Reinventions

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Carrie in her new backyard. 2008.

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Himself: Had a very good day. Brought home some of Roy’s jazz collection. Some of the artists we don’t know well, but we now have a large collection of jazz CD’s and will begin to reinvent ourselves as soon as I dust the cases. Herself: Had a great day. Asked two neighbors to keep their eyes on the place while we are gone, printed out the packing list, and got ready to go to the doc’s today. Will bring up the suitcases today. Oooooooo: Forgot to call Bee and tell her I will be on the road during our usual call time. I’ll call and leave a message before I leave today. Food: “Brunch” with all it’s too much at noon, and a half sandwich for dinner.

There are moments when you realize you erred again. This time we were half an hour early for lunch with Carrie. A “Michael’s” was next door to the Souplantation, so we walked about for half an hour with G having a ball with the Halloween stuff.

Carrie was glowing when I first saw her. Over lunch she shared her latest adventures among them taking charge of her home and doing much needed maintenance. Replaced a deck, painted all the fascia and trim, cleared out the front yard, and totally reinvented the back yard.

It had been the preserve of her husband. Over here were piles of boxes, and over there was a mountain of tree trimmings equating to a severe fire hazard. Between the two was a great wasteland of hard packed adobe. She made the box stash into a shaded hideaway, and she enlarged the yard so there was actually room for chairs and a table on pavers. She matched the green of the grass to the trees just beyond the fence, and the whole is just perfect. Delightful. Usable too.

As she turns her house, his home, into her home, not only is she reinventing her environment, she’s reinventing herself.