June 14, 2021. Canyon Lake, Texas. Bruce the Plumber.

Bruce has been our plumber the whole time since we purchased the house, so when I noticed a small amount of water running in the girl's toilet, I wondered if our long time plumber was still in business. Actually, I could not remember his name but my systems bailed me out. Our old telephone book held his name and number. I phoned him. His voice sounded old and he had trouble hearing me. But he remembered the house and he thought he could come by today for the two small plumbing problems. He actually called at 11:30 to say that he had finished his work in Village West, where I live, and asked if he could come right over. I said yes. Now we bought this place in 1996 and Bruce of Canyon Lake Plumbing is still in business. I did not remember that he was really young all those years ago so I knew he must be old. And he was. But he did the job. He came right in and fixed the problems and quickly too. He sat in the adjacent chair to mine when I was writing the cheque and we started chatting. I do not recall ever talking to him in the past but today we had a conversation. He remembered the key we kept in the outside shower for him. That shower is no longer there. And he remembered that we once lived in Maryland, a state he likes very much. And we talked about Galveston. It turns out that he has been and still is, a lifelong Birder. He is active with the birding community in the US. And he knows Jim, the man who sends me the bird pictures every week. When I told David that the plumbing issues were fixed and that Bruce did the job, David recalled that the last time he saw Bruce he thought that Bruce seemed weary and old. Today he was just old. I commented to Bruce that I was pleased to see him. He respended back to me that he would rather have me see him than view him. And we laughed.