Dreaming of drywall

Sleeping in our 24’ x 34’ concrete bunker/walkout basement is like sleeping in a mechanical room. The furnace blower is loud, the ductwork creaks, the ceiling under the weeHouse moans and groans. And when the furnace kicks off, it’s so quiet you can hear your ears ringing.

But Chris and Mike got a start on hanging drywall on a recent overnight, and I can finally start to visualize boundaries between rooms, the length of the hallway, privacy in the privy. Very exciting.

Now it’s full steam ahead (on Loveless Time, of course) on a messy, dusty, but oh-so-needed job in the months ahead.

Loveless is cool

I realized recently that whenever people ask me, “How’s Loveless?” my first thought is to throw out some explanation for having a still un-normal place … that, for example, when we need to get from the walkout basement to the upstairs (and running water) we have to run outside and up a big hill and hoist ourselves onto the Saturn Walkway and step into the weeHouse, where only recently did we have any furniture.

My second thought (which I’m trying to make my first thought) is how wondrous it is to get to know the lake.

One recent morning, Chris and I watched a bald eagle hunched over on a limb and tearing into a meal. Spellbinding. I didn’t give a rip that there were no walls or furniture or running water in the walkout basement. It was all about that awesome eagle.

Maybe it’s because we’ve spent decades since grade school worrying about bald eagles and their very survival. But there’s something deep and powerful about seeing them around. It’s like they think Loveless is pretty cool, too.

Double winner

The gents from the Sportsmen’s Club called to say that the pair of raffle tickets I bought at  the recent Winter Fest came up a winner! (At the time, the tickets also were good for an extra helping of booya stew, which seemed like victory enough in my book.)

I can’t recall the other prizes -- one was a hunting gun -- but my tickets were good for a free round of "extreme bowling" at McKenzie Lanes and a painted picture frame.

I do have a charmed life.