Dear George,
Recently my wife Katja left on a ten-day trip to Washington D.C. and Philadelphia. It’s been a while since I’ve been home alone, but I always look forward to it as a change in routine and a test of my self-sufficiency. On day one I drank too much whiskey, fell asleep at 6 p.m., and slept till noon the next day. That was my first lesson, and I didn’t make the same mistake again.
As retired people, Katja and I are together nearly all the time, and I still seem to respond to her imagined presence when she isn’t here. One evening I thought I heard her call my name from downstairs. Then, half asleep in the middle of the night, I heard her footsteps on the bedroom floor and felt her weight shifting in the bed. I do count on Katja to remind me of things. I forgot to put the garbage out last Monday night. Nobody shouts “Stop!” or “Watch out!” when I’m driving which makes travel a bit riskier.
The house is amazingly quiet. Some days I don’t say a single word. No one plays classical music on the radio all night or tunes into NPR in the morning. I do watch TV, but I never watch QVC, the Home Shopping Network, or the many cooking and PBS shows that Katja records on our DVR.
Katja and I have different attitudes toward household life. She’s more casual; I’m more compulsive. One of the things I like best about being home alone is the sense of order that I maintain. I always make sure the door are locked. I turn the lights off when I leave the room. Likewise for the TV. I’m careful to separate the recycling and the trash according to city rules. The sink is always clean, the bed is made. I keep the A/C set on a warmer temperature, e.g., 74 degrees. I never answer phone calls from Toledo or Mount Healthy.
My life alone does lack adventure. When I was younger and Katja went away, I’d eat out at restaurants, get together with a friend, go to the movies, even take a short trip. Now I fuss around on the computer, watch TV, do some scrapbooking, read some Moby Dick, and take a walk or go to the fitness center. I’m waiting for Katja to get home so we can do more exciting stuff. That will make me happy.
Love,
Dave
