July 1, 2020

Life in the Ashbury household has settled into a nice routine, one that seems to suit all of us. Not that there aren’t a few minor annoyances now and then. After all, none of us is perfect. No, not even me!

We live in a house that has a shaded front porch, and a small back yard that also enjoys shade for a good chunk of the day. Early morning, the back yard is cooler, without sunlight until the sun crests the house, about noonish. It stays under the gleam of Sol until about 3 p.m. when it goes behind the line of the tall cedar trees we have there. Conversely, the porch enjoys morning sun, until about 10 a.m. Except for the north corner of our porch. Thanks to the walnut tree, as long as it has leaves, that corner is constantly out of direct sunlight.

However, just because the porch is shaded does not mean it’s cool enough to leave the front door open. In the early spring, yes, throw that puppy wide! Ah, the fresh, bug and fly-free air of early spring! Gotta love it! Right now, however, we are no longer in springtime. It’s summer, whether we like it or not. On some summer days, we have triple-digit temperatures. As I work at my desk, on these hot days, I wonder…what happened to my a/c? And then I realize, the darn door is open. Again. And if the heat doesn’t convey that message, the sound of flies buzzing my head surely does.

Friends, there are times when I feel like I’m the only adult in the house.

The current weather that reads 80 but feels like 95 means it’s hot outside. And it feels like 95 regardless of whatever shade the tree or the porch roof might provide. And in an air conditioned house when the front door is open? Why that heat comes in about as fast as the cool goes out!

My ire has nothing to do with the cost of running the air conditioning. It has to do with that part about the heat coming inside. If I wanted to sit on the porch in the heat, well, please be assured that I would sit on the porch in the heat. The people I live with love that porch and as far as I’m concerned, they can sit out there to their hearts’ content. As long as they keep the door closed.

It won’t surprise anyone that David and our daughter would both be enjoying the great outdoors together. It’s a generally held consensus in our family that when it comes to those two, the apple really did not fall very far from the tree.

This is good because, unlike when our daughter was young, the two of them get along very well together. They have several traits in common, and for the most part speak each other’s languages. They’re very close, and nothing could make me happier.

My daughter and I do well together, too. Being women, we share an eyes-wide-open kind of practicality. Egos? Not much, and not between us. And there’s no real tussling between us as you might expect between two grown women under one roof. It’s not perfect, but for the most part we just choose our hills. We give each other the freedom to be W.I.C. – woman in charge. And we tend to do it on an alternating basis. Yes, we very likely have every moment of every day covered between us.

Poor David.

Or maybe not poor David. He doesn’t need to do as much tidying as he did before our daughter moved in—which by the way was a year ago, today. He also lucks out on some of those nights I don’t make supper, because sometimes, she does. I like that part, too. I’m sure y’all know couples where the husband and wife take turns cooking supper? Yeah, that’s never been my experience. Never. It sure is nice to eat a meal someone else prepared.

She’ll also come home after a couple of hours working in the community, with a three hour break before her next client. On those occasions she’ll make breakfast, and David really loves that.

And when he wants to leave the house? That one surprised me, too, because before we were told that we should stay home, he was all for staying home most of the time. And I know he really didn’t like to go out for the groceries on a weekly basis.

Then our daughter moved in, and of course she has a vehicle. And in the last month he’s been happy to head out for groceries with her. They’re planning to have a breakfast out soon at one of the restaurants in town that has a patio. I hope they have a lovely time.

We have our new normal, and it’s a good one. And her moving in with us, an arrangement that really benefits her as well as us, has reinforced something that most people, if they are lucky, come to understand.

Life really is what you make it. To all my fellow Canadians, Happy Canada Day!

Love,
Morgan
http://www.morganashbury.com
http://www.bookstrand.com/morgan-ashbury