Winter Blues

It's cold up here in the mountains. Today it's overcast, dreary, raw, with occasional precip -- one of those days that encourages the depressed to thoughts of suicide and others to fantasies of tropical cruises. I have a brother in Florida I haven't seen in a while..., hmmm.

"She Who Must Not Be Named" has a headache. As I try to write she's standing in my office keeping up a non-stop stream of conversation -- complaints about how much she is suffering, comments on the TV, requests that I change channels to check the markets, etc. [I have c-span on in the background, she is currently commenting on Arlen Specter's hair, earlier she was noticing just how much Jeannie Ohm looks like Connie Chung].

We have diametrically opposed responses to illness. When I am sick I want to be alone, preferably in a dark room, where I can suffer in silence. "She," on the other hand, wants to be the center of attention which means today she wants me to engage her in "conversation" which makes it impossible to write anything coherent.

The joys of home ownership...

The twenty-year-old home alarm system on our mountain home went on the blink a few days ago. Yesterday a guy came to repair it and pronounced it beyond hope. They don't make that system anymore and the only thing for it is a complete upgrade. He explained that this would cost several hundreds of dollars, would take at least a full day's work and probably more, and could not be scheduled for several days, a salesman would be contacting us soon, etc. [If you've ever dealt with contractors, you know how it goes].

Well, he did not count on "She."

She may be small and pretty and demure, but she can also be extremely aggressive and tenacious..., and this morning she had a headache and was in a take no prisoners mood. She hit the phones early and somehow wound up talking to the owner of the company that installs and services the alarm system [whom she knows slightly]. She rehearsed for him all the contracts, the payments, the promises, potential liabilities, etc. stretching back twenty years and more, and finally he agreed to a free upgrade and installation, to be done tomorrow morning. A few minutes later the service rep. who had given us a hard time yesterday called back and was all sweetness and light. She may still be sick, but she's also feeling a warm glow of satisfaction. She had won one small battle.

Headaches have their uses.

For myself, I endure and comfort myself with the realization that in just a couple of months we will be experiencing an Appalachian Spring.

The picture is of her early azaleas. They'll be coming out in about ten more weeks.

I can't wait!