Dr. Seuss Writes Troll Stories on Dan’s Typewriter
“.. so, Melika,” I said. “We will be back on May 13. Do not have the baby before we return.”
“I think you’re safe.”
“No baby in the next two weeks. Understood?”
“I understand what you’re asking..”
“... demanding...”
“ ... and if everything goes as scheduled, the baby will arrive after you return. In early June.”
“Actually, Melika - May 31 is the best day.” I replied. “I have May 31 in the ‘guess the birthday lottery,” I thought. “And a 7 lb. 12 ounces girl on May 31 would be ideal.” I continued. “I’d win!” I thought.
“I don’t think you understand how this works.” Melika noted. “But my doctor said that things look like the arrival will be on-schedule.”
“Great.”
“She also said that on-schedule means ‘plus or minus a week’.”
“She must have an airline background.”
“Dad.”
“United Airlines, in fact. Should I call Tom and remind him to remind you to wait until we get back?”
Tom and Melika
Baby on the Way
Nazy wants us - and our family residence - to be prepared for the arrival. As always I was fully supportive of this endeavour. Until..
“The storage? You want to go to the storage.”
“There are..”
“We agreed to hope for a localized earthquake or sink hole. I’m sure we decided that we’d never return to the storage.”
“I want to get the Dr. Seuss books. And the rocking horse. And the toy chest.”
“Those are in poorly labeled boxes behind the pipe organ and the scuttled battleship.”
“Dan..”
“I’ll have to move the French antique wood-burning stove,” I continued. “That’ll be really useful in Santa Barbara,” I thought.
“... we need..”
“And who knows what we’ll find the 42 boxes labeled: “Ms. Cellanoous”?” I asked. “Or the 27 boxes labeled “Darius’ Junque?,” I thought.
We found the children’s books. (I have fond memories of Dr. Seuss: I used “Marvin K. Moony, will you please go now?” as the template for my farewell letter from HP.) We also found the family troll collection, several Cabbage Patch Dolls, (too) many boxes of boxes that weighed tons, consumed cubic meters and would, without adding any weight, fit on my iPad.
Getting everything into car for the trip home wasn’t easy.
“And it won’t be any easier stuffing the stuff into the house.” I complained as a rocking horse rocker plunged into my abdomen every time we turned.
“You didn’t have to bring the typewriter,” Nazy exclaimed when Dr. Seuss’s “Fox in Socks” flew into her lap.
“I used that typewriter on some High School reports,” I replied. “It’s part of our heritage.”
“Abraham Lincoln probably used that typewriter to compose the Gettysburg Address,” Nazy replied.
“I doubt that, my dear.” I said. “But Mark Twain and Huckleberry Finn is a possibility,” I thought - remembering how much I wanted an IBM Selectric with a ‘ball’ type-head.
As I mentioned earlier, Nazy and I are going to the East Coast next week. We’ll be visiting friends in Hanover, New Hampshire and relatives in Montreal and Boston. We lived in Hanover for 10 years and, after our return from an assignment in The Netherlands, Nazy found new friends and, with them, established the International Women’s Club of the Upper Valley. The IWC will celebrate its 20th Anniversary this year. They’ve invited Nazy to the celebration (and asked me to tag along.)
In preparation, we both applied for our TSA Pre-Check, Known Traveler numbers. Mine was granted in a few days. Nazy’s was stalled...”
“You shouldn’t have been born in Iran,” I helpfully explained.
“Dan..”
“Just saying..”
I am happy to report that following almost six weeks of study, the US government has decided that my 5’2” wife is not a threat to national security. In fact, in an unusual twist..
“You got your TSA approval the very same day that Darius got his Iranian visa.”
“Your conclusion, Dan?”
“The State Department doesn’t talk to the Department of Homeland Security. Or..”
“Or?”
“Or, the whole thing has been outsourced to Malaysia - and the same group that’s (supposedly) looking for Malaysian Airlines flight 370.”
“In any case, the flight will be smooth and easy because of this pre-clearance.”
“Yep!” I agreed enthusiastically. “I won’t tell her about the runway construction in SFO where we change planes, ” I thought.
Nazy helping transport the rocking horse