Not long after Margie and I had arrived to celebrate Jobe's first steps at his stepping out party, another vehicle pulled in. A stranger got out and started walking to the door. Inside, we were all very frightened because this stranger did not even ring the doorbell, he just opened the door and walked into the house.
Who could it be?
As the stranger reached the baby barrier at the top of the stairs, we could all see something oddly familiar in his appearance.
Was this man someone known to Ashley, Kalib and Jobe's little cousin who you will learn a bit more about in a future part?
No. Ashley was as puzzled by his appearance as we were.
The stranger moved to the couch. Jobe sure as hell did not recognize him.
"Who the hell are you?" Jobe asked. We were all very impressed and proud. Not only had Jobe just taken his first steps, he had uttered his first cuss word - and in the context of a fully formed sentence!
Jobe is pretty good at identifying people by the feel of their teeth. He reached out and placed his fingers inside the man's mouth so that he could get a good feel of the teeth.
"By hell!" Jobe shouted silently. "I recognize these teeth! It's Uncle Rex!"
By hell, it was. Rex - looking as we had not seen him look in a very long time. In fact, we had never seen him look quite this way, for he has changed a bit since last he was last clean shaven and his hair cut. Given his stubble, I thought perhaps he had already begun to regrow his beard.
"No," he said. "I shaved just two days ago. I don't want to shave every day, but I'm not growing it back."
Me - it's been close to three decades since I last shaved.
I found shaving to be a terrible and annoying waste of time.
It's snowing today, btw. Margie stayed in Anchorage to babysit Jobe and she says it is snowing pretty heavy there - a few inches so far. It is a light snow here. Maybe a quarter of an inch since breakfast.
This entire winter, we did not get a single really good snowstorm here. Just a few little ones.
I doubt that we will now, either. It would be fun, though, if we did - but not until after I go into town tonight to pick up Margie, among other things.
Here is Rex with his beard and long hair.