“”It will happen this way,” I said to our little Gecko, who looked at me dubiously. “You may be walking. Maybe the first sunny day of the fall. And a car will slow beside you, and a door will open, and someone you know, maybe even trust, will get out of the car. And she will smile, a becoming smile. But she will leave open the door of the car and offer to give you a lift.”
And thus began our Three Days of the Kitchen Floor, in which our entire household had to vacate the premises while a team of agents restored the wooden floors in our very old house.
The operation required a planning meeting, seven backpacks and a Google Doc.
“So, I’ll pick him up here and you drive them there and then we’ll go up there,” I said slowly while my feeble brain whirled. “And we’ll move all of the furniture and appliances over there.”
I mean, what could go wrong?
I maintained this optimism (minus the hubris) even after I dropped my mother-in-law’s prized and shockingly heavy hutch directly on my bare foot (breakfront indeed!) as we lugged it out of the dining room.
“We’ve got this!” I cheerfully said to myself as I worked up a sweat yesterday morning, tossing toothbrushes into various backpacks, tying shoes and searching frantically for the only garage door opener not currently in the locked garage.
Found it! Whew!
Lastly, I gathered up Miss Dino, our reclusive leopard gecko, and carried her out of the house.
“I’ve got a plan,” I told her. “I don’t know if it’ll work or not, but I’ll need your help.”
She rolled her cute little eyes.
“Have I ever denied you anything?”
She looked appalled though as, with the help of an accomplice, I drove her 2.7 miles to the pristine home of Grandma Peggy, who had agreed to babysit her grand-gecko.
I got Miss Dino settled, filled her water bowl and gave her a little pep talk.
“It didn’t have to end this way,” she said.
“Of course it did.”
One of my favorite films! Have always loved Condor! 🙂
I knew we were kindred spirits!