My Pirate and Super Charlie

My Pirate, my sweet darling husband, has an alter ego like all super heroes do.  By day, he is My Pirate and by project, he is Super Charlie.  Super Charlie is best described as a blend of George of the Jungle and Tim the Toolman Taylor from Home Improvement.  In the middle of projects, I watch my husband’s IQ drop and a wild gleam flares in his eyes as he obsessively fixates on finishing the project.  And in that moment, I imagine a large super hero cape billowing around Super Charlie.  

I first met Super Charlie when we started remodeling a Portland Bungalow, eleven years ago.  I went out for groceries and returned home to find that Super Charlie had torn the back of the garage off while I was gone.  I was completely bewildered until I discovered the antidote, his kryptonite, so to speak.  Rum.  One single sip of a rum beverage and POOF!  He transforms back into his mild mannered self once more.  And that is how he has earned his nickname, My Pirate.  Projects followed by rum are a necessity in our house.  

Several weeks ago, I bought My Pirate a pressure washer.  Sheer madness on my part.  I knew it at the time.  But, we have a huge moss problem on our roof, living under a shady fir tree and all.  And Super Charlie has done a fantastic job spraying the moss off of the roof.  He’s earned every drop of rum he’s enjoyed. 

As you know, spraying a carpet of moss off of a roof is messy. All the plants near the house are dirty and speckled with needles and moss.  And that’s when he gets into trouble…Super Charlie pressure washes plants.  As I was painting a project this week, I looked out of the window in time to catch him pressure washing my chocolate vine, akebia quinata, on our pergola. 

And did I panic?  No, I did not. I simply raced outside and calmly told him that it was time to come inside and enjoy a drink.  The vine will recover.  Super Charlie showed some restraint this time and even left some flowers on it.  And now you know how my hubby has earned his nickname, My Pirate.