Yesterday in a twist of irony my landlord sent his handyman over to pressure wash the outside of the house.
For three hours.
In a drought.
On the last day of the driest summer on record.
There I was, trapped inside a building engulfed in more water than its seen in years. Me and three cats. Meanwhile the neighbors congregated in the back alley hollering things like, “WE’RE IN A DROUGHT!”and “HEY MAN DID YOU KNOW WE’RE IN A DROUGHT?”, while cars drove by splooshing through the river.
Man didn’t care. Sopping wet from head to toe, having failed to bring along the requisite rain gear for dousing a house, man was overheard saying to his wife, ‘I know that one guy from AA. He’s not going to do anything’. At which point Chris returned from the scene bent over in laughter. “Carrie <gasp> you don’t understand. He looks like he just got out of a POOL. There’s so much water dripping off his hair he can’t even see. <gasp > His clothes are plastered to him. This is a disaster.”
Yes, yes it is a disaster. I have not washed more than one load of clothing per week in over three months. That, kind sir, is a disaster.
I suppose there is an element of symbolism in this going down on the last day of one of the more dismal summers. A washing away or cleansing, if you will, of the uncertainty this summer brought: what do you mean the house is for sale, why does it feel like a snake is trying to crawl out of my lower back and, most importantly, are the 100 degree days ever going to end? RUN RIVER RUN!
NB: I learned something very important about plaster houses yesterday. If you want to cool yours off just take a hose to it for three hours. All that’s left after that is to wait for the surviving herd of ants to appear from the door cracks and let you know they are not thrilled, not one bit, and aim to take over your cat’s bowl to express outrage.
That said, below are some of my favorite snaps from summer. There’s not much variety because I spent most of it lying on an acupuncture table or flat on the floor near the A/C unit wondering if the end was near. I did however go to Big Sur and see whales less than a hundred yards out on my birthday! One even popped its head out of the water to say ‘bye!’ as I hobbled back to the car to get to my reiki appointment. See? ALL IS NEVER LOST.
And Kauai.
I guess the moral of the story is if you begin and end on a high note, what happens in the middle is just details.
2 Comments
I’ll even settle for ending on a high note – and Kauai looks dreamy.
Me too. Hands up for a high note. And let me tell you, even with pretty intense humidity Kauai was very dreamy. I’d highly recommend.