Visitors Always A Challenge For The Dust, Clutter Impaired
There’s mildew sprouting like acne on the bathroom windowsill in the Taggart house.
Half of the kitchen counter is naked plywood, and wet towels stew for days where the laundry chute ends in the basement. But I never really noticed until guests arrived.
First came Martin. He had traveled 8,000 miles from Sweden to spend a year in Idaho. The day he arrived last September I knew this shy, squeaky-clean teenager came from a family that banned dust and showed no mercy for clutter.
I desperately wanted him to feel at home his first few days, so I swept, dusted and disinfected areas I hadn’t touched in months. He didn’t notice. But he did notice the clutter so thick on the dining room table that there was no room to eat.
“My mother would go crazy,” he told me with a teasing smile as he helped me move it onto the floor. Was my housekeeping about to become an international issue?
I have to admit I liked knowing how clean our house was those first few weeks after Martin’s arrival. But no one else knew, unless they peeked under the bathroom window shades or at the woodwork above the doors.
If I was going to give up my early morning jog or an afternoon on Tubbs Hill with my daughter, I wanted some overt appreciation. Personal satisfaction just wasn’t enough.
It didn’t take long for the germ gardens to resprout.
Next month, my friend Joan from Colorado will start a two-month stay with us while she finishes her schooling.
Once again, I’m starting to notice things around our house, such as the heating-vent cobwebs that dance like underwater plants every time the heat starts.
Sigh. Time for the dust cloths and Lysol again, if I can remember where I left them. I’d rather use my time for reading, running, watching my daughters swim, anything - which is why it’s lucky people visit periodically.
My family’s health seems to depend on them.
Travelin’ man
What’s a guy from Weippe, Idaho, doing in Taejon, Korea? Teaching English Idaho-style. Journalist Mike Green wrote for North Idaho’s newspapers. Then he directed Wallace’s TESH program for several years.
But somewhere along the way, the travel itch hit Mike. Last year he took off for Central America where he hoped to teach English. But politics got in the way and he came home.
Last August, he left for Korea where he’s found the language baffling, the food spicy and the living expensive. But, education is revered in Korea and so are teachers.
Writes Mike, “I’m the closest I’ll ever get to sainthood.”
No wonder he’s thinking of staying an extra year.
Farther east
Shake off January gloom with a trip, if only from your armchair. The Museum of North Idaho’s travelogue series will take you to Hong Kong on Thursday for a pittance.
These are no home movies. Rick Howard will narrate and he’s just returned from 12 years in Hong Kong and China. The show starts at 7:30 p.m. in Lake City High’s auditorium. Call the museum at 664-3448 for tickets.
Linked cuffs
A lot of Coeur d’Alene high school students didn’t want cops on campus this year. But those cops have proven their usefulness. A week ago, the one at Lake City High hauled away Principal John Brumley in handcuffs.
The charge? Impersonating a referee at a basketball game. He must have made bail because he was back and smiling for the second game.
Referees seem oblivious to insults, baiting and pain. What’s the worst you’ve endured as a ref or you’ve see a ref endure? Complain about it to Cynthia Taggart, “Close to Home,” 608 Northwest Blvd., Suite 200, Coeur d’Alene 83814; FAX to 765-7149; or call 765-7128.
, DataTimes