Page 15 - Asheville NC Revised2

“You could tone down the bathroom scene. There may be too much sex for the contest judges. One might give you a non-literary call.”
“Was that jealously? It definitely was criticism. I’ll just drop the whole scene!”
“That’s not what I meant! I swore off jealousy in grammar school. And there are STD considerations...”
Luckily the plumber rang the doorbell. Grace held a finger up to me then went to let him in, escorting him to basement while I explored parts of the house.
“On second thought, I wouldn’t change a thing,” I said when she returned. “It’s a fine scene. You have such a nice restroom down the hall that maybe we could pretend the plumber is a room full of suits?”
“Just drop it,” she said smiling. “Maybe it’s time to critique you?” We sat down on soft chairs divided by a small table holding a big globe. “How can you deny there was someone or something that had a hand in making these beautiful Blue Ridge Mountains?” she asked pointing towards the peaceful woods behind her house. They insulated her from more woods of the Blue Ridge Parkway that formed one border of Belmont Forest. “I believe in evolution,” she continued, “but it’s still an awesome miracle. I’ve heard it compared a 747 being assembled due a tornado hitting a junk yard.”
I twirled the globe and stopped it with a finger that landed on Madagascar. “That’s where we’ll go for the weekend,” I said. “We can see some of the evolutionary crazies, the ring-tailed lemurs.”
“Yeah! Let’s get plane reservations!” she said with childish, endearing enthusiasm.
“I was only joking. I’m never gonna risk my life by elevating my body 36,000 feet and accelerating it 600 mph to see some little monkey I can see on TV. However, it is true that evolution, or whatever, is a miracle beyond comprehension. I mean most people can’t conceive of a hundred years, much less three billion years.”
“So hold on. You wouldn’t fly with me?”
“I wouldn’t fly at all. I’ve already done it plenty and don’t want to press my luck.”
“That stats prove it’s the safest way to travel.”
“I know. But without planes you wouldn’t have taken most of those trips in the first place. Flying the friendly skies is adding a whole new death risk just because Madison Avenue yells you should want to go anywhere, anytime, and in almost no time. It’s totally giving up personal safety concerns to an incomprehensible technology and some unknown pilot.”
“You do that when you drive 80 mph through Atlanta, bumper to bumper.” “Absolutely. I avoid Atlanta at almost all costs.”