Tide was up early this morning.  So were we.  We launched the boat.  I am now mobile again.  Well, boat-wise, anyway.

I confess to having a bit of difficulty getting off my butt lately.  Such a feeling may be an after-effect of having spent so much time in that particular position addressing the Antigua Amoeba these past couple of weeks but I am inclined to think that it is more like the residue of an overall winter slow-down. I just don’t feel like ‘starting’ a project yet, ya know?

The weather is still chilly.  Sometimes it is wet.  The fire is so nice.  Sal made muffins yesterday.  What’s the hurry?

And yes, you guessed it…………books came in by ‘plane’.  I have reading material again.

But, I gotta kickstart my spring.  Sometime.  Soon.  Lots to do.  Got a funicular to finish.  And I want to re-do the log hauler.  There is boat work to do.  And I’d like to build a shower for guests.  Maybe build a small greenhouse.  Gotta get more wood in, of course.  And I am obliged to help with the community woodwork shop.  Plus there are people coming.  And the garden, of course.

Man, I am glad Sal is on the ball.

I’d delegate but she is in charge.  I think.

Anyway, delegation won’t work.  We need to work together.  Sal is the best partner in the world but, sadly, we don’t work well together.  She insists on knowing what we are doing in advance of doing it.  I prefer to discover what we end up with.  Fundamentally different.  She reads the instructions………….I mean, really?

I glance at them to make sure that I already know what they say………

Sal also cleans up.  A lot.  But she tends to clean up when I am still in the middle of the job.  Admittedly, I am disinclined to finish anything so undertaking a clean up after a week of inactivity makes some degree of sense.  I understand that.  But, you see, I really need all the stuff laying around to remind me what stage I am at in the process.  If everything is put away, it kinda looks finished.

And, anyway, it took a lot of effort to spread all that stuff all over the place.  I just don’t wanna get it all out again!

We are also both natural managers.  Sal’s also a very good worker but it’s the dueling manager thing that makes life difficult.

“Grab that board, please, and go up the ladder and hold one end near that log end!”

“Why?  Why am I doing that?  Shouldn’t we miter the end first?”

“Well, that would be a good idea if we were going to have mitred ends but these are butt joints.  Please.  Go up the ladder.”

“I don’t want butt joints.  I want miter joints.”

“Now is not the right time to tell me that.”

“Why?”

“Because they have been cut to length and are now too short to miter.”

“So, you screwed that up, eh?”

“Would you please pass me the chainsaw and then lie down on the two saw horses for a sec?”

Actually, Sal is pretty good to work with.  She thinks so, anyway.  She enjoys working in the outdoors.  And she is even getting good at construction.  And, even if the work is hard going, she knows how to find a way to have some fun.

That is a beautiful thing.  I admire it.  Can’t do it.  But I admire it.  Especially when she takes a break to ‘have fun’ when she is working on her own job.  She’ll stop to toss the stick for the dogs, for instance. And she’ll be happy.  She’ll smile.  It’s a lovely thing to see.

Sometimes, however, when she takes a break to play with the dogs or watch an eagle soar or a butterfly flap and I happen to be on the roof balancing a board waiting for her to refocus on the job at-hand, it just seems so wrong, ya know?

“Uh, Sal, I have the board here.  I am ready for you put in the nail……..you know, like we planned……..?”

“Just a sec, sweetie.  Megan lost her ball.  I’m just gonna get it.  Just a sec.”

Working together is both a delight and a challenge.  Mostly good.  But you can understand why I am a bit reluctant to get back in the ring with her, can’t you?  Anyway, I think she promoted herself over the last season and she is now my supervisor.  I now report to her.

It’s like reporting to Lucille Ball.