Suddenly in a morning too early, a day before we would have picked up a ditch witch, it all came crashing down into apparently trustworthy rose petals.

I’m not in the mood to tempt fate by going over it all again, but suffice to say that without lifting a finger or making a call, I have the following, which I didn’t have the last time the clock said 22:33.

The 3 basic Hot Water Food Groups

An operational shower (with the bath still a fantasy to make real)
A functioning washer (and dryer)
A way to do dishes that doesn’t involve boiling a pot of imported water

Beyond that, a toilet. A place to easily wash hands, which is a stupidly simple luxury I’ve missed, maybe more than any other. And a sense of security and well-being that comes with it all.

I’m well aware that it’s still an ugly old house in an ugly little town. There’s a lot of very basic cleaning leftover that is now going to happen quicker.

But I can’t fully express how much better it feels.

Now I can go after Sheds Round Two, and maybe even the mythical beast known as gainful employment, in fresh clothes with a washed face.

I can turn myself back to the problem of engineering a living while not letting that ignoble occupation take over the foreground of my life, crowding our the four, five things that actually matter for real life, genuine liberty, and the pursuit of that other thing.

I may, I want to, come back around to Shawn II. The way that man spoke was a blessing. But whether the next post consists of that, or a crow call like this one, I’m looking forward to it again, instead of seeing it as a chore in competition with other bigger ones.