January 5 - “A Smoky Romance”

I had to leave the Island yesterday afternoon to attend a funeral visitation in Santa Fe.  Now let me say up front that I have been warned that it could get like this (My son is a mailman, after all, so he gets to experience it all the time), but for the first time I got to experience the full force of the freeway lane closures just north of the Island.  It took me a good fifteen or twenty minutes just to get across the causeway.  Traffic was backed up clear to the car dealership, and from the looks of things it might have ended up all the way to Target (61^st Street) before things got better.  There have been a lot of complaints on social media and in the newspaper (that would be two different generations), but at least it’s not happening in the summer.  It will affect Mardi Gras traffic, though.  I imagine that will be a nightmarish weekend around here.

I thought I would be late getting back for home group, but there was no traffic coming home.  I made it with about ten minutes to spare.  Chris had everything ready to go and was reading a book on the couch.  I joined her, and we talked about National Parks and our desire to check them out on our next adventure.  That’s what the book was about.  One couple’s journey through the parks and the letters they send back to friends. 

As it turned out no one was able to be here for home group, so we put the house back into every-day mode and settled in for an evening together.  It didn’t take long for Chris to suggest lighting a fire in the fireplace.  I recommended we get started on our Star Wars binge.  That’s where we watch all the movies already out before going to see the new one.  The biggest decision was whether to watch them in the order they came out or in chronological (numerical episode order).  We finally decided to go with chronology.  Episode One: The Jar Jar Binks Fiasco.  As you might gather, I didn’t think much of Episode One.  It was nice to have the fire going right next to the television, though.  When things got too silly, I could just gaze into the flames.  It was quite the romantic setting. 

Well, it was until the smoke started accumulating in the house instead of exiting through the flue.  That has been the only negative with this Ben Franklin style stove that we have.  It’s very interesting architecturally, and adds a lot to the décor of the house.  It puts out a lot of heat.  But after a period of time it starts working backwards as far as the smoke is concerned.  We can usually get rid of it by opening the back door, but I think we waited a little too long this time.  I finally put a box fan in the window and had it blowing the smoke outside that way.  Worked like a charm.  I think I may start there next time and set up the fan before we even light the log.  Well, Chris, we truly have a smoky island romance, don’t we?

Psalms 20:5 says, “We will shout for joy when you are victorious and will lift up our banners in the name of our God.  May the Lord grant all your requests.”

Father, thank you for my smoky romance with my beautiful wife.  Amen.