Our Home in Rapid City and My Afternoon with Luella.

From the Fortress of Solitude
Pleasant Grove

Hello All,
The Fortress is getting battered with high south winds today. A weather front promises rain later tonight as it forces out the warm and reintroduces us to the cold. The Queen Mother is in mourning over the change. She loves the warmth. It gives her a chance to venture out to the gazebo and make friends with the birds and trees.

I heard weeping and wailing from her apartment below and took pity. Pity is a confusing emotion when it comes to Luella. It sticks in my throat until I do something about it. That something usual means venturing down into the Fortress Catacombs and engaging her in time consuming counseling.

Such unannounced visits can be dangerous. I usually catch her enjoying some kind of forbidden morsel absolutely outlawed by her draconian diet. She jerks in an attempt to hide the delicacy from view as I open the door. Luella's blouses show the faint outline of the stains from the sudden jerking. The carpet around her chair carries the stain record of her attempts to conceal the calorie rich treat beside or under her chair.

Last Sunday's record of my unannounced visit.
Ice Cream remnants I believe

Once I'm in the room I'm trapped.

"Come look at these new plants," she said. Her mood morphed from wailing over the coming cold to cheer at having someone to talk to.

"I've got things I'm ......." My talking did no good. She was already out the door pointing to several planters on the deck holding plants of various colors and sizes.

After getting my third botany lesson of the week, she pointed out the new position of her automated light house which spins and lights when you clap your hands. She'd moved it from the Gazebo to the deck. Above it hung a newly installed fisherman's net with several small homes attached and swinging freely in the breeze, homes you'd find in a typical New England fishing village. One such home was dangling perilously close to the top of the lighthouse.

Of course, I had to reposition the net so the lighthouse was safe.

"Oh, come and take a smell of my prayer tree," she said as she waddled off onto the grass and down the slope. I followed. My mood changed from mild annoyance to patience. Luella is a lovely old gal and her quirks make her the very person we all love to love. With chest out and spry step I marched across the lawn, walked up to her prayer tree (named because the branches stretch upwards - fancy that??) and buried my nose into the small white blossoms. One sneeze later I had to agree the smell was 'heavenly'.

Before being released and allowed to return to the upper floors of the Fortress, I was asked to install her new DVD player. Luella goes through DVD players like boys through sneakers. She forgets to turn them off so they play for weeks, then months nonstop. They eventually burn themselves out.

I opened he cabinet to removed the old player and install the new. Luella is a connoisseur of dust (don't ask, she will never admit it). It was so thick in the cabinet it could have passed for the interior of King Tut's Tomb. My moving things about didn't help the situation. Moments after the installation she was complaining about "damned dust" in the air and how it was causing her to wheeze.

The next several minutes were spent in teaching her the differences between the DVD remote, the TV remote and the Dish Player remote.

The next several minutes after that were spent in teaching her the differences between the DVD remote, the TV remote and the Dish Player remote.

The next several minutes after that were spent in teaching her the differences between the DVD remote, the TV remote and the Dish Player remote.

The next several minutes were spent in teaching her the buttons to switch inputs and how to control the DVD player.

After that, the next several minutes were spent in teaching her the buttons to switch inputs and how to control the DVD player.

And after that, the next several minutes were spent in teaching her the buttons to switch inputs and how to control the DVD player.

The next several minutes were spent teaching her the correct way to eject the disc from the player. She got that rather quickly. She's such a good girl!

Well, I'm finally back upstairs and able to post the one thing I wanted to put out today. Above you'll find the Realtor's Notice on our home in Rapid City. I wanted to type a few paragraphs about that old home but the clock on the wall is telling me it is about time to collect Luella, pack her into the Battlestar, drop the car into low gear and climb the hill to Jilane's home for Sunday Supper. I'm told tonight we are going to have Kevin's world famous cheese soup and Wendy's Chili a la Kevin. Delicious!

So, more to come on our Rapid City house. Until them, Bon Appetit.

Simply,
Victor