Ed used to do stuff to keep the house and grounds nice, but he hasn’t been up to It following his illness last year, although he is back doing guardian work.That means visiting lots of people and driving hundreds of miles every month. He recently lost two wards he was very fond of. Dorothy, whom I also liked, is gone and was flown to Massachusetts to be buried with her first husband. And Bill, a former Merchant Mariner and marine during WWII, which made me wonder if he had ever known Jay, who was a radio offier on a Merchant ship at the same time. Losing them has triggered sadness and Ed has been moping.

A while ago someone dropped off a flier offering house sitting and general handy work and I kept it. So when Ed was complaining about things falling apart, I said do you want to try this guy. So we called him. He is about 60 but looks older and I thought he might not be up to things. But he started work and is doing well. We had a dip in our driveway pavers that he fixed. He and Ed will clean out the garage. I am amazed Ed is finally getting to that. Amazed. He was going to charge $12 an hour and the curmudgeons said, I’ll give you $15 and he is giving him cash every day and he is very grateful. Ed, I think, related to his unhappy circumstance of having to work so hard at his time of life.

When the plumber replaced the water heater, we moved some shelving and other stuff, including a really heavy filing cabinet, out of the way, and he didn’t put any of it back. As a result, I wasn’t able to unload groceries from the car to our cart, and had to make several trips. So now that Tom is helping, we have cleared a path and as soon as the shelves are back, I can have my cart back. Things is good.

Meanwhile, I found a box in which I had stored a handwritten diary from the 70s and 80s and have been reading it. Blogging and writing political opinions seems to have replaced the need for keeping a diary. If I am ever reincarnated and write a diary again, I will be sure to be specific about the people I write about because all these years later, they are a mystery. And I’m thinking, hey, I worked with these people, how come I don’t remember them? I was also using the diary as a writing study, trying to hone my skills, and I was reading a book that said if you are inclined to write down your dreams, you are more an essayist than a novelist. Well, that’s me.

It is also a sad trip down memory lane because Jay was beginning to fail and I write about that. I may stop reading this and just burn it all. It isn’t something that someone will discover and think, hey, this is a book. Trust me, that ain’t happening.

xx, Teal