not the fact that the magnolia tree is still in bloom; like I said the other day, it’s a hardier flowering plant than the sakura trees that Japan is so famous for, and so its blossoms take that much more time to fall. Although in fairness, such fallen blossoms as there are should provide a bit of a clue to what I couldn’t help noticing.
You might notice that they describe a pair of oblong shapes on the driveway, as if they’ve been prevented from landing in these certain areas. It’s not unlike after a precipitation event, whether rain or snow, where the same areas would be either dry or clear, indicating that the spaces haven’t gotten the dubious benefit of whatever the heavens were attempting to bless the ground with (not that a slab of concrete would be able to do anything with such a blessing).
You’ve probably figured it out by now; once I leave, the house will actually be empty for a rare moment in time – and, even stranger, I’m the last one to leave for the day. Now, to be fair, I’d been out already this morning, getting my five miles uphill like I do these days; this is my second trip out, this time to the ‘office.’ Meanwhile, by the time I finish writing this up and posting it, I expect the boys should both be back home; my guess is that Logan, in particular, is just out for a short shopping trip, and will be back within the hour.
Daniel, however, might be needing to be out for a little bit longer. For starters, the trip he needs to take – down to the air quality testing facility to get your car checked out for its biennial exhaust examination – while only a town or two over, is still a fair distance on surface streets. It’ll most likely take him a good thirty or forty minutes either way. Then, there’s the question of how long he’ll need to wait, and how long it will take to get examined, processed and get his registration sticker (which is needed to be updated before the end of the month, so I suggested he get it taken care of at the same time, like I tried to do with my license last time I was there). Given all that, I do sort of understand why he wasn’t keen on getting out and getting this take care of.
But considering that the deadline was fast approaching – and that his reluctance to deal with it wasn’t going to improve from one day to the next – I thought that it would be best if he were to just bite the bullet and deal with the situation now, and get it over with. So I suggested it as gently as I could (especially since I’d mentioned it to him several times previously over the last week or two), and it seems to have had the desired effect. He’s on his way; hopefully things will go smoothly and he’ll get everything sorted out without issue. I mean, I can’t remember a time when it didn’t work out for me with one car or another.
Still, I don’t argue that it isn’t a nuisance, especially for our son, who’d just as soon stay at home in near-perpetuity. It doesn’t help that, while I don’t recall being asked for it at the air quality place before, we both hope he doesn’t get asked for his license, which while clean, desperately needs to be updated. At least while he’s out and about, he might be able to try to find something to eat that he hasn’t had before – now that his year’s supply of lunches at the Korean place has dried up, he needs to find a new place or two to go to now and again.
Yeah, he’s got a challenge to look forward to (although, who knows; by now, it may already be over and done with. I sure hope so), but at least once it’s done, it’s done, and your car will be up-to-date until this time next year – and we won’t have to go through this particular rigmarole for another year after that. But for now, keep an eye on us both, honey, and wish us (particularly him) luck. He’s going to need it.
Letters to Rachel 