Silk Underwear
My old buddy from last summer is working with me again, but this time on his family’s wraparound Victorian style porch. Short commute for me, shorter for him. Though the tool belt I bought him last year fits without adjustment, heÃs bigger by fifteen pounds.
ìHey, Chris, you know those beams we struggled with last year at Applewood?î
ìYeah. They would be so much easier to pick up this year.î
ìNo they wouldnÃt. We would have the same struggle.î
ìIÃm stronger this year.î
ìAnd IÃm weaker. WeÃd cancel each other out.î
Chris is still playing baseball and besides working with me he works two days a week at Drumlin Farms. If you call driving a Ford F350 Diesel truck work. Chris doesnÃt.
And, I might add, he sits comfortably behind that wheel.
ìUPS dropped something off at your side door.î
ìWhat size package was it?î
ìSmall, like a loaf of bread someone stepped on.î
ìMust be my underwear.î
ìYour underwear?î
ìSilk.î
ìSilk underwear?î
They cost more but they last longer.î
ìOh, pretty boy.î
ìIÃm not a pretty boy.î
ìSilk underwear?î
ìHow long does your underwear last?î
Thinking about what my underwear looks like when I finally retire them made me want to drop the subject real fast.
ìYou win, but I get a picture for the blog.î
Matthew Miller wasn’t the only Matthew celebrating his birthday yesterday.
Friday night we fled Willow Books after unknowingly walking into ìHarry Potter Night,î and as I slowed to turn into our driveway, a dark green Ford Taurus in the opposite lane stopped, almost blocking my turn. A thin young woman with thick rimmed black glasses and hair pulled into a tight bun shouted from her window, ìDo you know where Fort Devens is?î Not wanting to block traffic, I turned into my driveway, and then not wanting to get run over, I walked back to her passenger side window and waited for her to roll it down. On the seat I could see her camo uniform. Iraq bound?
She repeated the question and though IÃve driven by the exit on route 2 a zillion times I wanted to make sure she got to Devens without anymore trouble.
ìIt’s real easy but IÃm tired and I canÃt think of exactly how to get there. Look, this is my house and IÃll go in and Google you a map. Why donÃt you pull into my driveway?î
She turned her head and looked back out the windshield, then turned back at me and said in a soft voice, ìDo you mind if I stay here?î
Scintillating vignettes. Chris’s hands in the linked shot are definitely those of a working man, and his confidence equally toned, to so forthrightly delineate his position, and to grant a closeup of what would otherwsie have been a more “shy” subject.
The second leaves oh-so-much to ponder …
Matthew’s scoreboard birthday notice blows away the otherwise similar one we arranged for Amy’s 30th at the Norwich Navigators minor league game last weekend in CT …
Comment by adam — July 17, 2005 @ 10:44 am
OH YEA i love my boxers my first set is going on two years now. WOOT
Comment by chris — July 17, 2005 @ 11:56 am
That is one brave baseball player who proudly admits to his silk boxers. I wonder if Johnny wears them.
Another Times op-ed worth reading, on the same subject: http://www.nytimes.com/2005/07/15/opinion/15krugman.html?incamp=article_popular
entitled Karl Rove’s America and written by Paul Krugman.
Comment by opinion — July 17, 2005 @ 1:28 pm
I have to assume (since I don’t feel like registering) that the op ed piece doesn’t answer whether you guys let her stay or not, and why she was going to “Fort Devens” which was renamed “Devens” some time ago, I thought because it no longer had a military connection. So what’s up?
I drove home today and saw that enough cars in the driveway. My heart lept. “Hilary’s home!” Alas, not so. Duh, her car will be here the whole time she’s gone.
Comment by jennifer — July 17, 2005 @ 9:48 pm
Methinks the “Follow the Uranium” story got added post my initial comment, but much of it is oh-so-pithy …
[Mr. Wilson’s] wife’s outing [has] as much to do with the real story here as Janet Leigh’s theft of office cash has to do with the mayhem that ensues at the Bates Motel in “Psycho.”
Would that the real denouement be more worthy of a “-gate” than that which Mr. Rich predicts.
Comment by adam — July 18, 2005 @ 9:22 am
The “young woman with thick rimmed black glasses and hair”….
turned her head and looked back out the windshield, then turned back at me and said in a soft voice, ìDo you mind if I stay here?î
And after keeling over on the road, Michael said…
Comment by rakkity — July 18, 2005 @ 10:43 am
Leave it up to me to paint as ambiguous a picture as possible. Your interpretation was not too far from Adam’s.
I wanted her to pull into what I considered the safety of my driveway. After some consideration, she decided that remaining in the center of the lane (she hadnÃt even pulled over to the curb), in the dark, was safer than my offer.
I thought Strong young army woman going to Iraq afraid to pull into smiling, middle class, old-enough-to-be-her-grandfather guyÃs driveway. Reminded me of a recent, local, lost-in-the-woods eleven year old boy who nearly died from exposure, because heÃd been afraid to approach strangers on the trail to ask for help.
In my view, George and his cronies will get re-elected forever if our fear is that pervasive, and to me, that ridiculous.
Needless to say, Diane takes a different view.
Comment by michael — July 18, 2005 @ 12:05 pm
wait, so did she stay at your house or not?
Comment by LaChica — July 18, 2005 @ 2:10 pm
Damn. I just wrote a really long comment, which disappeared. I guess I’ll post this and send my long comment to Michael. Then maybe Michael can tell me if there is a way to paste a comment.
Comment by jennifer — July 18, 2005 @ 2:12 pm
Ambiguity is thy middle name. (Now that’s a unique email moniker: michaelambiguitymiller.)
“I thought Strong young army woman going to Iraq afraid to pull into smiling, middle class, old-enough-to-be-her-grandfather guyÃs driveway.”
Oh well, maybe that attitude will keep her alive in Iraq.
But you’re right, if we afraid to stand up to George, Rove and friends, we’re in deep doo-doo forever.
Comment by rakkity — July 18, 2005 @ 4:25 pm
La Chica…no, she stayed in the road until I returned with a map. I pointed her in the direction of route 2, and off she went. Btw, if you have time to drop a comment, you have time to tell us what you’ve been up to. Que pasa?
Jennifer, where’s the longer version?
Comment by michael — July 18, 2005 @ 7:51 pm