By Jeanne Duffy
BPCDC Executive Director
Can you imagine the excitement this week in Downtown Belle Plaine as not one, but two businesses share a grand opening.
With much pride, owners Matt and Timalee Clark will have their grand opening on both Friday, April 30th and Saturday, May lst at 823 on Main Street. Family owned and operated, their store contains a variety of interests. Within is Clark Soda Shop with old fashion drinks and shakes made from scratch, American Lazer Creations, and Paper Cuts and Other Stuff. Each area is managed by an individual in the Clark family. Opening is 7 am and seating is perfect for coffee clutch meetings any day of the week. And did I tell you, during the grand opening, milk shakes are 25 cents?
Just a few steps away, Double Take Design will celebrate their grand opening on Saturday, May lst from 10 am to 6 pm. Owner Jerilyn DeRaad will be showcasing both the downstairs which has furniture and home décor plus her upper design studio. Double Take Design is located at 823 on Main Street. Stop in and meet Jerilyn for a tour of her business and enjoy some delicious snacks.
Join Belle Plaine Community Development Corporation in welcoming these merchants to our downtown area.

A year ago, I set up shop in perhaps the most optimistic place in town – the offices of the Belle Plaine Community Development Corporation (BPCDC). In tough economic times, this was the place where the glass is always viewed as “half-full.” I have to keep that in mind when I tell you that this is my last day as editor of Belle Plaine Now.com.
They say you need to take chances to make anything good happen. About 15 months ago, a couple members of the BPCDC board approached me with an idea of creating an avenue for local news. The thought was that there’s enough happening in Belle Plaine that we really needed a news source devoted exclusively to what’s happening in our city. The first thought of printing a weekly newspaper was quickly discarded due to the ever-rising costs of newsprint and other associated printing costs. Besides, although I had more than 30 years of experience in the weekly newspaper game, I know that more and more people are growing impatient to receive their news. We live in a 24-hour news cycle, especially with national news, so why should local news take a back seat?
The BPCDC Board quickly embraced the concept, although I suspect some of the more conservative business people had their doubts. The site was launched with considerable fanfare and with one employee – me. I had little doubt I could find at least one story to post each weekday. Selling advertising in this economy was another matter.
But the initial response from local business people was wonderful. Most of the ads you see on our site represent business people who have been with us since the beginning.
Besides the financial support of those first advertisers, we received considerable moral support from folks who began to log onto our site in more and more numbers. I heard from people who lived far from Belle Plaine who still had an interest in what was happening in their home town. They began to rely on this site to keep them informed with local city and school news, local sports, obituaries, etc.
Unfortunately, while the news continued to flow, the ad prospects began to dwindle. Numerous attempts to add local advertisers fell short as we became more and more aware that the tough economy we are all facing individually is reflected in local business. Numerous attempts to convince regional and national advertisers to come on board did not bring results.
So after just over a year on line, the board made the tough decision to pare back expenses and eliminate the editor’s position, throwing yours truly into the growing ranks of the unemployed.
Quite often when an employee is separated from his work, there are hard feelings. Nothing could be further from the truth in this case. I was never really good at business, but the financial reality of the situation was impossible not to see. In order for the BPCDC to continue with its vital mission of bringing business to our city and the administer the wonderful Main Street Iowa program, some tough choices had to be made.
Online delivery of local news will increase over the coming months and years. At some point, advertisers who have relied on print ads will realize this. In fact, one the first ads I sold was to a local business whose owner said he knew the internet the coming thing.
So I still believe in online local news. I also believe in Belle Plaine. If my next career takes me back home to the Davenport area, I might be the only guy in Scott County walking around wearing a Belle Plaine Plainsman t-shirt. But if anybody asks me where Belle Plaine is, I will be glad to tell them. It’s a place full of great people who are excited about the future of their town.
Several months ago, as many of us began meeting to map out the future of this town, we were in a constant battle with a small group of people called “Cave people.” I recently heard a definition for cave people, “citizens against virtually everything.” As the months have passed and more local folks have seen the progress being made, the number of cave people in our town seems to be falling.
People are excited about the new aquatics center opening next month, about the new additions to our school buildings that will mean an enhanced learning environment for all of our children. Every day, people stop by this office to look at the designs for the streetscape project. Local officials hope to begin construction before the end of this construction season. Once completed, our downtown will be totally transformed and should be a place many people will want to come to shop and meet their friends.
I leave this position today with no bitterness, some sadness and a lot of appreciation to the people of the BPCDC board that had the courage and the foresight to give this venture a try. They hope to continue this site with the help of volunteers, so if you have some time and some interest, be sure to stop by and volunteer to keep this site going.

I know I can sometimes go two or more weeks without posting a column, but sometimes I feel the need to hop up on the soap box from time to time, so please excuse the short time since the last column.
A couple of recent tragic stories in the national news got me to wondering about just how our government operates. No, this is not going to be a slap at one political party or the other, since these things have apparently been happening for a long time now and anyone in power, regardless of political affiliation, deserves to take some of the blame and/or credit.
It was reported that the federal government was going to fine Toyota $16 million for the accelerator fiasco. Apparently the claim is that the company knew about the problem for some time before going public.
We take it for granted that when someone is found guilty of a criminal or sometimes a civil infraction, he or she may face a fine. When corporations make mistakes, the fines are just a lot bigger.
I’ve always wondered where that fine money goes. People were injured or lost their lives due to malfunctions of their Toyota automobiles. But will any of that $16 million go to them? I doubt it. Any compensation due to those folks or their families will probably have to come from settlements of lawsuits. If the fine doesn’t go to the victims, I would hope that it would go to the Consumer Product Safety Commission to help ensure that our products are safe.
When someone is convicted of a crime, especially a violent crime, he or she is generally assessed a hefty fine, along with a long prison sentence. If someone is convicted and sentenced to 25 years in prison and also fined $100,000, how will that fine ever be paid? Prisoners who have jobs within the walls of their new home are paid less than $1 a day. So what use is a fine? Besides, especially for those facing a shorter prison term, one of the goals of the prison system is to rehabilitate the inmate. What incentive does the inmate have to be rehabilitated when he knows he will have to pay a big fine once he’s released?
The court system should be allowed to incarcerate those who are judged to be a danger to re-offend and for the other violators, assess the fine, but make sure the money goes for restitution for the victim and for the cost of apprehension and prosecution and place the defendant under closely-monitored probation at least until the fine is paid.
It’s just another one of those things about our government that on the surface seems to make so much sense, it would probably never work for some reason.
This week’s tragic mining accident in West Virginia raised a lot of questions. Only after the explosion did the public learn that federal officials had cited the owners of the mine for more than 500 violations, many of them safety related, in 2009. They were apparently on a course to meet or exceed that number of violations in 2010.
There was a report that the mining company had been fined $168,000, but that was equal to how much the company makes in one hour of mining.
If there was a business in Iowa, such as a restaurant or a nursing home, that was cited 500 times in a year, does anyone think it would still be open?
I also heard a report that the mine was a non-union mine. I know there are plenty of arguments for and against union operations. But most reputable unions, such as the international group that is the main union for miners, puts the safety of its members first. Maybe the union dues would have been well-spent by the miners in this instance.
Several times each day, we have trains loaded with coal roll through our town. It’s unfortunate that it took something like this disaster to make us all stop and think that for every pound of coal that passes by, somebody had to risk his or her life to pull it out of the ground.

So now it’s been almost two months since the last pro football player was tackled and it’s still about three weeks before the NFL draft and four long months until the first preseason game. What’s a diehard fan supposed to do?
Fear not, the Arena Football League has been reborn. Tonight (Friday), the Iowa Barnstormers will host the Chicago Rush at the Wells Fargo Arena in Des Moines. The game will be broadcast on the NFL Network.
For those of you with short memories, arena football is a game that has similarities to regular football, but with a lot of different rules. The players all wear regular football pads and uniforms. But they play on an indoor field that may have been a hockey arena earlier in the year. There are eight players per team on the field at a time. Of course, the field is smaller than the outdoor variety, but since the action is much closer, it is an exciting game.
If you are a fan of Iowa State athletics and you’ve always wondered what happened to Brent Curvey or Todd Blythe, you can spot them in Barnstormers uniforms tonight. Fans of the Iowa Hawkeyes may remember Eric Rothwell, Pete Traynor or Tim Dodge. All are now Barnstormers, as are Charles Johnson and Tanner Varner from Northern Iowa.
Obviously there are few household names on the Arena League rosters. Some of these guys are clinging to the hope of getting a shot at the NFL, even though some of them may be as old as 33 or 34 years old. There have definitely been some success stories coming from players who got experience in the Arena League. Probably every player has heard about Kurt Warner, who went from Northern Iowa, to NFL Europe to the Arena League to eventual NFL Most Valuable Player.
With a salary of $400 per game, they certainly aren’t in it for the money. Perhaps those who still have some football skill but realize their hope of playing on Sundays in front of 75,000 fans is past still like the idea of playing a team game and getting a chance to travel. There are 15 teams in the league. Besides the Iowa Barnstormers and Chicago Rush, there is the Milwaukee Iron, Oklahoma City Yard Dawgs, Orlando Predators, Cleveland Gladiators, Arizona Rattlers, Alabama Vipers, Bossier-Shreveport Battlewings, Utah Blaze, Dallas Vigilantes, Spokane Shock, Tulsa Talons, Jacksonville Sharks and the Tampa Bay Storm.
The schedule has games listed through the end of July. The Iowa team will be shown on the NFL Network five times this season. The Arena League has a web site with a lot of information, though some of the teams are still developing their individual sites. I also Googled “Arena Football rules” and found several informative sites to get up to speed on the rule differences.
If you are suffering from football withdrawal, the Arena League may be worth checking out.

By Jeanne Duffy
Well a week has past since I became Director of BPCDC. The time spent packing up an entire house in Phoenix, keeping track of that yellow Penske truck with all my earthly belongings for three days and living on fast food are just a memory. However memories of my teenage years in Belle Plaine remain.
Oh, I’ve driven through downtown over the years but I am pleasantly surprised to feel the energy that still exists but is somehow obliterated by forlorn storefronts that look as if they too feel the loss of their former grandeur. The energy I feel now is in the spirit of our residents. However, hope for Belle Plaine springs (no pun intended) eternal as I learn of pending changes such as new facades, streetscape, plans to seek improvements to the back of buildings.
I must confess, coming from a city of four million people and freeways, I was definitely in the dark about the progressive activities going on in Belle Plaine. I see men and women working hard beyond their day jobs to volunteer time working on intensive projects to make Belle Plaine a better place.
I am amazed to see that the BPCDC board is a “working board” and members volunteer so much time. Innovation is alive and well with much of the money for improvements coming from grants which does not have to be repaid. I find that a cohesiveness exists here that is priceless.

By Jeff M. Brown
www.boredfactoryworker.com
“People who don’t like cats just haven’t met the right one yet.” – Deborah A. Edwards, D.V.M.
“Okay, I admit it. I don’t mind cats.” – Jeff Brown
“I need to make one thing clear: The day I have to clean the litter box will be the day we get rid of the cat.”
I said that to my 12-year-old daughter the day we brought him home- a little black and white kitten she’d soon name Waterfall. Yeah, as you might have guessed, that speech didn’t work out quite the way I had hoped. I’ve cleaned his litter box hundreds of times over the years and, yes, the cat is still living here in my house.
Waterfall is eight years old now. He was recently extremely sick and nearly lost his life. This tough experience got me remembering what it was like way back in the days when he was just a kitten. Waterfall always greeted me when I got home from work.
Jeff: Hi cat.
Waterfall: Cough, cough. (Puked on the floor.)
Being the responsible adult in my household, I reacted in the most responsible way I could think of- I called for my daughter to come clean it up.
Jessica went over to the cat and asked him, “What’s the matter, Pookie Baby?”
“He made another mess.” I said. “I think it’s time we took him to the vet.” When we arrived at the clinic, the doctor was sitting behind the counter.
Doctor: What’s wrong with him?
Jessica: He’s been throwing up quite a bit.
Doctor: Boy, he’s grown since I’ve seen him last. Hmmm. (He got up and checked in the cat’s ears.) It looks like he’s finally rid of those ear mites. Does he have any other symptoms?
Jeff: This is the most hyperactive creature I’ve ever been around. He meows incessantly and he doesn’t pay attention to my commands. (I threw my hands up in the air.) Do they make Ritalin for cats?
Jessica: (Ignoring me.) Except for the barfing, he seems perfectly fine.
Doctor: (Also ignoring me.) Jessica, don’t worry. I’m sure your cat just has a hairball. (He grabbed a toothpaste-like tube from a shelf and removed the cap.) This stuff is called Laxatone. (He put a dab on the cat’s nose.) Smear about half a teaspoon on his paws or nose for the next few days. He’ll lick it off.
Jessica: What does it do?
Doctor: It’s a lubricant. It helps hairballs move through a cat’s system.
Recent trips to the vet, unfortunately, have been more serious. Waterfall hadn’t been eating or using his little box much anymore. He was losing lots of weight.
Doctor: I have some bad news. His blood work shows that his kidneys and liver are failing.
Jeff: What’s wrong with him?
Doctor: It’s hard to say without doing more tests, but his symptoms are consistent with a virus cats can get at his age.
Jeff: Is there anything we can do?
Doctor: The virus, I’m afraid, is untreatable.
The news seemed pretty grim- multiple organ failure and an incurable virus. I couldn’t believe that this rambunctious creature that once tore the garbage disposal rubber right out of my kitchen sink was dying. I felt so bad I could barely hold myself together as I left the office.
My daughter was equally devastated when I told her the news. We didn’t want our little family member to die, but he was so sick his fur was falling out. That’s when I decided we should have him put to sleep. I couldn’t bear to see the little guy suffer anymore.
Then something amazing happened.
On the Friday morning of the dreaded appointment, Waterfall began to eat and groom himself. I saw flares of his old self again, flares I hadn’t seen for a long time. The clock was ticking away and I had a heart-wrenching decision to make- should I keep the appointment or keep him home? It would be incredibly selfish of me, in my opinion, to give him more time if that time was full of misery. After a few agonizing hours of decision making, I decided to keep him home.
It’s been about a month now since that awful morning and Waterfall seems to be doing pretty well. In that time the vet has given him two immune booster shots and antibiotics. I’m cautiously optimistic that the cat will be living with us for a long while to come. His eating habits are back to normal, he’s gaining weight, and, yes, he’s pooping nearly every day again. But, that’s perfectly fine with me.
I’ve never been happier to clean a litter box in my life.

As I’ve been out on the streets of our fair city in an attempt to sell advertising to support this site, I’ve been really surprised at just what is available in our town. Our Belle Plaine Community Development Corporation urges us to shop here first. It’s a nice slogan that you would expect from any organization charged with promoting local business. But after a rough winter when we had snow on the ground for over 90 straight days and after some of my visits with local merchants, the advice to shop here first really rings true.
Whenever I write about local businesses, I am hesitant to name any of them for fear of leaving someone out. But I am going to mention a few here and it should be no reflection on anyone not listed in the following.
I am always amazed with speaking with longtime Belle Plaine residents who remember when our downtown was a really happening place to be, with several grocery stores, bars, apparel stores, etc. Unfortunately, many of those stores have closed, but some have survived and others are beginning to discover that our town is a good place to do business.
The other day I stopped in to Drahos Shoe Store. I’ll be the first to admit that shoe stores certainly can’t rely on me to provide much business. When my socks start getting wet because of the holes in the bottom of my shoes, when the sides of my shoes begin to split, then I’ll start looking for a new pair.
I’ve always known that Drahos Shoe Store is the place to go if you need a new pair, or repair of your shoes or other leather goods or some garments. But that store is a place to discover surprises, as Don has added several lines of other goods, many produced in Iowa. It’s still a great place to go for personal service and the right fit for a good pair of shoes. But you may not expect to find premium garden seeds, greeting cards, soy candles, cutlery or hand-crafted wood furniture.
I’ve mentioned in the past that we are fortunate to have a full-service nationally-franchised hardware store. The True Value store has been here for many years and it’s always a surprise at what has been added to the inventory. Recently, the store has been adding to its furniture line, which should encourage us to at least stop and see what they have to offer if you are in the market for a new bed or couch or recliner.
Many residents have come to rely on Belle Plaine Pharmacy when they need prescription drugs. Their prices on many prescription drugs are very comparable to the distant big box stores. People from near and far shop at Belle Plaine Pharmacy for many greeting cards and gifts and collectibles. Some folks may not know that they also carry some house wares and similar items. I stopped in one day, not looking for anything in particular, and bought a set of glass mixing bowls. The name-brand bowls were priced very reasonably and I didn’t have to drive 70 miles round-trip to get them.
I probably go into Dollar General three or four times a week. Usually, it’s for one or two items I forgot to pick up on a more extensive shopping trip. Dollar General is a dangerous place for me. You go in expecting to get one thing and come out with eight or 10 items. You may not have realized you needed them when you went in, but the prices seem so low on some things, it’s a haven for impulse buyers.
As we anticipate the beginning of construction of our downtown revitalization project, some businesses are renovating available storefronts with scheduled spring openings.
I like to get out for a drive outside the city occasionally, but not when the weather is bad. I guess the one positive thing about our rough winter is that it reminded us that many of the goods and services we thought we needed to find 35 miles away are available right here.
On another local business note, we welcomed Jeanne Duffy back to the community this week as the new director of the Belle Plaine Community Development Corporation. After more than 40 years in Arizona, she says she grew tired of living in a town with 4 million folks and longed to get back closer to where she grew up.
Stop in and welcome her when you are downtown next time.

This week the Belle Plaine Board of Education tackled two weighty issues that will have a profound impact on our children’s future: creation of an alternative high school and a revision of the academic eligibility policy.
Normally, the review and passage of a tentative budget for the upcoming fiscal year would gain the major headline from the meeting, especially when it appears that even in the wake of state cutbacks, the Belle Plaine district appears to be in sound financial condition with no tax increases expected.
Even as many school districts across the nation are experiencing financial problems, with some metropolitan districts closing up to half of their school buildings, officials in the Belle Plaine district are projecting a budget surplus of almost $1.75 million at the end of the 2010-2011 fiscal year. Many of us remember not too many years ago when a former superintendent was rightfully congratulated for forming a budget which would give the district a one-payroll cushion, about a quarter of a million dollars.
Now, thanks to sound fiscal management, the district patrons will not face any school property tax increase.
What concerns members of the board is the apparent significant percentage of students in our district who for many reasons are not progressing in a satisfactory fashion toward a diploma. One board member estimated that 15-17 percent of the students enrolled at the high school are at-risk for a variety of reasons. Out of that concern came Wednesday’s discussion of the creation of an alternative high school.
The alternative high school concept has been under periodic consideration for several years by the board. Most recently, an attempt to establish such a school late last summer was defeated because of questions of how non-traditional students might interact with other students in the building, the availability of a qualified instructor for the alternative school, what might the program cost and what would be the curriculum.
Although the board voted 3-2 to proceed with the creation of the alternative high school at its last meeting, many of those questions still must be answered. One of those questions that might be closer to being answered is the site for the school. With students moving out of the Lincoln Junior High building after this school year, it would be available. But even that potential answer has some questions, such as how many students in the Belle Plaine district vs. how many in the HLV district might be served with this program? How much would it cost to maintain the junior high building and will residents see the benefit of keeping it?
There is little doubt that there is a need for a program that will serve a segment of our student population and the alternative school concept may be the answer. Students may not be succeeding in the traditional school atmosphere for a variety of reasons, including home problems, teen pregnancy, behavior issues, etc. One professor estimated that as many as 25 percent of the national student population is at risk.
The board members seemed to agree that something has to be done. Now it’s up to the administration and staff to seek the answers to the questions remaining out there in time for something to be implemented by the start of the next school year.
The board decided to revise the academic eligibility policy to make sure all students are passing all of their subjects before they can participate in sports, music, drama, etc. Board members had several ideas on how to clarify the revised policy and the language was still being finalized the day after the meeting. But students should know that when the fourth quarter begins on Monday, they’d better be passing all of their classes if they wish to participate in extracurricular activities.

Sitting here in my office in what I fondly call “the fish bowl” on Belle Plaine’s Main Street, I continue to be amazed at the amount of vehicular and foot traffic that goes down our street each weekday. Just to change up the routine a bit, there are those occasional misguided motorists who fail to obey the one-way sign on Ninth Avenue and try to swim upstream, going the wrong way on the street, but that’s another story.
Occasionally, someone will stop by the office and ask about our plans to upgrade our downtown area. Originally referred to as the generic term “streetscape,” city officials now refer to the project as “downtown revitalization,” to better describe the total scope of this ambitious project.
This project is a massive one, which would include upgrading the street and sidewalks, improving the fronts of the storefronts and adding art and signage to make our downtown a destination.
This week, city officials took another step at acquiring another piece of the financial puzzle with a presentation before the Vision Iowa Community Attraction and Tourism (CAT) Board, seeking a grant of $513,000 toward the total cost of the project. City Administrator Bill Daily made the city’s presentation, but he wasn’t alone. He was backed up by a nice representation of local, county and state officials and interested community members, as well as a couple of professionals who have been working with the city in design and funding of the project.
This is not the first attempt at securing CAT funds for the downtown project. And it’s not the first time the CAT board has been to Belle Plaine. The Belle Plaine Museum received funds for construction from Vision Iowa and more recently, the CAT board helped with the construction of the aquatics center, which will open later this year.
The last time Belle Plaine requested CAT funding for the downtown, last year, the request was ultimately rejected. At that time, the board wasn’t convinced the city had all of the other pieces of the funding puzzle in place, despite a commitment of about $2 million from the city to cover much of the cost of renovated infrastructure, etc.
This time, Daily went to the board armed with more facts and figures that board members couldn’t ignore. He pointed out that the city had received an I-Jobs grant through the Iowa Department of Natural Resources for storm water management in the downtown area, a $500,000 Community Development Block Grant (CDBG) for façade improvement, the only grant of its kind awarded in the state and the city is also seeking a Brownfield grant to help with renovating or removing dilapidated structures on Main Street.
In the previous attempt, board members were concerned about local private participation in the project, whether downtown property owners were on board with the plan. Daily explained at that time and repeated this time that because the nature of the current economy, operating a business is a tough go and business owners need all their resources to keep operating and improving their individual storefronts. But since that previous attempt, owners of 36 of the 47 downtown properties have shown their endorsement of the project by agreeing to sign temporary easements to receive funds for façade improvement through the CDBG grant. That was a requirement before the city could receive that funding.
There is some concern that the CAT board is attempting to move away from funding downtown revitalization projects. But there were two other applications under consideration Wednesday. Kalona requested a similar amount from the board, while West Union’s request was for $1.35 million.
The CAT board receives $12 million a year to distribute. There is no doubt that many communities in this state have benefitted from state help. In its history, the CAT board has funded 324 projects with a CAT investment of $120,898,405. The total investment in those projects was $853,895,966.
Local officials hope to receive just a small piece of that pie to help complete the local project. And those folks who stop by our office from time to time will be anxious to see work finally begun on this busy street.

By Jeff M. Brown
www.boredfactoryworker.com
“Home is where the heart is.” – Popular Saying
“Home is where the heart is, the Saltines, toothpaste, and toilet paper too, if I could just find them.” – Jeff Brown
Home Sweet Home
I had just finished making my world famous chili (well, it’s not really famous, but I like it and that’s what counts) and I was ready to eat some. I just needed two things to make the bowl perfect- shredded cheddar cheese to sprinkle over the top, and Saltine crackers. I found the cheese easy enough in the fridge, but I was having trouble locating the crackers. They weren’t in the cabinet where they were supposed to be.
I looked behind the package of dried spaghetti and row of soup cans. Nothing. I pulled out half a dozen cereal boxes. Still nothing. “Honey,” I called, “where are the crackers?”
She was in the living room working on her laptop. She replied in her usual authoritative, competent in all things related to the location of everything in my universe, matter-of-fact tone, “They’re in the bottom of the pantry.”
I crossed the kitchen and threw open the doors. Sure enough, there they were, mocking me from behind the pancake syrup. What’s happening to me? I wondered. I’m turning into one of those stereotypical husbands that can’t find anything without his wife’s help.
Unfortunately for me, the problem goes deeper than the crackers. Can you believe I have absolutely no idea where the pancake batter and AA batteries are? God forbid I have a strong waffle craving or need to change the smoke alarm batteries while my wife’s at work.
Jeff: (Dials his cell phone.) Honey, where’s the toilet paper?
Vickie: How many times have I told you not to call me at work unless there’s an emergency?
Jeff: This is an emergency.
All this confusion, I’m afraid, will drive this former bachelor up the proverbial wall. As time goes on, I sometimes wonder: Will I ever be comfortable again in my house, my palace, my former fortress of solitude? (Translation: Will I ever be able to find that new tube of toothpaste I bought last week? I need to brush away this chili breath.)
Since my wife moved in, a lot of my stuff, important stuff (well, not that important, but important to me) was replaced by my wife’s stuff. Due to space constraints, quite a few of our belongings (hers and mine) had to be put into storage. The aftermath has been difficult on this ancient 40-year-old who’s set in his ways. My years of bachelorhood certainly weren’t the most organized, but I always knew where the spare 6-pack of Chapstick was hidden. (Okay, I admit it. I have a problem.)
Vickie, a veteran of many moves in her life, is better at coping with change than the pets and me. For example, my daughter’s cat, Waterfall, used to be king of the world. Now he has to share his kingdom with my wife’s dog. They’re getting along okay for the most part, but there’s still the occasional power struggle.
Waterfall: Kneel before me and pledge to never come near my food bowl again.
Dog: Oh, I’m so scared. (He does a little dance and grabs a bite of food.) What are you going to do about that?
Waterfall: That’s my litter box, you numskull.
A few nights ago while my wife and I relaxed on the couch, I looked around and realized that everything in the world that was important to me was right there within my sight. Waterfall was perched nearby in the window and the dog was snoozing faithfully at our feet. Everything seemed perfect- everything except the horrible sci-fi movie that my wife was watching. It was definitely time, in my opinion, to change the channel.
Too bad I couldn’t find the remote.