Oh, frabjous day! So, I’m mixing my quotes — Ali Baba and the Forty Thieves and Jabberwocky — but I don’t care. My garage opener has been installed!
No more struggling with a car cover, no more sweating out storms to make sure my car doesn’t sustain any damage (as if even a bucket of my sweat would stay a single hailstone or slow so much as a gust of wind), no more announcing my away-from-home status by the absence of the vehicle. The bug is snug in its beautiful new home, and oh, how wonderful is modern day magic! I don’t have to say open sesame or crack a sound. All I do is press a button and . . . presto. The door opens by magic.
And the magic is all mine.
The wonderful magician who installed this magic apparatus understands me well — he double bolted the mechanism to two different trusses to make sure there is no way it will ever fall on my car. (Worrier that I am, that thought did cross my mind and even my lips.)
Sometimes I worry that I’m getting too caught up in the things of my current life, but how I can I not? It’s all so magical. Water comes to me with a twist of a knob. Wastes are washed away with the touch of a finger. Foods heat up without a flame. My non-nomadic abode requires no effort to put up or take down — it stays put. And the sturdy walls protect me from the elements and even provide my own microclimate.
Magic for sure!
When the installer left today, I took a short ride for no other reason than the thrill of opening and closing the door. The creepy, thieving, drug-dealing, loud-music-playing neighbor took that very moment to wander down the alley, which made me especially glad about the secure garage. It made me nervous at first, his seeing inside the garage, but maybe it’s for the best. This way he knows that he can’t easily get to anything in the building.
It would be nice if everyone in the neighborhood was as trustworthy as the rest of my neighbors, but I suppose any magic kingdom needs its trolls and trollocs, its devil toads and poison mushrooms, its evil minions. At least my nemesis is only human. But I’m straying from the point. Or not. After all, I’m talking about magic, and that includes the protective spells of locked gates and secure buildings that keep the crone safe.
Yep. Magic.
***
Pat Bertram is the author of Grief: The Inside Story – A Guide to Surviving the Loss of a Loved One. “Grief: The Inside Story is perfect and that is not hyperbole! It is exactly what folk who are grieving need to read.” –Leesa Healy, RN, GDAS GDAT, Emotional/Mental Health Therapist & Educator
Bertram's Blog 
July 16, 2020 at 9:33 pm
I really, truly, hate to break the spell on this, but the low-life neighbour likely looks at a better-locked-up garage as a tell there’s now something worth stealing in it. 30 seconds with a crowbar would probably satisfy his curiosity.
He needs to understand that either there really isn’t anything worth stealing in it, or that someone might enjoy 30 seconds of quality time with a crowbar on his skull while he sates his curiosity, just to break up the day. No warnings. No “No Trespassing” signs. No cops. Just a crazy old coot who just might love to bait a low-life into a garage for the heck of it. Crazy old coots like to have fun too, and a good old low-life head stomp just might fit the bill.
This seems to keep low-life (humans) away from my carport/shed, and keeps me from putting anything worth stealing there. I just wish it worked as well on low-life rodents. They call my bluff every time.
I’ve never had a garage door opener on any homes I’ve owned. I have on rentals though, and there is something sort of magically bat-lair about them.
July 17, 2020 at 7:35 am
Then I am especially glad he saw into the garage. He and his ilk are looking for tools and such they can easily carry and sell, and all my tools are still in the house. They are also creatures of impulse and easy takings. I can’t imagine any of them carrying a crowbar.
I hesitate putting a lock on the door because if I didn’t disengage it before opening the door, I could burn out the opener, but if it looks as if it could be necessary, I will,
I appreciate the warning, though.
I probably couldn’t carry off the crazy old coot with a crowbar scenario, but I do know someone who volunteered to go after the guy if he ever tries anything.
July 17, 2020 at 7:43 am
It looks beautiful;!! I know that make you feel so much better! I’m glad that all your projects are about complete!! Now you & your bug are all snug!! Congrats!!
July 17, 2020 at 12:21 pm
It probably seemed like the garage was taking forever, um, because it sort of was. But having it finished and ready to use: yep, magic. And I agree, seeing a wall full of mechanic’s tools or carpenter’s tools would probably be more interesting that a VW that would be hard to fence.
July 17, 2020 at 3:36 pm
For sure. Especially since a lot of people in town know who the bug belongs to. I’m just glad the garage is done before any weather damage was done to the car. I would not have been happy about that!
July 17, 2020 at 2:12 pm
Wonderful!!