Dear, Dear Otis

The heavy rain was overdue and very, very welcome. My Hydrangeas are beaten to the ground, but they’ll bounce back. I’m profoundly happy for my trees, all my plants and the island forests. They had a wonderful day yesterday, and so did I.

I love Jake. He is handsome, warm, interesting, smart, funny and a very capable appliance repairman. I am almost happy when an appliance breaks down because I get to see him. He’s a lovely Serbian man. He suggested putting some folded newspaper under the gasket. He showed me why and what he thought the paper would do, and it made sense to me. But an hour after he left, ice was forming. He’s coming back again next Friday to replace the gasket.

We always have our lunches at 11:30 because we have breakfast at 5:30. I’m glad we did because Dave arrived at 11:50 to get my iPhone and iPad working and synched with my computer. Dave, too, is a lovely guy, and he saves me all the frustration and fury of dealing with technology. I’m feeling some excitement about having the phone now, and I’m less sickened by the fact that I have one. 

Sheba and I walked our short route in the morning, but when we went back after Dave left, she did not want to walk. We came home and I called Dwight, Beth, Steve and Bruce to tell them my new phone number. Steve was particularly excited. Both he and Bruce are now on me to get the watch again, and I think that I will.

Beautiful Otis!

Late in the afternoon, my friend Stacy sent me an email with the title: Sad News. I knew what was coming. Her wonderful Weimaraner, Otis, had to be put down. Stacy had been worried for about a month. He’s started having trouble with his legs. Stace is a physician, so she had an inkling of what might be coming. But we feared surgery. 

Dear Otis, whom I adored, developed severe pain and immobility and the vet saw no hope for Otis short of impossibly expensive and risky surgery. In my imaginary book of protocols, I feel either in-person or telephone condolences are appropriate. But I couldn’t do that. She’s in Vancouver, and all I’d do on the phone is cry. So, it was email.

Last night, I took the iPhone with me while I watched my movie. It was Russian. It lasted two days. But hopefully, there’ll be no more scrambling to make it to the phone. And I can answer FaceTime calls on it of course, so it’s a convenient transition.

Today, Bruce arrives. He gets here just past noon. We’ll go to the market and then to lunch. The fun will last until Monday morning, I believe. And we’ve caught a break. There is lots of blue sky this morning, but there’ll be no need for watering. Bruce and I can play all day.