Bob to the Rescue

"Phone for you, Bob."

Friday morning in Hot Springs, SD. One of the renters of the building that Bob manages was calling.

After Bob's inspection of a water leak that slithered in next to the chimney in the apartment after weeks of almost constant rain, he dubbed it too wet to repair at the time. He needed it to dry out before he could caulk it and complete the repairs.

Not long after we came home I was retuning from the neighbors when I heard a strange sound.

"Squawk, squawk!" The unfamiliar sound came from our garden. Then I heard another sort of odd scream. It sounded near our chicken pen. I walked into our garden and found Bob on his knees talking to something hidden in the tall grasses.

"Come on, you stupid chicken. You got in there so help me get you out." Bob was carefully trying to move the chicken who was solidly stuck between the fence and the chicken pen. One thing I know about my husband after many years of marriage, is that he is patient in trying to solve a dilemma and will examine the situation carefully and, in the end, right the problem.

And he did. The chicken was rescued and without so much as a thank you she fussed and clucked her way back to the pen and disappeared into the coop. Bob re-righted the fence he had taken apart to release the trapped chicken and fenced off the hole that the chicken had blasted her way through. He then continued his mowing and other spring yard work chores.

I thought back to the numerous times during our lives together when Bob had fixed, repaired, mended, altered, shaped, developed things that made my life or the lives of friends and neighbors easier. Stuff is manageable with Bob around. He studies the problem and, if at all possible, solves it in his careful, deliberate manner.

One thing that stands out is his invention of an automatic cat feeder that was set to go off twice a day while we were on a trip. The neighbor, who checked in on our cats, just in case, stopped off at those times each day to view the cats waiting eagerly at the feeder for the allotted food to pour out.

Friends and neighbors who are aware of Bob's talents are also grateful to have Bob come to their aid, be it fixing a motorcycle or correcting a lock. If someone says, "It can't be done", Bob sees that as a challenge. I remember a visit to my Aunt Marie in Indiana in her home filled with a multitude of chiming clocks, sent to her over the years by her son. One unique, German Flying Pendulum clock was stopped. "I brought it to several clock professionals and none could fix it," she sighed. She said the magic words and during that long summer afternoon as my aunt and I admired family photos and shared stories, Bob worked on that clock. By evening it was ticking along with the rest of the cuckoos and chimers while its pendulum swung back and forth, back and forth.

"How wonderful", said my grateful aunt. When I die I want you to have the clock." Of course a year later another relative stopped, admired that clock and left Aunt Marie's home with it under his arm.

No matter. I have the most comforting and reassuring of gifts. I share my life with a man who continues to fix and invent whatever needs arise. I am blessed far more with this man at my side than sharing a wall space with an imported German clock.