Dance of Joy!!

The kids have returned to school this week. Hooray! I usually do the parental dance of joy and then take myself out to my favorite book store and coffee shop. This year, I did all that in my verdant imagination.

Meanwhile in reality, I was preoccupied with hatching a permit for some foundation repair-type construction for my 'money pit'. To pass the time waiting for the bureaucratic wheels to approve said permit, I ironed clothes and did laundry while listening to classical music on a local NPR station. I had entered the trying waiting period after giving up a $10 check with an application and nearly five hours of phone calls trying to get a verbal approval from a separate group of officials for my project.

Happily, not only did I get the permit (after giving up another more sizable check) but I saw my new construction crew begin to dig (with actual shovels) an enormous hole next to our house and then leave. It was quite enjoyable!

I actually believe that the nice Hispanic guys who did most of the digging had a good time picking on each other in Spanish (which I do not understand). I gather this partly because of the laughter that echoed in through the window, and partly from my over hearing, "I'm not the gringo." Which was promptly followed by more laughter.