Getting the Facts Straight

November 2010

He Said

All over the world people are concerned about conserving
energy, going green,saving the trees, conserving water,
and cutting off the lights. But not in her house. She has
lights set up in the dog's room to come on and off by a
timer whether we are there are not. She doesn't want the
pooch wandering around in the dark looking for her favorite
toy, poor thing!. There is a light in the dining room, also
on a timer, that comes on at dusk and turns off sometime in
the middle of the night. There is a light in the foyer, also
on a timer, that comes on at dark and stays on till late at
night. There is a night light in the bathroom, the spare
bathroom I might add, that stays on all night. When she
enters a room she turns on the light. When she enters another
room she turns on the light. None of these lights get turned
off until she is ready to go to bed. When I ask her about
conserving energy, her response is usually something like a
light bulb cost about fifty cents to burn all month. When I
ask her where she gets her information, she says the Internet.
As we all know the Internet is now our main source of knowledge.
We also know that the Internet information highway is strewn with
not only useless information, but also misguided information.
I am not saying that the fifty cents guideline is wrong,
but as my Mother use to say," a penny saved is a penny earned".
I have noticed that since the time we have dated,her children
have learned well from their mother. No light in the house is
ever turned off until bedtime. Her other response is she wants
to have the house look lived in. "If all the lights are out in
the house, the house looks unhealthy" , she says. I guess to me
getting a five hundred dollar light bill every month would make
me and my wallet feel unhealthy.

She Said

I love Thomas Kincaid's paintings and the closest I'm going
to get to a serene setting like that is by leaving a few lights
on here and there. Which is more inviting...a dark, gloomy
house that is an invitation to be broken into or a home glowing
with lights and warmth from a fire in the fireplace and
maybe even soft music playing. Who wants to walk around
in a house stumbling over chairs, bumping into doors, or
tripping over someone's shoes who couldn't quite find a place
for them other than in the middle of the floor? Mr. Scrooge
wants everything turned off as a person leaves the room and
turned on again when they come back. Have you seen the TV
commercial of the man who goes around the house unplugging
lights, coffee maker, toaster, radio, TV, etc., to save
electricity? You wrote that ad didn't you, Mr. Ad Man?
Who is going to crawl behind the sofa, bed, kitchen cabinet,
etc, to plug them back in when they are needed again?
I remember going to my Dad's in Virginia Beach on weekends
from college and when we drove up, all the yard lights
were on as well as the lights inside. What a welcome home!
It just wouldn't have been the same if I drove up to
a dark house. As far as my kids go, if leaving lights
on is something they learned from me then I'll take it
as a compliment that maybe some other things I taught
them are etched in their minds.

The Look of Love

He Said

Men and women have always seen the world though different
eyes. She and I can look at the horizon on the beach and
she sees a beautiful golden sun rising over the deep blue
ocean. I see a sailor’s lament “ RED SKY IN THE MORNING,
SAILORS TAKE WARNING. RED SKY AT NIGHT, SAILOR’S DELIGHT”.
She and I can also listen to the same conversation and
come up with entirely different interpretations. How can
this be? We both hear the same conversation and two minutes
later we are discussing the message from two different
perspectives. The other morning I stopped by her house
for breakfast. I kissed her good morning, we chatted a bit,
and ate breakfast together . I kissed her goodbye and left
for work. Later that night we were eating dinner together
and I ask her if she noticed anything different about me.
She said, “now that you mention it, it does look like you
have lost a few pounds”.
" A few pounds, my foot! I shaved my beard off two days
ago and you haven't even noticed!" I said. Now in case you
have missed the point, she can look at me, kiss me, hug me,
talk to me, sit across from me at the table for a couple of
meals and never really see me. I have had this growth on my
face for years. The moral of this rant is this. Your better
half can look at you and never see you. Or to put it another
way, they may only see the part of you that they want to see.
She could be looking right through me because she doesn’t want
to see me. I can guarantee you one thing. If she ever grows a
beard, Mr. Observant here will be the first to know it, and
believe you me, I will tell her.

She Said

Why is everything always all about you? Did it ever occur to
you that I may have had my mind on other things: like work,
what to wear, is it a bad hair day, or does Sophie need
anything before I leave? I mean important things! You can
shave your beard and it grows back in two days so what have
I missed? Sure, we see things differently. That just means
that I'm right and you're wrong but since I choose my battles,
I just keep quiet most of the time. That's a pretty deep
thought...I look at you and don't really "see" you. When I
look at you, I see a gentle, loving man who cares deeply
about his family, his work, his church, and his friends.
I see someone with a passion for shopping, collecting
"trinkets", listening to music, and joking around with
everyone. I see someone who has a lot of talent in the
field of art but won't develop it. I see a man who hates
exercise but loves to eat and also one who would rather
be inside than outside. I see you as extremely
argumentative when you really don't care about the
opposing side; you just want to ignite controversy.
So if I don't know whether you have bristles on your
face or not from one day to the next, what does it
matter? I do see the real you. I think your face looks
nice albeit with years of expression lines (wrinkles);
but I like the beard too. Maybe you can grow it back
by winter so it'll keep your face warm. By the way...did
you notice that I cleaned the house, cut the grass,
chopped down weeds in the back yard, fixed dinner,
washed and ironed clothes, and did the grocery shopping?
I didn't think so