City Gal’s Trip Down Reality Lane (Part 1)
Ten years before we retired (which was three years ago) my
husband, Jim, and I bought 54 acres of land in rural NW Arizona. As Jim’s job as a jet ski mechanic was
seasonal, he spent those ten years of winter, building our retirement
home. I was somewhat concerned as he had
never built a home and though he was a wizard with mechanics and electricity,
this could be a very costly experiment.
He assured me that he had read everything he needed to know
and it would be.…fun. Well the “fun”
started right from the get-go with the layout of the house. Where was my walk-in closet and walk-in
shower? The bathroom is too small, the
bedroom is too small, do we really need a kitchen, and so on and so on. I’m not proud to say I had to use the phrase
– “If you want me to live here…..” Not
one of my finest hours, but sometimes we women do what we need to do!
During the years of building, I worked for a school
district, therefore; I could only come up on weekends. Jim lived in a very small travel
trailer. The stove worked, the oven did
not. There was no heat and on cold
days/nights you could see your breath IN the trailer. I was a city girl, through and through! He does own a mink blanket from Korea that
was a Godsend. It was deliciously
warm. I can’t tell you how many times I
thanked the good Lord above I only had to be there one or two nights. Okay, let me get back on track!
Unless it came out of a can Jim cooked all his meals on a
campfire. We would sit out there in
front of a fire, in the cold, while Jim talked about how much he loved our
place, and I listened to what sounded like 500 coyotes, ready to attack at any
minute. Have I mentioned the part about
“city girl”?
The bathroom conditions were a whole different can of worms
and it is a subject I have tried very hard to wipe from my memory. Let me just say, we had already had out
septic system put in and since the bathroom in this trailer didn’t work most of
the time, Jim whipped up a system that included one of the clean outs in the
septic line, a metal chair with a hole cut out of it and big funnel with three
pieces of plywood surrounding the area, which blew over half the time. I’m starting to scratch just thinking about
it!
That’s enough for now about my trip down Reality Lane. I will be visiting with Kevin Hopson on his
blog, http://kevin-hopson.blogspot.com, on June 29 and I will have more to say
about “livin’ the dream”. I hope you
will join me.
Before I go I would like to tell you about my newest story
Billy Cooper’s Awesome Nightmare – The Wickware Sagas.
Billy Cooper’s seventh grade class
has been given a last minute, weekend assignment. They must all draw a piece of paper out of a
box and do an oral book report on the person or event that was drawn. Billy draws the name, William Tell, whoever
that is.
He has a
full weekend planned, but figures he will do a quick computer search and will
be able to skate through on the assignment, still having plenty of time for his
busy weekend.
His outlook
changes when he finds himself in the fourteenth century, standing in front of
William Tell’s house. Billy’s twentieth
century style and lingo has William Tell thinking the lad a little unbalanced,
but asks him if he would like to go along with him and his son to the town of
Altdorf. It is here; Billy learns just
who William Tell is and why he is a legend.
Excerpt
His eyes gazed toward the clock on
the wall for the hundredth time. The dumb thing must be broken. Time was literally standing still while Billy
Cooper was stuck in the most boring of his seventh grade classes. Thirty more minutes and school would be
out. The weekend was calling his name.
Like a gnat
buzzing around his head, Miss Wickware’s voice faded in and out. The words, oral book report, received a
collective moan from the class.
Billy
dropped his head in his hands. Is she kidding? He didn’t have time for another book
report. His baseball team was two games
out of the championship and practice was every day after school.
“I have
placed some historical names or events in a box. Each of you will come up and pick your
assignment to report on,” Miss Wickware explained. The muttering of the students had her holding
up her hand. “Now quit carrying on. This will be fun. I just want a short oral report on what you
discover.”
“Oh yea, good times.”
“I’m shivering with excitement.”
“Okay,
class, you are all very amusing, but let me take this time to point out that
some of the grades in this class are not going to thrill your parents. The grade you receive from this report could
be the shot in the arm that is needed.”
That quieted the class. “Now who
will be first?”
Larry Brown
was the chosen one. Larry was a big
kid. A big, big kid. He didn’t move fast and he talked as slow as
he walked. Everyone liked Larry.
“Larry,”
Miss Wickware said, “could we pick it up a little. Everyone needs a turn.”
Blushing,
Larry ambled on up. He poked his hand in
the box, retrieving a slip of paper. He
pursed his lips and cast a confused look at Miss Wickware. “Babe, the blue ox?” She smiled and nodded to which Larry said,
“Cool,” and slowly went back to his seat.
Next was
Gracie Morrison. She was anything but
graceful and nobody messed with her.
Everyone knew she had tried to make the boy’s wrestling team, but the
coach would have none of it. She marched
up, her chin length black hair bouncing from side to side. Pulling a paper, she
looked at it. “Johnny Appleseed. He’s a dude right, not a thing?’
Miss Wickware smiled. “That’s right,
Gracie.”
And so it went. Student after student drew their
subjects. “Who’s Pecos Bill?’ “What’s Atlantis?”
By the time it was Billy Cooper’s
turn his nerves were as tight as guitar strings. He knew he needed to do well on this
report. His grade had slipped….a lot.
“Okay, William, it’s your turn.”
The class laughed, mimicking their
teacher, “Yes, William!” they all joined in, having a good time at his
expense. He hated being called William!
Billy reached in and chose his slip
of paper. “William Tell. Who is William Tell?”
Miss Wickware put her hand on
Billy’s arm. At her touch, his whole
body started shaking, as though electricity was shooting through him, right
down to his toes. Billy’s gaze met his
teacher’s and sparks flew from her eyes straight into his. He didn’t know how long he was frozen there.
“How nice that you picked someone
with the same name as yours,” said Miss Wickware, lifting her hand, breaking
the connection.
He stumbled backwards, tripping
over Gracie’s desk. “Watch it….William.” Another round of laughter followed him back
to his seat.
This is a short eBook for your 9 – 13 year old son or
daughter. For 99 cents you can give your
child something to read this summer that has adventure, time travel, history
and humor!
PLUS, for those that comment, I will draw one name and send
them a free copy of my story! I have
written 2 other MG/tween stories, plus a nonfiction story about my life, living
with only wind and solar!
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