Chapter 2
I hopped over to the rental house yesterday and was able to meet Leeann and Butch, her new boyfriend, who were inspecting the empty rooms and trying to decide if “this was it”. My take on Butch is he is getting in over his head. He seems like a nice guy and Leeann says he doesn’t drink which means his beer belly is old news. Also I don’t really understand why, if he has enough money to set her up, he doesn’t get his teeth fixed. I sense that Leeann will, once she is settled and feeling bored, continue to exercise poor impulse control when it comes to guys and she’ll break Butch’s heart and also have to move again.

Chapter 3

Around 5 I biked over to Mulletville to attend Butch’s birthday party. The café door was locked so I toddled around to the back because, I realized, the party was being held in the bar. The food was in the café part but people were not eating there. It was a cash bar. I didn’t see how they were going to serve me a quality white wine, so I didn’t have anything. I hate to pay for bad wine. I gave Leeann a hug and wished Butch a happy birthday. He remembered my name. It was an old boy beer crowd. The band was playing and, like all events of the last 30 years, it was so loud my head nearly came off.

I hugged a couple of people I knew – Cemetery George was there and I am fond of him. He used to take extra work and helped us a great deal some time ago with our minor house remodel. I saw Leeann’s sister.

Ed did not come along because he has a sore throat and because he was not at all eager to mix with this bunch. Well, neither was I, but I didn’t want to disappoint Leeann and I didn’t think an hour out of my life was going to ruin me for nice company (which Ed thinks would happen as in “Oh my God, she’s turned into a biker chick.”)

I sat awhile with Toni, a mutual friend. She hears all the details and told me that Leeann and Butch have been together constantly over the past month and Leeann is already getting stir crazy. Butch owns a marina (now I know where the money comes from) but hasn’t been spending any time there lately, devoting himself to her 24/7. If Leeann has had any urges to stray, she can’t hardly, seeing as he is always there. Well, I told Toni, who seems to think that Leeann is the only problem, that you didn’t have to be bipolar and a substance abuser to cry “help” when you aren’t being allowed any personal space.

Toni said that if Leeann was cruel to Butch and dumped him badly that he would retaliate by kicking her off the island and he can do that because he is so well liked. Well, now, how the hell can you do that? Do you have the police in your pocket? Persona non grata in this crowd is a downer? Not hardly. Toni sees things in black and white. Anyway, I think any social situation is solvable. This isn’t the 1800s where being ostracized has to mean the end of your life. There are actually people on this island who do not have tattoos and drink beer only occasionally.

Toni and I left early and sat on her deck chatting a while, then I biked the rest of my exercise route so it shouldn’t be a total loss and when I got home I had a peanut butter and pumpernickel sandwich with a splash of honey and my favorite white wine, a pinot grigio. Life is good.

Our sink is fixed

Steve, our neighbor’s aces handyman (he practically rebuilt the interior of that house all by himself) came over early on Sunday just to help Ed with our sink problem. It was his day off and he was going fishing in a canoe with his son. He has Gary’s (our neighbor) complete confidence and often spends the night and gets an early start on stuff. He was the answer to our prayers. What are we gonna do when he moves to Costa Rica? He is planning to spend his retirement years there, living in a shack on the beach and surfing. He says the part of Costa Rica he likes is remote and you have to drive through jungle a couple of hours or more to get there. He is, I am guessing, in his fifties, maybe sixty, but looks about 45 and has great muscle definition. He is really the ultimate Peter Pan.

Well, after the repair, the kitchen was a mess, everything was moved around, stored stuff was sitting in the family room and I couldn’t put everything back until the caulk set. So I ignored it and rode my bike and did a meditation tape (an hour) and played the piano and considered saying the chaos was too much for me and we should get take-out, but I didn’t, and instead sautéed some chicken thighs and made a salad and potatoes and I am truly a good person.

xx, Teal