June 19, 2021 Our anniversary often coincides with and is overshadowed by Father’s Day, and we almost always seem to be traveling or on a trip, usually with a Porsche. We always say that we don’t need to give each other presents, after all we’ve bought this “money pit” already! But this time I managed to completely surprise Bob, and in the best possible way.
The Irish Blessing has always been a favorite of ours, even though we are not at all of Irish descent. For many years, Bob was privileged to recite the Blessing as the last spoken words at the end of the Victory Banquet, being the last event at the Porsche Parade (annual Porsche Club convention). It is a long standing tradition, where friends who have gathered in good fortune reflect and part ways for another year; “’till we meet again”. Bob could always touch your heart with his delivery of the Irish Blessing…
Shortly after taking on the house last year, while cleaning things out, Bob found a thin plastic packet on the back of a high shelf. Within was a folded linen towel of the Irish Blessing! It was clearly unused but also clearly had been there for years, collecting a few stains and permanent creases. We wondered about how it got there, and considered it a perfect and appropriate “gift” from the house itself, in so many ways! Bob put it aside for safe-keeping.
I came across it recently and determined to frame it for our anniversary gift. It needed some spot cleaning and a lot of steaming to mostly remove the creases, but we love it, and intend to hang it in the front entryway of the house, both as a greeting and farewell (never goodbye). For the moment it hangs in the bedroom, until the house is done and we move in.
The other nifty anniversary adventure required getting up PDE (pretty darn early) to make it to Morong Porsche in South Portland, Maine by 7:30 am on a Saturday. The Downeast Region of PCA was co-sponsoring a Tech Session on the new electric Taycan, which turned out to be extremely excellent and informative. A master tech described and showed us ALL the technology and features, and a dealership client described his adventure driving the circumference of the US over the course of 6 weeks in his Taycan, and how he managed the trip with the charging challenges of an EV. It was worth the drive just for that, but as it turns out, I knew the manager from back in the day (25 years ago?) and I got an awesome test drive with Bob as co-pilot. FUN. The thing is phenomenal – a rocket ship.
Speaking of the house, what in the world is happening? Or NOT happening? Well, Scott has been keeping in touch. He is obliged to finish some other projects before starting ours, which we completely understand. We want his full attention when he comes to us. Issues of supply are slowing everything down, unfortunately. After all this time, it is REALLY hard to be patient. The good news is that Scott has been lining up his favorite subs… the electrician, the plumber, HVAC folks and so on, showing them the challenges of this unique house. So when things do start to happen, the team will be built.
During this hiatus, Bob and I are taking the opportunity to head back to the Maryland house, take care of business there, AND fly to Dallas to see our granddaughter, who is completely the cutest ever! 🙂 Then, we will prep for the 10 day driving trip to Indiana for the Porsche Parade. Finally, we will return to NH near the end of July. Altogether we’ll be gone for almost 5 weeks. We’ll need the trailer for the Parade trip, which has been inside the garage for months – it’s a squeaker to roll it out, but we’re getting pretty good at it! 🙂
Luckily, I have been able to retain the services of Sophia, the high school daughter of our neighbors, to get the mail, keep an eye on things, and most importantly water my new plantings. It has been HOT and dry lately and I’d hate for them to wither after all that work. So, I’ve been working hard to make sure everything is mulched before we leave, and all 5 yards is spread. Phew! It didn’t cover the whole garden, but it’s “good enough”. 🙂
Farewell, for now, as the sun sets from the tower.
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