I'm not liking this bachelor thing

My wife Maribel has been in Peru for a month visiting family and friends. She'll be there for another two weeks. I could have gone with her but I don't feel ready to return to Peru, especially at this time of year when it's beastly hot and the sea breeze from the Pacific Ocean coats everything with a sticky coating that corrodes metal and adheres to everything including people.

My refrigerator is basically empty. I could hang a 'for rent' sign on it. And what remains probably should have been tossed a week ago. Maribel will remedy that situation when she gets back. She'll fill it up with junk food, like fruit and vegetables. I do have some left-over pizza, brats and hamburgers. I had carefully wrapped them in aluminium foil and forgotten them. If they don't smell too badly I'll attempt to eat them before she gets back. 

I use the microwave a lot. I like a bowl of Campbell soup with a sandwich. And it's easy...just add water, nuke it for 2 1/2 and there you go. I bought canned vegetables in an effort to 'eat healthy' but they're still on the shelf. Too much bother. First you have to put them in a container (warning!...the cheap stuff at Family Dollar or Dollar Tree is not microwavable. Don't do it!), then you nuke it for 2 1/2, then you need to drain it, which means you're using a strainer that has to be washed afterwards, and finally you have to add some seasoning and maybe some butter to give it some taste. It's just not worth the trouble. And I noticed that the vegetable cans are thicker than the soup cans. To compact a soup can all I need to do is step on it. With a vegetable can I need to stomp on it...several times. And if I'm wearing my thin soled canvas boat shoes it hurts like a son-of-a-gun. 

About twice a week Maribel sends photos. She's with friends at this restaurant or that ice cream shop; at a Nature Reserve at the foot hills of the Andes Mountains and a myriad of other places. In this photo she's visiting a friend at her condo on the beach at Pimentel.

Now that's not to say that I'm not getting out myself. Why...just yesterday I filled the car with gas. Last week I went to my doctor appointment. Twice in the last four weeks I went out to breakfast with Jim and Marge. Everyday I walk to the mail box to collect my "Current Resident" mail. Some days I walk to the fence at the back of the yard to give doggy treats to my neighbor's dog. In the following photo I'm doing one of my favorite bachelor activities...burning leaves from that damned water oak tree.

All the other trees we have; pecan, walnut, chestnut and catalpa all drop their leaves within a one-week period in late November. The water oak starts dropping in early December and hasn't yet finished. It's the middle of January. The carpet of leaves from that tree gets so thick and slippery that it's dangerous to walk in the yard. So about once a week I rake and burn. I figure I've got about two more cycles remaining.

I do have other options. I could go to the antique shops or walk our favorite trails. But for me that's not fun. If I see an interesting piece in an antique shop, or something of interest while walking a trail, it's more fun to share those things with someone. And the house is so quiet. I turn on the radio but I don't like the stuff they call music. I do have a CD with some of my favorite music that plays for just about an hour, but I've listened to it several times each day and have reached the point where it's too much of a good thing. Nights are worse, but fortunately there has been a ton of college and pro football games to watch to fill the evenings. 

It's only two more weeks. Soon I'll have a social life again, won't have to puzzle about how to fill my time, I'll be eating differently and the microwave will get a rest, and there will be singing from the kitchen or wherever Maribel happens to be. Life will be normal again. That's a good thing.