A Day at Home Depot
Those of you who read this blog regularly know I have a thing about hardware stores . . . Lowe’s, Home Depot, Ace . . .I can spend hours.
Right now, however, we are doing some renovations on a Florida house, and oh! I am learning so much. I am learning that the very best contractor can’t guarantee that a project will be brought in during the time he promised, that supply lines get kinked, that when you think you have made a very complicated decision (like what kind of counter top you want) it branches into a whole lot more decisions (electrical outlets, wall treatment, edge treatment, sink choice, faucet choices, hauling away and tearing out of original fixtures, plumbing fixtures. . . ) and oh, my head was swimming. It took two hours just to arrange something I smugly thought I had thought through.
Thank God there are people who know a lot more than I do, and who can make me face the tough questions.
As I was leaving the Home Depot, the skies broke loose and water poured down. I waited at the entrance about half an hour, thinking it would lighten up. When it lightened – a little – I ran to the car, but was totally soaked, shoes, clothing, hair – there wasn’t a try spot on me. And the rain continued to pour down. I thought of how badly Pensacola needs this rain, and how welcome rain is in Kuwait, and Doha, when it comes. I sat in the car another half hour, as the rain was flooding through the parking lot, and you couldn’t see very far.
As I was working with the counter-guy, he asked me how I liked living in Kuwait.
I told him I liked it.
“What are the people like?” he asked.
They are good neighbors,” I replied, “A lot like the people in Pensacola. They are believers. They are kind, and generous in spirit. And Kuwait has it’s own beauty, you just have to open your eyes to seeing things in a different way.”
I didn’t tell him about you, my blogging friends, because I’m not sure he is familiar with blogging. And because even here, I treasure my privacy.
Finally, the rain lightened enough for me to drive, very slowly, home, trying to avoid places in the roads where the drains were stopped up or clogged, and water was a foot deep or so. Made it home safely, al hamdallah!
It’s all Relative
I lived in Florida for six years once, in another life. I hated it.
At first, I was enchanted. It was so warm! And the air was humid and soft! And I went into my first Home Depot and fell totally in love. We had our own pool, we had pool toys and a new Florida life style and we were having fun.
Then, September came. And it was still hot and humid. Nothing changed. I waited expectantly for the cool breezes to begin, for the leaves to turn, all the things I was used to happening in September, including getting out my winter clothes – none of that happened.
I remember the first cool breeze. It was October 20th.
At Thanksgiving, we were still using the air conditioning. I had figured out by then that the hot, humid air made me sweat when I did housework, and made exercise much less attractive. Even sedentary activities like needlework seemed steamy and undesirable.
As I put up the Christmas tree, still with the air conditioning on, I was NOT happy. I really wanted some winter.
We did get one cold month, January, where we had two days of possible frost.
When we left Florida, I felt like I’d been let out of jail – I moved to Seattle and relished the coolness, even the rain. We have air conditioning, but in Seattle, we have never had to use it – the house stays cool, and the night breezes freshen everything up. I can have the windows open most of the year.
Now, back in Florida – from Kuwait – I am noticing how soft and warm the climate is once again, even in the torpid heat of summer. Record highs? No problem. I drove during rush hour traffic yesterday, and it was calm, relaxed . . . almost boring. I am probably the worst driver on the road – I have to remind myself to signal, and to take a deep breath – driving here is totally NON-aggressive.
Little Diamond sent me a clipping from the Kuwait Times on the AWARE center having a diwaniyya on driving problems in Kuwait, with the outcome that if laws were enforced, Kuwait would have far less of a problem. Amen.
This morning I awoke to the chirping of a cricket and the cries of pelicans flying over. Big clouds, threatening thunder, crowded out the clear blue of the sky. And just down the street, I am not kidding, is a Lebanese restaurant. Life is sweet.
New Mansions in Mangaf (3)
Last – the Grand Finale:
How many people live in a house like this? Is it divided into apartments? When we were looking for a villa, we were shown many houses like this, houses so BIG for two people and a cat that I was afraid we would rattle around in them like marbles. Some houses had four or five living rooms. More than one had a swimming pool on the main floor as you walked into the house. Most had kitchens outside the house, connected by a walkway, and only a tiny microwave/small fridge/coffee maker kind of kitchen inside the house. I am guessing these houses are similar.
This has to be an apartment, or several branches of the same family will all have separate suites, with some rooms in common. It’s beautiful, isn’t it?
New Mansions in Mangaf (2)
Continued!
This house has a fortunate location, not so close to all the others. Watch in the next few photos – the houses are lovely, but only feet from one another along the sides. It means there will be some very dark rooms on the inside, unless they have a center courtyard, and few of these houses do:
Nice proportions, but looks dark inside:
A little bit close:
These are close, but there is no one right across the street looking in your windows:
Many have “For Rent” signs on them!
New Mansions in Mangaf (1)
A whole new neighborhood is going up in Mangaf, where once there was nothing but empty land. The streets are strewn with building materials, and sand, and cluttered with construction, but it won’t be long before this neighborhood is up and running.
I love that the designers put an old fashioned wind tower on the top of this house:
Squint your eyes, and you can see the potential here:
This is one of the smaller new houses going up – and even so, it could probably hold ten people without crowding:
Another nicely sized single family home:
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