Last night before we went to bed I asked Dave, “Is the basement door locked?”
Dave looked up at the ceiling, lost in thought. “Yes. Well, maybe. I think so? I don’t know.”
I nodded and opened the door leading to the stairwell that goes down to the basement. And up to the attic. Faintly I could hear Dave say “I don’t think I was even down there today!” but chose to check anyway.
I got halfway down the stairs to the basement when I heard a noise. “What was that?” I asked the stairwell, which did not reply.
I paused on the landing. I could see the basement door, and it looked locked. I heard the noise again. My mind immediately flashed back to The Possible Creeper Invasion of 2023, having taken place but a few days ago. Did the dude manage to hide in the attic all this time and is only coming out just now? Am I about to get axe murdered? Eh, door looks locked from here, good enough. I’m going back in and locking him in there. Nothing good in the attic anyway.
I turn and head back up the stairs and notice the noise for the third time, and this time my brain realizes what it is.
I squawk in a rather undignified manner, book it for the door, and shut it behind me before the bird can fly through and cause all sorts of havoc.
“What? What is it?”
“Flipping bird,” I manage.
“In the stairwell?”
“In the stairwell,” I reply, and regale him with the tale. “He’s going to have to wait till tomorrow to be rescued. I’m not doing it tonight.”
This morning I open the basement door so he can fly through. I tell the bird that the door is open and that his intelligence is going to be brought into question if he doesn’t avail himself of it. A couple hours later Dave says to me, “Your stupid bird is still in the basement.” So not only is it my bird, but it is in fact a stupid bird. There’s a whole world out there, why are you lurking in the dank dark basement? Honestly.
I went back up to the attic and inspected everything. I still have no idea how this bird (I believe it to be the same bird) is getting in. There are no visible points of entry, no giant gaping holes where he could fly in. Witchcraft? I’m going with witchcraft.
So yesterday we went on a supply run, which included a stop at Home Depot for… more plants!
Operation Entirely Homemade Salsa Stage 4? is a success. The lil jalapeno plants look deceptively innocent but they’re stronk ™ and will produce some hot tasty peppers. Which will be good in many things, not just salsa.
Sunday evening after River Bluff we took John’s painting over to his house and hanged it. Dave did most of the work of the hanging while the dozen or so people John invited watched. It was really nice to have Dave’s first art show. I was very proud of him. Seeing a dream start to become reality is deeply inspiring, and would be even if it weren’t my husband starting to live his dream. He’s started the process of his second commission, and is also starting to research having prints made of his art. It’s really cool to see this all coming together. It’s almost enough for me to continue working on my short story anthology. Unfortunately, I have a blog entry to finish right now. Maybe later.
The Bear and the Cat 