Dear Dad: July 10

 

Dear Dad,

Today was your kind of day.  The street was bustling with trucks and noise as MB's house continues to grow.  You should have been here, sitting in "your chair" and watching out the window.  I know you would have had plenty of report back to MB, keeping her abreast of every move the multiple workers made.  

There were MANY trucks and workers.  It was hard to pull onto the block this morning when I came down.  (Working from home for the first part of the morning and then driving down after I was convinced early morning traffic was cleared.)  I didn't make it in record time.  (I'm not stupid; I know the cops are out there waiting.)  However, I did make good time and was able to set up my work laptop in the back den (aka your room).  I opened almost all the windows and got to work.  There was a great breeze and plenty of noise from the construction and the trucks coming in and out.  There was even work being done next door (south side, not north) which was surprising.  Every time they moved a ladder around, I thought someone was coming into the house.  I know all of this would have kept you busy with text, emails and maybe even phone calls.

Believe it or not, I found it somewhat calming.  The day was warm, but not too hot.  (As usual, as the day ended, the heat got more intense and when I walked  up to the beach at 5 PM to check things out, I was MELTING.)  There was such a great breeze and I had music on while I worked.  It was almost relaxing.  (Well it was work!)

I've moved to the front of the house (along with your chromebook), to write this.  The lagoon is quite high.  (Too high for the moon to only be in the last quarter phase, but then again we had some serious rain yesterday, so maybe that has something to do with it.)  Not over the dock...yet.  But it is very close.  And while I am not worried now, I can see that if we have a storm, I just might freak out.  (Not a good thing.)

I watched it rise as I had "dinner" tonight.  I sat outside (with wine of course) and sandwiches and a good book on my Nook.  Even as busy and nosy as the day HAD been, it is relatively quiet at night.  I am thinking working down here weekdays is nicer than the weekends.  Yes, there are still way too many people, but the noise level is low.  As I write this (with the sun sinking in the west over Barnegat Bay), the only real noise is the birds, the breeze (which is not really noisy) and the sound of cars from Route 35.  (Busy, but not too crazy.)  I might actually be relaxing.  

M has been out for most of the day.  She is returning home to Eastern Europe on Wednesday morning (she calls it Tuesday night when she will leave, but it will be after midnight, so...)  She's packed up most of her things and will spend a couple of weeks away before deciding what to do next.  She has several job opportunities.  And I haven't even given her a reference (yet).  Live in home health care is definitely very much in demand.  Once she leaves, things will be really quiet.  And strange.

My plan is to be here as much as possible.  Yes, I am supposed to go into the office 3 days a week, but I'm hoping to put that off for a couple of weeks.  We'll see how long I can sustain it.  Working here is just so much nicer than an office in Newark and definitely more calming than the house up North.  At least during sunny days when it all gets too much, I can take a walk up to the ocean and watch the waves for a few minutes.  (Or if I am really desperate I can just look at the ripples on the lagoon.)  What will happen in the next couple of months is anyone's guess.  If I can, I'll just go with the flow.  (That so isn't me, but...)

I know I told you I loved you the last time I saw you.  I hope you heard it.  If you didn't, I hope you knew it.  I hope you know it.  Life is strange without you.  I even miss the annoying ringtone I had for your calls.  (Not that anyone will understand, but it was Elmo's bike helmet.  I guess you  have to be a big "Sesame Street" fan to know it...or just have a kid who watches too much of the show circa 2006.)

We raised the flag on the 4th and I'm keeping it up until...until I don't know when.  Because to me, just like the annoying ringtone, it's very Steve Foster.  And I need those reminders.

Love you,

Me.