Communication

The Greater Sandhill Cranes announce their presence with a certain trill and trumpet or vocalization that is clearly distinct from the ducks and geese regularly seen by most Americans. They also do it very loudly, when they land or whenever a threat is present. I wouldn’t think our 40-lb. Hipless Wonder Dog would have ruffled their feathers, as she didn’t even see them 20 feet away across the fence to the nature preserve, but the male started kicking and putting up a fuss even though we walked on a public trail outside the fence briskly and moving forward.

Our temporary home is a few hundred square feet larger than our old place. The old place was on one level and integrated, space-wise. This place has high ceilings and two floors (17 steps) so no communication. Jim went upstairs and I had no idea he went to bed. It’s taken two weeks but I have to find out when he gets up in the morning (not evident from the kitchen) but knowing when the shower gets turned off that leaves me time to finish breakfast on a weekday morning.

But then he calls downstairs and asks what to wear. Husbands! Years ago he bought walkie-talkies because he wears headphones a lot and wanted to be in touch upstairs/downstairs in case of emergency (you should see his hurricane kit). They didn’t work because we were living in a low area so after testing, we returned them. That may be a solution.

It’s dark now and I’m looking directly at Bald Mountain, which anchors Deer Valley Resort. Just turned off the light over my “desk” which is the dining table looking out at the mountains and wildlife.

I hope I thank Jim enough. Both of us have been tired lately with the job market, packing, moving, driving across country and moving in and starting a new job. Plus the dog has to come with us everywhere yet stay in the car. This weekend we got her a crate and she tried it for the first time today and did OK for 2 hours.

Back to Jim, we’ve lived through adversity, had it when we met, a year later in dot-bomb era and have experienced it since. Jim’s grandmother wanted him to work his whole life for one company and end up with a gold watch and pension at the end. His parents ran a dairy and while they could have extended “and Sons” they expected both their boys to get a college education and leave the farm.

Jim’s brother is now a banker that caters to farmers. His big brother is a different animal altogether. Math, aerospace engineering. Now he’s a software engineer that caters to bankers or writes software that runs banks et al.

I still don’t have a full pantry, brought herbs and spices with me. If I make a white bean salad with Italian dry salame, red onion, and a red wine vinaigrette I’ll have two cans. Rinse them out, poke a hole in the bottoms and take a string and we’ll have an upstairs/downstairs phone! Why didn’t I think of that earlier. Cheers, Dee