A LOT OF WORK… & play too (Part 158f)
Driving home from
the shop I had to go past the driveway of Bill (the principal) and
Phyllis’ house. There were a whole bunch of trucks and workers in their
driveway. Being a Saturday afternoon and late, at that, I was curious as
to what was going on. As soon as I pulled up to my garage I headed for
the opening in the hedge between the two properties. The first thing I
saw was a trench between the garage and the house. Bill was in a folding
chair watching the workers. I asked what was going on. He said he’d
like to know as well. He did know the trench was to hold a new electric
line between the two buildings. It was part of the work that the owner
was doing before the new owner moved in. When he told me that I
immediately remembered the times that the house had lost electric power
whenever there was a storm. It was because the main power line went
directly to the garage and an auxiliary line ran from there to the
house. With all the trees in the back yard anytime a limb fell it would
take down that line.
We walked towards the back of the property
where the new shed had been built. As we did I noticed the new wash line
that had replaced the one that I’d helped Bill make and put up. The new
one was just three pieces of pipe stuck in the ground with a single
line connecting them. That reminded me about his visitors, the German
twins, and how I’d envisioned what the clothes line would look like with
panties from four teenagers. I asked him how he was making out with
them. I made a comment about how hard it must be with them speaking only
German. That brought forth a hearty laugh and he explained that they
not only could understand English but could speak it fluently. For their
last four years of schooling they’d taken classes at an American army
base as their mother worked there as a translator. I remember feeling
somewhat foolish for asking the question. I’d based my question based
upon hearing them answer but one question with a “Jaa”. It made sense
that they’d have to know English if they were to attend an American
college in the Fall. Dumb me! This was the most relaxed I’d seen Bill.
He was always rushing from one place to another. I commented on it
bringing forth another laugh… and the answer. Phyllis and the four girls
were off being “tourists” and he had no one to tell him what to do. I
asked about his new house and that brought forth a frown.
When
I’d first heard about the property that he’d bought I knew exactly where
it was located. I was a bit concerned because , even though it was
considered ‘waterfront’ (on a narrow canal just off a tidal creek), that
parcel was one of the very last sold in the development. The reason was
that it was subject to flooding during storms. To combat that he’d had
to bring in dirt to raise it up. However, when the builder went to pour
the footings for the foundation the ground wasn’t stable enough to
support the house so they had to put in wooden pilings and then build
the house on them. That all took extra time (and $$$) which had put the
completion date back. With him having to be out of the rental house by
July 1 he was scrambling to find a place for his family to live. Trying
to be a good neighbor I told him that if there was anything I could do
to help to ask. That brought a smile back to his face and I headed back
through the hedge.
I stopped as I got to it though and surveyed
the clothes line. I did a quick calculation and if Phyllis did her wash
but once a week that would mean there could be as many as 28 panties on
the line at one time… a panty fanatic’s delight! It was quite a thought
but the problem was to be able to see if it would come through. Working
the hours I did it would be hard to make it work out in my favor.
Elle
wanted to know where I’d gone. She’d seen my car pull up to the garage
and never saw me get out of it. I told her about my visit with the
principal and about how he and Phyllis were struggling to find a place
to stay after the 1st of July. As soon as I told her about that it was
like a light bulb went on and she told me that she’d heard that the
buyer of the house was a widow with a son, but didn’t know how old
either of them were. We’d both hoped it would be a married couple with
young children. With that we both stated that we hoped that she would be
a nice neighbor. I remember laughing about how upset Phyllis had made
us when she moved in.
The rest of the weekend was spent trying to
earn some ‘brownie points’ with Elle, doing little things that had been
put off over the Winter. She’d been given a number of flats of flowers.
Bob and Phyllis had bought some farm property with the idea of starting
a nursery and were giving their friends some of their first plantings
just to spread the word. I hated planting flowers but, knowing it was a
long Summer and that I’d be off with the racer every Saturday into
October, I rolled up my sleeves and became a gardener.
To be continued...
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