The Perfect Wife (Post #225) 12/1/2010

I know I read this line somewhere but I can’t find the reference.

Its a rare thing and when you find it, you should grab it with both hands and hold on to it.

Maybe its a paraphrase of something I heard in my youth. I found some lyrics to a song by Outkast that come close. Some where around the 3:20 mark you’ll hear the prophetic lines…

So if you find one, I beg you, hold her tight
If you spot one, good sir, treat her right

Some of the comments on the video are funny.

Kinda old song, but I like it and i feel a lot of people need to hear it.  – dh2130, June 28, 2008

According to Wikipedia the album was released September 23, 2003.
Kinda old? 
That’s funny. But dh2130 is right, a lot of people do need to hear this.

You will encounter things your entire life that will hopefully fit in to this “hold on to it philosophy”. It could be a Camel Trophy vehicle, it could be a classic motorcycle, it could be a rare photograph or painting that really speaks to you. And it could be a lady.

I got the following text from my good friend JagGuy today…

So I’m laying in bed with my wife last night and she said to me the most wonderful thing,
“I think you should buy some more army trucks.”
I love my wife!!!!!

My best friend has been working on a new venture and he enjoys the work and turns out a product people really want. It would seem at first that his wife is happy with it and he should do more of it. How awesome is that?

My response to him was skeptical, mostly because I know his wife. In general I would say I “know” most people’s wives…

Is this after you gave her the Tiffany tennis bracelet?

It turns out I was close, this was actually in response to him selling another of his Bobbed Dueces. I’m pretty sure JagGuy is going to hold on to Mrs. JagGuy, as you can tell above, she’s a keeper.

But what if this was due to the fact that they both had a hobby they enjoyed….together? 

They may have a hobby they do together, I don’t know. But that quote got me thinking. Besides the obvious hobby couples share and usually both enjoy, only a few of my friends have hobbies their wives enjoy with them. A quick survey of my closest circle of friends produces only a few things some of the couples have in common. Kids, sports, grand kids, movies…kinda bleak.

I know my hobbies. Let’s see if any of them line up with Mrs. OkieRover…
Land Rovers?…not a hobby of my wife.
Living History?…again not a hobby of my wife.
Firearms?...nope.
Soccer?…not a chance.
Camping…not YET a hobby of my wife. I hope to change this in the coming year.

We both love to go on road trips.
We both love staying away from home.

Now all I have to do is combine road trip with staying away from home in a tent and BOOM we have a hobby together. I think I can add bird watching and swimming in the ocean to the package and sweeten the deal. Mrs. OkieRover doesn’t do cold weather.

See when you have a woman, like Mrs. OkieRover, you hold on to her. She has put up with a lot of my crap over the years. She has allowed me to have hobbies and spend time doing stuff I LIKE for 20 years. We played competitive softball for a few years together, but our bodies have not allowed softball since we gave it up to watch our kids play sports.

We are just a few short years from being what is known as “empty-nesters”. Our nest, which we have built over the last 20 plus years is going to be a few bodies short in just a few years. And until now, we haven’t thought much about it. But with only teenagers in the house the last few years we have been able to steal away a few trips. And we like it.

Our future is coming at us faster than a K5 Blazer without brakes on the Lion’s Back in Moab.

Now we are looking at have what might appear to be years and years of time to entertain ourselves. We have got to find something we both like to do…together… other than play backgammon. We need to find something to do away  from the house….together.

The obvious is travel.
Lots of couples travel together.
I have a Land Rover. Hey! you can travel in a Land Rover, I’ve seen it.
My wife has a … ummm, uh, a love for my company! Yeah! Well most of the time anyway.

My wife loves my cooking, for the most part.
I love the way she moves her mouth when she eats.
See we are perfect for each other! Perhaps we can enjoy cooking and eating in the wilderness together.

Cooking is a very popular activity in the off-roading magazines. It seems lots of foodies love off-roading. Expedition Exchange used to have the Iron Chef Showdown. Teams would compete by cooking a gourmet meal. We are not gourmet meal people but we both enjoy a nice steak and a baked potato. I know I’ll enjoy cooking us some nice dinners while we are camping.

Or perhaps we can get the grand kids and take them camping and fishing. Maybe we can throw in some board games and some swimming or surfing, maybe some star gazing and some bird watching and make a good time of it. I’m sure the grand kids will love it…at least they will until it begins to interrupt what ever hand held gaming system they will own and what ever cell phones are like in the future.

The possibilities are endless. Well, not endless per se. We just have to find something and try it. I’ll have to have patience as we work out what we like to do together and Mrs. OkieRover will have to adjust to not having a roof over her head and waking up in a hotel every morning.

I can’t wait to see what the future will be like. I hope it is filled with lots of mornings waking up in some remote place and spending lots of time together.

Like my quote above, I’m going to put her in the Range Rover and hold on to her with both hands. Wait, she usually fusses at me when I don’t drive with both hands. She always says something like, “I can’t believe you are driving with your knees and eating a cheeseburger.” Okay maybe I’ll hold her with just one hand, I’ll use the other to steer.

As the famous Geritol commercial from the 1970s says, “My wife, I think I’ll keep her.”
I wish I could have found that clip online…and you thought the internet had everything.

Thanks for reading and Happy Rovering.