Lucy is confused and disoriented. She had been on pins and needles over the last several days as Pam was packing for the beach trip as well as setting up her famous Maine staging area. Lucy isn’t a fan of disruption. She abhors nothing quite so much as turmoil in her house. The sudden appearance of piles of trip gear results in much harrumphing and heavy panting. So when Pam pulled away from the house yesterday in a fully packed vehicle without us, she was not happy. Luckily, I happened to have a nearly empty peanut butter jar at the ready. When I offered it to her, she gladly accepted then retreated up the stairs to her special peanut butter jar licking spot for half an hour, distracted and happy. For the rest of the day she just slumped around the house stopping at every window, looking perplexed.
I am not confused, but I too am disoriented. This is the second time this month that Pam and I have been apart, the first time a couple weekends ago when she drove down to Columbia to help Kaitlin set up her new classroom. And now this. I’m a big boy. I can handle living alone for a while. But that doesn’t mean I like it. What is it that the Bible says? It is not good for man to be alone. I agree. One of the last things she did before leaving was to give me a quick tutorial on how to run the dishwasher. Yes, I realize that sounds pathetic. My experience with that particular appliance is with the loading and unloading thereof. I can count on the one hand of a three fingered clown the number of times I have actually run the thing. So, there she was patiently walking me through the three step process. I kept saying, “I got it”, when in point of fact I will probably play it safe and wash dishes in the sink for the next 4 days. Pathetic.
Because we will be leaving for Maine in less than a week, I won’t be taking any undo chances while she is away. When I am alone and don’t have to explain to Pam my plans to run sixteen miles while wearing a weighted vest, I tend to push the envelope. Since if she were here the aforementioned run would be rejected out of hand, there is a certain freedom that comes with not needed to get her permission first. But Maine is T-Minus 4 days and counting. Now is not the time for free-wheeling asshattery. I have a 15 hour drive in my immediate future. Its time to act like an adult.
That is not to say that I won’t slip away to walk nine holes of golf at some point, or head over to Wong’s for one or three cold beers and their spiciest tacos. The difference is that I will remember to stop by Publix to pick of a bottle of Pepcid on my way home….like a responsible adult.
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