Let’s get down to brass tacks.
Wednesday=Stayed home. Electrician didn’t come.
Thursday=Stayed home. Electrician didn’t come.
Friday=Gave up and left home to take care of business.
Plumber did come. He is a delightful young man. I would adopt him except he’s already replaced just about every fixture on the property, both inside and out, and he would have nothing to do. I hate to ask him to crawl under the house until absolutely necessary. On Monday, I ran into a snake in the yard, and you never know where his family might reside.
Renter did come. He is a delightful young man. It’s a pleasure to see him so excited to be living in the house where I grew up. Since he will be around anyway, I may adopt him.
In the half-hour between plumber and renter, I sat on the side porch steps and looked at the pecan trees across the driveway, and the brush pile that should be burned but can’t be until the burn ban is lifted, and my cousin’s new barn across the street. I relaxed, breathing in country air and quiet.
I took out pen and notebook and wrote the first lines of Chapter 5.
I crossed out and started over and turned pages and started over, and by the time I was finished, I had only three or four sentences. But I was back in the dream again, with neighbors gathered in a hospital waiting room, little girls listening to an old man telling stories, women gossiping, and men standing in the hallway, arms crossed, not saying much at all.
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M. K. Waller 