I want to write yesterday down, not because it was extraordinary or special, but because there was nice variety and fun little incidents along the way. The day started out ordinary enough with our coffee time before going our separate ways.
My day was cleared for just one major project. But I’m getting ahead of my story. I bought a car last Saturday. It needs a muffler and a new battery. I removed the pitch that had dripped on the hood and roof easily with the right spray can from Napa and Elv got the window motor to function.
But there was one huge fly in the ointment to keep any pleasure and excitement over a newer set of wheels under. I was really looking forward to quiet comfort and “cruise” again after over a year of bombing around in the ‘93 Jeep.( I know all the guys are still enamored with the Jeep. Like when we traded vehicles with Elv’s brother Steve to go to Idaho, the guys at Steve’s church stood around the old Jeep and admired it. Being a woman, I don’t get it. Especially because at the moment the drivers door had a piece of plexi-glass for the window.)
But back to the fly, which was a very objectionable smell in the new van. We cleaned it all day. I went back most days since then, except Sunday, and did something to combat the enemy. The smell would die down briefly but would be back better than ever within hours. We tried ammonia, soda, lemon grass, Glade powders, and air fresheners. Finally, a friend offered us a detailer steam cleaning machine.
Now I am finally up to yesterday morning. The plan for the day was to buy more cleaner options and use the steam machine. Frances and I went to Wal-mart where I bought white vinegar, hydrogen peroxide, more Glade, Woolite upholstery cleaner, and Armor car spray deodorizer. But I wanted a “green” cleaner because in my research I discovered that sometimes the non-chemical cleaners do a better job.
So we went to 2nd Street Market which is an organic, whole foods, green, and healthy type store. We walked in and were met by the proprietress who showed us all the Seventh Generation and the like brands of cleaners. We stood and visited about my smelly van and what could be done for it. She mourned that the Citrosolv she had ordered hadn’t come in last week, because that would be just the thing. As we were talking a gentleman came up to us and asked us if we’d like to taste some freshly juiced vegetable and fruit product. Fresh carrots, so Frank declined, mango, tomato, and pineapple. It was very yummy. So there we were, standing in the aisle drinking juice and visiting. Suddenly the lady left our circle while Frances and I tried to see if any other products there might be something to try. By now I was grabbing at straws and I knew it. The lady came back to us presently and handed me a bottle about a third full of Citrosolv and begged me to take it and try it. We walked out of there having purchased nothing but forever hooked customers! Frances had managed in the time we were there to see the arrangement grains, flours, dried good in general and that they were not trying to sell us yoga, at least not overtly, in any way.
Back home, I had the hoses and cords and hot water all lined up, AND the Mytee Lite II machine all set to work in no time flat. All poised to tackle the enemy. But it would NOT spray. I stormed inside myself and prayed and called Patrick whose machine it is, and called Elv…twice. “You must have some idea for me, how I can get this thing going!” I told him.
He called back, “Hey, bring that hose out here and I’ll see if I can flush it out for you!” Thank God for a helpful, creative, resourceful husband! I loaded it up into the Jeep and headed out to the job five miles away. The trail is new and sandy and I was glad for the Jeep. Besides it doesn’t stink. Elv took a tiny vial out of the toolbox, removed the lid and threw the contents, five or six tiny needles, out onto a magnet that was mounted on the tailgate. He chose one needle and cleaned the tip of the spray nozzle on my hose. Ah, now we could see through it when we held it up to the light.
Back home again, I was soon in business. Let’s just say that a lot of the cleaners are either gone or somewhat down in the bottles and the machine cleaned out a lot of muddy looking stuff from the floor of that van. I felt victorious…for awhile. I know it is clean now. The bad smell is somewhat depreciated at least. Maybe next week’s scrubbing will get it, finally. But if any of you has a good idea I haven’t thought of, found in research, and tried, let me know. I’m still game for the battle.
The children left for Hunter’s Safety Class for the evening before Elv got home from work. Lance and I launched his boat on Windigo Lake and had just crossed the lake and settled over the fishing hole when Elv called from the landing, asking us to come get him, too. We did. Settled back down to putting parts of Canadian Night Crawlers on our hooks and feeding them to the fish. If you don’t know what a Canadian Night Crawler is just think baby snake with the color, texture, and sliminess of an earthworm. Elv and Lance both took pity on me and divided them and sometimes even wormed the hook for me. We caught a few panfish there, then moved across the lake to Elv’s favorite bass catching spot. He caught an 18 1/2 inch bass almost immediately which provided enough hope and expectation for more than an hour of contented fishing. Lance and I caught and released the whole bass nursery and I conclude that Elv must have caught the school master right off and then the babies didn’t know what to do anymore but try to get caught as well.
One of those babies swallowed the hook entirely and lost his life when Elv removed it. He threw it back into the lake where it flipped and flopped on the surface near the boat until an eagle flew down and grabbed it. That was a sight to watch. The eagle took it in his talons to a tree on the shore where we could see him eating it. Of course, we weren’t prepared for that kind of action and didn’t get any pictures. Lance got the brainstorm to try again and threw a smaller dying panfish from the live well out to watch the eagle show again. The eagle obliged nicely, tipped himself off the high branch above and torpedoed himself right down beside us grabbed the fish in his talons and mounted with beating wings back up to his branch. This is a rare sight and an exciting one even to us.
On our way home across the lake a pair of loons dove under the surface as we sped by making a huge wake that would end up somewhere in the bays making splashes on the shore line. While he stood with two finger tips on the wheel with the wind in his face, Lance declared that he was going to fetch some Shore Lunch from Wal-mart while Elv cleaned the fish and we’d have a late night fish fry. We did. I put the fragments in the fridge at 11:30 PM and cleaned up the kitchen this morning. Satisfactory day!
