Wet Fish

(Day 7 & 8)

Going away for nearly 6 months is a huge thing, and the last 5 days have been spent in preparing the house for it. So the knick-knacks have all been put away, the refrigerator emptied of anything likely to grow fungus or stink by the time I come back, and the giant cushions in the living room relegated under a bed sheet. I’ve also been putting away all the pillows and blankets inside cupboards, trying to empty the stocks of rice and flour (by giving them to the maids) and sealing shut all the windows in the house. Then there is the car and bike that are to be put under their covers, the random boxes and cartons moved to the store and newspaper stuffed under doors.

Why the neurosis? Because I live in a land surrounded on all sides by sand. This loosely translates into periodic (and lately with increasing frequency and intensity) dust-storms. And for anyone knowledgeable about this natural phenomenon, it means at least a 2 inch layer of dust over everything and mini sand dunes under windows and doors.

Of course, as the Fellow says (in response to my many cribs about packing up the house) when you’re living in a desert, you’re fighting a losing battle. After all a fish can’t complain of being wet can it?