Kinda’ Hokey

I know it’s pretty sappy, but I’ve spent the past few days in my soon to be former home in Gilroy, CA- It’s empty, it’s cold, and I’m sleeping on the floor with a 9 inch TV and fozen tamales to keep me company.

I have cans of soup but no can opener.

The wife is in AZ with the bird and the cat and the dogs are at the in-laws. I can’t leave them alone in Gilroy, because I’m spending most of my time before the final move out of the house taking care of bidness.

Last time I left them alone for too long, Chuck ran up a serious phone bill calling 1-900-NKD-PUPS- it’s just a phase that I’m sure he’ll grow out of.

With the house so empty, I got to thinking about all the stuff I’ve packed over the past week or so- all the junk I’ve collected over the years- old cameras-old books- old stuff in general.

I’m carrying around clothes that I have no chance to ever fit in again- shirts that Wonderbread calls my “ugly shirts”- but they all remind me of old trips, old friends, old places and I can’t bring myself to throw them out.

Old pictures, or worse yet, old negatives that I will probably never print or even look at again- stupid old pens and even a box of bottle caps that I can’t bring myself to dump.

I have a box of locks with no keys, a box of keys with no locks- I've tried and they just don't match- but I still can't throw either box out.

I have a box of Lp’s- you know- really big, black CD’s? I don’t even have a record player anymore, but I have all these records that we used to sit around and listen to in the dark when I was a kid- Bill Cosby, Steve Martin, Jonathan Winters- and even an old Treasure Island story record from Disney.

Sitting alone in an empty house, I got to thinking of a Tom Waits song - House Where Nobody Lives- I know- hokey- but it fits- here’s a slice of it:

Once it held laughter
Once it held dreams
Did they throw it away
Did they know what it means
Did someone's heart break
Or did someone do someone wrong?
So if you find someone
Someone to have, someone to hold
Don't trade it for silver
Don't trade it for gold
I have all of life's treasures
And they are fine and they are good
They remind me that houses
Are just made of wood
What makes a house grand
Ain't the roof or the doors
If there's love in a house
It's a palace for sure
Without love...
It ain't nothin but a house
A house where nobody lives

A house and the stuff in it are fine and good- but without someone to share it with, the house might as well be empty- a house where nobody lives-

Don’t trade that someone for anything- silver or gold or Cosby records-

Make that house a palace.

I miss Charlie.

Oh- and my wife too.