House Plans

Dr. Mingus has departed. It was a great visit. We talked and laughed well into the night, then did a little touring of Alabama. As if scheduled, the heat and humidity were sky high. I would say that his first visit to the Heart of Dixie went well. He got a taste of living in paradise and seemed to enjoy eating freshly picked and prepared vegetables out of the garden.

With Mingus the focus of my attention, I paid scant mind to anything around the place. The chickens are clucking for notice, the survivor duck is parading around the house demanding his afternoon snack, and Daisy is whining because I have not taken her swimming in the lake. After the good doctor left, I took care of those things I had let slip, even giving Daisy an extra half hour in the lake. I did manage to make sure that The Old Goat got his supper Monday and today. He enjoyed the banana pudding. Tomorrow everything here will be back to normal. The grass will get mowed, the weeds in the garden will receive Last Rites and swift execution, and the house will get a good cleaning. All of those chores are a small price to pay for such a good visit.

This house has been on my mind lately and I gained much from discussing the place’s possibilities with Dr. Mingus. He has lots of good ideas and keen insights on building and remodeling. By the time he left, he had given me a number of appealing alternatives for making this dump more livable. For instance, this is a square house. What better ways to open it up than to, first, build a veranda around the entire house, and second, raise the roof? Both ideas are exciting. I liked his idea of an outdoor canning kitchen and thought his suggestion to take down the unused chimney was practical and good way of freeing up space in the kitchen. The boy knows building and is a top-notch thinker. Armed with such sound advice, it is time to make some changes.

Naturally, we talked about Iraq. In the end, we agreed that Iraq is, well, complicated. But, the sweeping events of the Arab Spring clearly changed the calculus in the Middle East. I am more convinced than ever that the democratization begun in Iraq is a major contributor to the striking events unfolding in Syria, Libya and Yemen. As imperfect as Iraq is, she is the first olive out of the bottle. Walter Gonce taught me that lesson many years ago. Walter was a banker in one of the city’s I managed. We worked together in economic development projects. When I got dispirited by our lack of initial success, Walter would assure me that the first olive out of the bottle is the hardest. After it pops out, though, the rest are easy. He was right about attracting new employers. I think his observation is right when applied to the changes in the Arab world.

Every time I think of Walter (who departed this life several years ago, bless his soul), I am reminded of a story he told me about his first job. He was in charge of repossessing farm equipment for a bank. He was tasked to repo a piece of equipment from a farmer in western Kansas. Walter said he drove half a day to get to the general area of the farmer. At one point he was lost and stopped to ask if anybody knew the particular farmer he sought. A guy at a crossroads store said it was easy to get to the fellow’s place. Just go north and turn at the first road to the left. Then, go to the first tree you see, turn right, and the man’s place is on the right. Walter said he drove another day and a half before he found that damn tree.