Let's hear it for the boys

Here is Hanno with our boys, Kerry (left) and Shane. This was probably taken in 1983 or 1984.

I smiled when I read Heather's indoor clothes drying post on the Simple Green Frugal Co-op the other day. She made me smile with this: "I asked my husband to build us something that could take the place of our portable wooden drying racks." Gee, I've used a similar sentence so often over the past 30 years.

And still, I get what I ask for.

Hanno and I fit together like a pair of gloves. We aren't alike, but we sort of mirror each other; what he can do, I can't, what I can do, he can't. He's in the background of my blog, you might see him in photos working away, but in reality he's very much at the forefront of our lives. I had to talk him into living this way, and he took some convincing, but once he took the plunge, he was in it with me 100% and every day he reaffirms his commitment to living simply, just as I do.

I guess it's like that with a lot of wives here. They work on their blogs and while we see glimpses of the boys in the background, they're always there making drying racks, connecting water tanks, looking after the children, shifting snow, carrying heavy parcels, and being supportive in the quietest of ways. I know that Claude is there with Sharon, Big Papa is there for Jewels, Matt is supporting Melinda, we see little glimpses of Jerry with Suzan. And there are a hundred others I see when I visit the community of friends we have here. The husbands, partners, boyfriends are all there in the background of these blogs, building, carrying, guiding, talking, holding and providing. Happily, every so often, we see a husband venture forth with a post when a wife is otherwise busy, or ill, or having the newest baby. If you have ever doubted this husbandly devotion, read this from Soulepapa. Those little Soules have a wonderful father there - a man who will teach his children that strength mixed with tenderness is the finest concoction.

But what of the man who lurks in the background of this blog. Well, when I returned from work yesterday afternoon, he was in the backyard. I'm not sure what he was doing, probably watering the vegetables, or collecting them. He came over to help me with what I had brought home - my basket, along with a big pile of tea towels, tablecloths, net food covers and cleaning cloths that had been folded up and left on the kitchen table at the Centre over Christmas. (Not good.) He asked me what the bundle was, took it from me and quickly sorted it all out, shaking each item, as he put it in our outdoor washing machine. (Later, after I went to bed, it was all hug out to dry.) We went inside with me telling him all the days big events, and while I sat at the kitchen table, he served up dinner and icy cold glasses of water.

And ... he tidied up afterwards.

So I just wanted to devote an entire post to Hanno and the rest of the husbands and boyfriends who usually lurk in the background of our blogs. I am very thankful for Hanno, I appreciate all he does, and the older we get, the more I feel that. Now, if only he would build that outdoor bread oven I want, everything would be perfect. ; - )

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