Shortly before I last posted, FemmeDommi accepted a job in another state. The job starts next week; she'll be able to work in the Portland office for another month or so, and then she will move to Idaho. The Nuclear Family Unit of Cattus Dommus will follow her mid-summer, after school is out and after various family vacations around the USA. The extra bits of our extended family (the Texan, myself, and all the cats, because the rental in Idaho won't accept cats) will remain behind. The Cattus Dommus domicile, with the mural and the bike cellar and the gardens and the studio -- well, that's for another entry.
During the hiatus, Nuclear Family Dommus took a trip to Idaho to check it out. Many fears of the unknown were allayed -- the children will each get their own room (Girl-child a large, meandering Little Princess space on her own floor under the dormers, Boy-child a small, snug chamber with his very own bathroom) and the neighborhood they will be living in is a little piece of Portland in Boise, complete with a nice used bookstore, youth soccer, and liberal thinking.
HomoDommi being artistic on the trip eastThe day they left, as I was writing an email message, between two wo
My computer died. I may write an entry about this later, but for this Previously on... segment, suffice it to say that it's been three weeks and a bit, and I'm still straddling critical gaps in information due to learning a new OS, updated -- and therefore strange -- applications, insufficient file organization, and feeling all around pissy about supposedly "user-friendly" technology.
I do, now, have a shiny new laptop but it only occasionally brings me a moment of pure happiness (for instance, I have iSight now, which is fun, and a great new trackpad -- but nothing is where I expect it to be, and the computer is significantly bigger than my old one). Like the woman said to the younger, more-puppyish brother of her dead fiancé, "Marry me. My heart is constant, but my needs are constant, too." I did manage to carve the heart out of my old beloved (i.e., rescue the hard drive intact with all data) but because of the age and uniqueness of the drive, that took an additional week of frantic scrambling to achieve.
Continuing our story, I was stumbling back towards computerized normalcy when I was invited to house-sit for Bride of COG (and COG) while they visit the scene of their early married life. Happy to oblige, this left me a mere six days to file and pay my taxes (all financial data carefully kept on that old hard drive) and prepare for three weeks on the other side of the country.
A Canada Goose on the pond in the COGses gardenSo that brings us to today. After an unusually long jet-lag recovery period (4-5 days), I am comfortably ensconced in the House of COG, still learning the ways and needs of the resident household -- Dog of and Cat of. While I speak fluent Cat, my Dog is worse than my French (usually involving a raised voice and much gesticulation -- both Dog and French, actually). Dog of is missing the COGses, and is not interested in learning the vernacular of strange west-coast Humans. She sits frustratingly still, head cocked on one side, tail down, uncomprehending of anything but dog treats. So we communicate largely by dog treats.
The COGses return a week Sunday. During my time here, I plan to take full advantage of my opportunities. Yesterday I was treated (by Neighbor of) to a day in Boston, during which we attended a marvelous performance by the Boston Symphony Orchestra. Tomorrow I drive down to the Cape to visit Son of. Crane Beach is just a couple of miles away. When Bride of has returned, we hope to get to the Museum of Fine Arts, to the Titian, Tintoretto and Veronese exhibition there.
There is also the blessed solitude. This house is comfortable, with a marvelous garden popping into Spring, birds by the dozens, a rollicking wood-pellet fire, wireless internet and oh glories of glories a 60-inch HDTV with an unlimited Netflix subscription and complete control of the remote. And an equally unlimited supply of books, owned by the very woman who serves as my book-pimp, so reaching out at random is all I need to find one of interest. I'm going to pester the COGses to build an ofuro, the only thing wanting in my spa vacation.
It has been a somewhat stressful and strained six weeks past, and I am hoping that this coming week by myself will be restorative. I have a lot of thinking about what's to happen next in my life, and this is a good time and a good place to do so.
3 comments:
..Everyone should have an Ofuru. The trick is the wood you use - Port Orford Cedar has an aromatic oil in it that works as an antibacterial agent - (so no moss/lichen will grow on the Port Orford trees on the rainy coast). It's not expensive in Oregon, but I don't know about Mass. That said, it's a big tub, and not hard to make. Caro, take this on as a project!
Sounds great. I'll put it on my todo list.
Or maybe not. I just googled 'how to build an ofuro' and it looks way hard... each piece of wood is slightly different. The instructions start:
'Making an ofuro tub is an art form that has been practiced for centuries. Learning how to make an ofuro is no easy task.'
Maybe I can buy one.
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