Sha and the kids brought over their new Phase 10 game last week. Once we were done, Shauna had a heck of a time folding the long instructions up properly, so that she could fit back into the little box. After three tries, I told her to let Mom do it. Sue did it in one. She just unfolded it and folded it back up like there was nothing to it. I suppose, for her, there wasn’t. Sha was quite startled, but I wasn't the least bit surprised.
Sue has a knack for what I will call mechanical things. I don’t. There’s a little bit of role reversal with us since it is usually seems to be the guy who is more mechanically inclined.
Another talent is her ability to see solutions while others, like me, don’t even know there is a problem.
For years, I have been the main guy to attend to the cat litter. The litter pans reside on a landing on the stairs leading to the basement. Due to the vicissitudes of life, Sue has been the one required to do the job for the past few months. When I went down to begin to resume my old job, I was caught by surprise to see this.
Sue had cut an opening in the paper bag in which we keep the little poop bags (there's one poking out of the opening). I had been reaching up, in and down for lo these many years, but she had ascertained that there must be an easier way.
I am also reminded of our days of line dancing. It was like a brand new dance made sense to her from the start. I would tease her that she could be given the music and the first few moves and that she would know the rest of the routine instinctively. Of course, that was an exaggeration, but none of the dances were instinctive to me, and I struggled mightily to learn them at first. I did get better as we went along, but those steps were totally foreign to my brain at first.
Everyone has their innate talents. The trouble is that at the age of almost 76, I am running out of time to discover mine.
You two certainly complement each other! It has given you a great life together!
ReplyDeleteYay Sue. Glad there's at least one good reason to keep her around! And I think you have several talents...as demonstrated almost daily to share some of your life here. Good writing. Interesting story telling. And then there are the photographs. Nobody else comes close to you on those! But lest your head blow up from all its pride, the last one is how you perservered and taught me about our earth's tilt and it's' orbit causing the seasons. I was dancing the wrong steps for years, and you finally convinced me the earth didn't change it's tilt through it's orbit. A big personal thank you, John!
ReplyDeleteIt's good to have a partner who can do things one can't. Two halves make a whole type thing.
ReplyDeleteWhile you have sung the praises of Sue in this post, and rightly so, I am confident that you DO have many of your own, John. By the way, I too am often hopeless at re-folding instructions or maps, which we do occasionally use 😉.
ReplyDeleteI am a female without any of the same talents as Sue. Wish I could fold things, anything, back into its correct shape!
ReplyDelete@Barb. Uno, I had forgotten all about that. That was fun … I think. 😀
ReplyDeleteIt's good to have at least one dexterous person in the house!
ReplyDeleteDavid and Took ballroom dance lessons for several years. FUN!!!
ReplyDeleteWe are the same. When we load the van to take things to the booths, Larry will shove everything in haphazardly, while to me it's like a game of Tetris, making sure that all the space is used as well as possible. I put things back where they belong, close cupboard doors and drawers, and know where things are...unless Larry has needed something, then it could be anywhere. But his muscle and humor are highly valued by me, so there is usually peace in the valley. Usually ;)
ReplyDeleteAs for dancing, I am hopeless. I have always blamed it on being left handed!
ReplyDeleteI bet she's good with maps too! They are impossible to fold back up in the same way.
ReplyDeleteGo Sue! I am not mechanically inclined at all but I hope I make up for it in organizational savvy. And not just everyone can tell a good story from ordinary everyday things like folding a paper or seeing to the kitty litter, and incorporate the word vicissitudes. xoxo
ReplyDeleteIt's good that you have a specialist for most things that need doing.
ReplyDeleteYes. Two halves do make a whole.
ReplyDeleteYo, explore our inner talents!
ReplyDeleteMy special talents are all gone!
ReplyDeleteMy sister has the mechanical mind. Also a map head. If she's been there once, even at pitch black midnight, she can go back again.
ReplyDeleteAC, my wife is called (by me)(and others) SWMBO. It's a name I gave her from and old "Rumpole and the Bailey" show from the BBC that I used to see on PBS in Arizona. The initials stand for She Who Must Be Obeyed. And it perfectly sums up her and, apparently, your wife. We are lucky to have them!
ReplyDeleteSue is spatial and a creative problem solver, two attributes that I lack. My late husband had them and so does John. My mother too and my sister-in-law. My brother and dad, no. The poop bags are very clever. That reminds me that I need to clean out Mari's litter box.
ReplyDeleteI know the feel of spatially challenged. If it hasn't happened yet, it ain't gonna happen.
ReplyDeleteI'm hopeless when it comes to dancing.
ReplyDeleteI took line dancing for a while too and just couldn't remember all the steps. I've been doing tai chi right now for years and it just won't stay stuck in my brain. However, they say this is all good for the brain so I will have to keep doing it.
ReplyDeleteMechanical things? Definitely not me. Lucky, I married an engineer.
At our stage of life, I am happy not to read our obits in the paper! It is difficult coming to terms with the ravages of aging. I've gradually been taking things over from JB. Not dishes, though!
ReplyDelete