[pct-l] The Long Suffering Mrs. Switchback

[g l]

I don't know anything about any parallel universe, but I WOULD say your Thanksgiving day blew chunks...............

And I thought mine was bad......my grandson blew up my car engine....a 2005 Subaru WRX- turbo, on the holiday......a $4000 repair bill.  By comparison I'm feelin' lucky all of a sudden.

Hiking the rest of my life away is looking better all the time.

Wheeew
Jeffrey Olson <jolson at olc.edu> wrote: I'm sure this story has little parallel or metaphorical value, but
because I'm in a motel in Rapid City, SD waiting to take a flight out
to the bay area tomorrow in the AM, I feel like writing...

I spent thanksgiving with someone else's family.  The grandfather, Herb,
73 years old, talked nonstop.  He owned two Studebakers, was a
past-president of the local Studebaker club, owned a body shop for 40
years, and had one story after another, and no sign of ever getting
tired of talking about what interests him.  As the low man on the family
totem pole - a guest, not family - I spent 70% of my time with him.

Two of three of his kids were there.  The son spent the whole of
thanksgiving social time in the garage working on his sister's car. 
The daughter took her small dogs for four or five walks "so they could
do their business."  The son's wife helped in the kitchen, but she was
recovering from cancer and had a really depressed affect.

My friend, her mom and sister hung out and added weight to the family's
time together.  Everyone was on best behavior with family dynamics
coursing irrationally underneath.

The grandmother, Ella, who had a hip replaced six weeks earlier, spent
her whole time in the kitchen cooking.  I interacted with her only at
dinner, and everytime I asked her a question, Herb answered.  I tried
lowering my voice and asking her a question when Herb was talking with
someone else, but he heard and left one conversation for another.  Ella
gazed at me at one point as Herb was answering a question only she could
answer, with eyes that spoke not of tolerance, frustration, or
consciousness of sexism - no, they spoke of love, a love tinged with a
bit of resignation.  I saw the love when her eyes turned from me to
Herb.  I will take that shift in eyes with me to my grave - so much was
expressed.

Now I don't mean to imply that that the metaphor or parallel is real in
any way to that of Mr. and Mrs. Switchback.  However, we have heard
nothing from the distaff side of the equation, and have to wonder if
Mrs. Switchback is silently loving her man, a purposive silence.  She
knows Mr. Switchback has a life on this forum and is perhaps glad he
talks to us.  Perhaps.

The question for we curious minds who want to know - is, well, I'm not
sure what it is.  But it would be interesting to know the answer to what
we want to know...

Jeff, just Jeff, just playing around....


>---------------------------------------
>Switchback writes: Even though very few people on this List have met my wife, for some strange reason there seems to be much sympathy for her.  She seems to have become sort of a legend in her own right.  She does not even hike or is a Trail Pirate.  That does not seem to be reasonable or logical that she has her own notoriety in the trail community.  This puzzles me and is beginning to bug me.  
> 
>I bet her popularity is because she would have sympathy with the Female Terminator Leadership types.  This group is limited to the advance prototype liquid metal models.  Another good reason to keep her away from the hiker community and any negative propaganda.
> 
>Thoughtfully, Switchback - Rascal of the Trail
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