Comments from 26 July

Kellie said...
you are right, It MIGHT be an injustice to him but Liz (or rather I) do not KNOW it has nothing to do with her, you have penned some of her doubts, like she felt she did something wrong ....right? those are the struggles I talk about. Sometimes it is hard to know WHICH type of struggle he is dealing with because he does not say. I think Liz WOULD speak up more but Einars attitude prevents it because she does not KNOW what he is feeling/thinking..... BTDT

No, I don’t suppose Liz has any way of knowing for certain that Einar’s inability/unwillingness to communicate certain things has nothing to do with her, but I guess that’s the point. It’s almost always a mistake to assume something like that is all about “you,” and to take it personally, yet that’s what people almost always seem to end up doing, and it appears to lead to a lot of misunderstandings. Everyone has their own private struggles in this life, and it might make things go a lot more smoothly between folks sometimes if we could all keep that in mind, and not be so quick to be offended and take things personally. At least, that’s how I see it.

AlaskaSue said...
I keep flashing on The Gift of the Magi. These two love each other so much and think of the other so much, but end up more or less at cross-purposes, though they are actually united in their intent. Liz was happy that Einar stayed inside - not that he left work for her to do. But she's angry he's not working on the other stuff, that he's not allowing himself to get healthy. And he's confused because she (wisely) didn't say anything so thinks she's mad about having to do the work!
I think she'd better lay off the rabbit stick, though Einar always seems to think he deserves it the goofy guy. ;^)

Well, he probably does deserve it, but that’s beside the point…

Yes, they’re each making a huge effort to understand the other, and to make things easier/better for the other, but I guess most times Liz does do a good bit better at it than Einar, ornery old mountain critter that he is.

AlaskaSue said... I just realized again how much I've learned from this entire story - now I will ALWAYS think about my fires, even if right now I don't care about smoke, I want to try to be smokeless to get the skill (thinking of your firehole and rock lid). You never know! Going dip-netting for salmon Saturday, and will give it a try ~

Great! Just choose the driest wood you can find, and without too much pitch or bark, and you should have a good start. These skills are not thing you can develop overnight, so now is definitely the time to practice them--before they’re needed!

Anonymous said...
I'm glad I found you 'over here',... Einar doesn't have a clue (and neither do I) on how his woman thinks... I thinks she'll 'teach' him... hopefully without too much of 'the rabbit stick'...
Great chapter! Thanks.. TheGatherer

Gatherer! Glad you’ve found your way here, too. Welcome!

Yep, I guess Liz is going to have to educate him, one way or another…