A raw estimate: 30 years since I'd been that dirty.
I could write my name in the frames of my sunglasses.
If someone had stepped on me, like I enjoy doing with dust balls in the pastures, I would go "poof" and temporarily be enveloped by a huge brown cloud.
Talk about dirty jobs, picking up leaves after little or no rain for months, I have discovered, is about as dirty as it gets.
Besides having to run the lawnmower and bags over endless mounds of finely sifted gopher dirt, the task of frequently emptying those bags of leaves means an additional layer of residue every time.
So, knowing I was gonna be that filthy, as the afternoon wore on, I thought it wise to call someone about our hot water tank which went on strike yesterday morning.
At first, I figured that it was maybe a temporary strike and the tank would refill eventually. So, every hour or so, I turned on the faucet and finally decided our tank had died.
Knowing that I possibly would have to go to a car wash to clean myself off, I finally broke down and called for a plumber.
Luckily, he showed up at the house about 20 minutes later. Unluckily, he said the tank was shot and quickly began measuring the tank room to determine what kind of new unit would fit inside.
I had already spent 45 minutes earlier in the day removing food, cookbooks, shoes and numerous boxes of stuff from the room which has had a double purpose---water tank and throw-all.
Our plumber will be here at 8 a.m. this morning, so I have since removed even more stuff from the room. He'll have to take off the door and the door framing.
He'll also have to use the crawl space, which I'd never seen opened until yesterday. He'll get down in there and crawl, armed with something required for code, and stick it through an opening which he'll drill on the west side of the house.
Then, he'll bring us our new unit and install it. And, then, he'll give us the bill. Ouch, the fun of home owning!
It could be another 30 years before I get as dirty as I was yesterday, but, on a day-to-day basis, every time we take a shower or use the washers, we'll be happy that he came that soon and that we plunked down all that cash.
Yesterday's problem of living as Dustball Marianne ended in the late afternoon when Bill hooked up the travel trailer to electricity, turned on the heat and told me I could go take a hot shower.
By golly, that shower felt mighty good, and it was kinda fun walking through the yard with my dirty clothes and wet hair.
Bottom line on yesterday: second round of leaves got picked up, Marianne got cleaned up, and our moods improved knowing we'd be without hot water for just one day.
Again, it was a pretty day, even through the dust clouds I stirred up while running that mower and its often uncooperative bag unit around and around.
I'll spare you the story of the leaf-bag unit for yet another day. In fact, I won't even tell you how much fun it is to jump off the lawnmower dozens of times----after cussing----fix the bag unit and then fight off an eager herd dog looking for anything that moves once when ya get back on.
That's an epic in itself and worthy of video, if I do say so myself.
Anyway, problems from a bad day at the Lovestead are getting solved, and I'll trudge on today, trying to stay out of the way of our plumber and maybe even remain clean enough not to go to the carwash.
I'll leave you today with a couple of tidbits of Idaho political stuff, in pictures and a story from Huffington Post.
In my mind, both the candidate and the proposition represent some refreshingly positive aspects of politics, which more often than not can be very disturbing.
I hope you take time read the story, and I hope, more than anything in this year's election, that you'll vote YES on Idaho Prop. 2 AND encourage other Idahoans to do the same.
The peeps who envisioned and brought this concept to life are very dear to me, as well as being mighty fine human beings. I'm extremely proud of them.
Thanks.
Happy Wednesday. Off to welcome the plumber!
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