Friends and Light Repairs

Am I crazy? I know my Deep South home sighed and relaxed with me. Over the back fence I knew fields of corn stalks lay beneath icy snow. Above me I thought I heard the rattle-bangs of a Wright bi-plane in flight. I almost savored a single-scoop raspberry, buckeye chocolate and peanut butter cream with a crunch of waffle cone from Graeter's Ice Cream Parlor. Around me friends, dear friends tap me on the arm and chuckle.

This final week of January native Ohioan friends stopped by our home to overnight. Sure I went into hectic cleanse of writer's stacks and piles. I barked orders to my Maria daughter who barked orders to my son Buddy. The multi-week work trip of Beloved Hubby kept him from his natural host duties. Usually I'm a Lucille Ball when it comes to the gift of hospitality.

But this solo hostess gig was almost a wicked rest. The visiting friends had been at our last home for celebrations and rich fellowship. But they also came to repair plumbing when I was solo selling the old homestead as my beloved worked 600 miles south.

When I got the call from Linda saying they were enroute to our new place, I had the temerity to suggest her beloved Richard fix a cabinet. After hugs and Italian Roast, they went to work. One demolished and puttied the interior of an entertainment cabinet to house a new HDTV. The other stitched a button back on a sweater she gave to my Maria. I would have done the latter work, had I been informed.

Instead, I let myself enjoy good company and their gift box of Rocky Road ice cream, bought during Richard and Buddy's trip to buy wood putty. Then we all settled into beds, our guests electing to sleep on fancy airbeds so Buddy could enjoy his queen bed.

This New Year reveals answers to unsettled queries: Why we are here?
Why are we here and not in the sweet cornfield of heaven? One answer: We're here for friends, family, and anybody in need of a bed and a good meal. It's as clear as a blue sky and real as the difference between sheep and goats. As a Rabbi put it,"When I was hungry, you gave me something to eat." This action doesn't save me or crown me "Ms. Perfect Hostess." It's simply what I was made to do.

As for other answers, we'll see what February brings...