Chet and the Carpet Guys

A few weeks ago, Bill got a wild hair (sometimes I wonder if he has any other kind of hair) and decided, of a fine Saturday morning, to move every livin' thing out of Phoebe's bedroom and give it a brand new coat of paint. In four different colors.

This made our living room look like this for a whole week.

You do not want to know what the inside of my head looked like for that week. Because what happened then is that Liam got kind of sadmouthed and I got the bright idea to get both of them new carpet when getting new carpet just for Phoebe's room would have been plenty enough. In retrospect it was the right thing to do, but in introspect it was a week of PURE DOMESTIC HELL. Because, you see, all Liam's stuff had to go somewhere else, too, and that's all I'm going to say about that. I spent all week throwing out ancient relics and weeding their books and clothes and breathing dustmites and finding Halloween candy stashes and mouse dits and filling giant contracter's cleanup bags with garbage, and just generally showing the kids that somebody actually cares about them.

Little matter that it is the same somebody who left untold amounts of crap in their closets for 13 and 10 years, respectively. Now they know that I have bright flashes of caring, few and far between though they may be.

The bright spot in this hellish process was looking forward to when everything would be all weeded out and cleaned off and carpeted and painted and fabulous, which I am happy to say it now is. The other bright spot was finding out that the two guys who installed the carpet were dog fans.

Liam's new Berber, going in. His room stayed ice-blue, like his eyes.

So when Chet Baker did his usual friendly shadowing that he does with anyone working in the house, they took him up on his offer to play with carpet scraps.

Tug-o-war and KeepAway...the two games Chet Baker loves best.

Baker kills the carpet scrap, shaking it until its neck flops loosely.

I only wish this last photo had a sound track, because when Baker tugs on something he grunts rhythmically, and "it's just wrong," as Phoebe would say. The guys got so tickled they had to just sit there and laugh for awhile. Chet Baker has that effect on people.

I just got back from Toledo, where I gave a banquet talk to the Toledo Naturalists' Association. I drove up Saturday morning, had a lovely lunch with my friends Diane and Eric, set up my art, then had a scant couple of hours to peruse the charming and effective Toledo Zoo, where the TNA event was happening. Any day I get to see orangs and gorillas is a good day for me.

Kim Kaufmann got TNA's "Naturalist of the Year" award for her tireless outreach to birders everywhere, young and otherwise. It was a kick to be there to see that. My dear friend, photog and tour leader Kevin Loughlin who was such a great companion in Guyana last November showed up, further making my day. And then Diane and Eric and Chet Baker and I sat up and laughed and told rank biology stories until after midnight. Again, I am not sure there are any other kind of biology stories. This morning (Sunday), Diane made me whole wheat pancakes and totally turned me on to goetta ( a Cinci breakfast specialty that she brings to Toledo), and Chet and I raced back home, making it to our vocal/piano recital just two minutes late. Watched Phoebe and Liam play and sing, sang two standards, did a grocery shop, consumed the celebratory steaks Bill grilled on this warm and fleeting evening, and put up a post about Chet and carpet.

I shall now snore gently for as many hours as I am allotted.

You MUST hit the goetta link because it is so...

THIS IS GOETTA.

Your fork breaks the delicate crisp and moves carefully through the creamy middle of the morning circle. Every bite sends you deeper into total sensory engagement, and allows the mind to skip through the collection of stories that decorate your family’s history and your own. In a moment you are at your grandma’s counter enveloped in tales of her grandma’s kitchen. Your heart sings.

I am also glad Diane sent me home with a cooler full of goetta!! Thank you, Beautiful!