Musings

It's odd to think that Enrico was out in the woods, all by himself in a tent, in the dark, with the sounds of the forest all around him. He's gone on solo trips before, but never this long and he usually takes a dog with him. So it was weird to think about last night.

This may have contributed to my weird dreams of intruders outside the house, which is very unusual for me. I have never once felt uneasy alone in the house so long as the dogs are with me. By bedtime, they had concluded that I didn't really lose Enrico, that he'll come home as we both always eventually do. The invitation up onto the bed wasn't even fully out of my mouth before they'd settled into their preferred spots on Enrico's side. If Nelly were still holding out hope for Enrico's return that night, she would have refused the invitation on principle, shooting me a withering, scolding look for my disloyalty at giving up on him so easily.

Today, putting my aspiring PI skills to work, I have been researching two properties that Monica and I noticed were for sale on our drive back from Enrico's drop-off point.

The first was a former church in a very quaint, 800-person town a little closer in to Seattle. Turns out the lovely, 100-year old white clapboard, complete with 4-bedroom apartment, can be purchased for a cool $600,000.

The second was a big building with lots of character in a tiny town, population 200, just this side of the pass. It has proved trickier and more intriguing. I learned that it was originally a boarding house for railroad personnel, and then was a hotel until 2000. I couldn't find any real estate listing for it, so I checked the county property records - last sold to a property management company in 2000, which proved a dead end. It is listed on numerous web sites devoted to ghosts, since it is allegedly haunted by a dead prostitute. I found the phone number for the local Chamber of Commerce, which is going to call me back with the scoop. (Clearly the "Chamber of Commerce" is just one of the 200 residents of the town who answers the five phone calls a year that they get about this sort of thing.)

Do I really picture us buying a haunted property out in the scenic boondocks and running the kind of business that occupies you 24/7? No, not really. Enrico would laugh, and laugh and laugh, and then laugh some more. But I can't resist checking it out, mentally trying things on for size every now and then. These are the kind of things that happens when I'm left to my own devices too long.