Cicadas sighed long, hissing calls from the treetops. I stood a few moments on the back deck, listening to them on that hot, late summer afternoon. The sound of cicadas in August makes me think of bacon sizzling in a pan. When bacon fries, the fat is rendered. Cicadas announce that the fat days of summer are coming to an end.

            I heard Arnie working in the shed. A moment later I peeked in and saw him applying his welding torch to one side of a metal box he was constructing. Realizing I was standing in the doorway, my husband turned off the welder and flipped open his welding helmet. His ruddy face was beaded with sweat and smudged with soot. The acrid smell of hot metal filled the air. A radio in the back of the shed was playing a country western song.

Grinning, Arnie asked, “Have you heard this new song by Toby Keith?”

The voice on the radio sang, “I like talking about, you, you, you, usually. But occasionally, I wanna talk about me!”

I laughed, “That’s a cute song.”

Inspecting his weld seam, Arnie grumbled, “It’s clever, but it isn’t country western although they call it that. Country is starting to sound like pop music. I don’t like the change.”

Glancing around the workshop and seeing large metal plates of various sizes, I asked, “What are you working on?”

Arnie happily explained, “I’m making an outdoor furnace with a water jacket for us. The fire box will have several angles to its roof to efficiently heat the water. The hot water circulates underground into the house where it goes through a heat exchanger and then it comes back to the furnace to be reheated.”

I didn’t know we were getting a new furnace! Seeing my surprise, Arnie hastily explained, “We won’t have to put anymore wood into the basement. The wood can be kept outside in the shed next to the furnace.” I made a face, thinking about middle of the night furnace feedings when it was cold and snowy. As if reading my mind, Arnie added, “We would only have to stoke it once or twice a day. I’d do it before and after work.”

Deep trenches were dug for the outdoor furnace water lines. I helped my husband insulate the water lines before they were covered with dirt. The days were becoming shorter and cooler. One day while I was at work, Arnie somehow managed to move his huge iron furnace monster to the entrance of the woodshed and attached it to the underground lines. The water lines were connected to an open metal box inside our basement, which I assumed he used to fill the system with water.

The nights were now getting cold, so one day Arnie decided to put the outdoor furnace to work. After being outside for almost an hour, he returned to the house looking devastated. Sitting down at the table, he took off his fogged-over glasses and rubbed his face, saying, “The furnace is leaking. One of the seams I welded must not have been airtight! There’s water in the firebox.”

After a few minutes, Arnie went back outside. He returned to the house a short time later, laughing. “All the seams I welded are watertight! Condensation from cold well water in the water jacket just made the walls of the firebox sweat!”

A night of subzero weather made Arnie begin to worry that the water lines to and from the furnace would freeze, despite the depth at which they were buried and their insulation, so he added antifreeze to the water line. Because the access point was kept open, the warmed antifreeze-laced water made the house smell bad.

After a few days, several of my plants developed yellow leaves and began to die. I scolded Arnie, “You have to seal that access point in the basement, or the poison in the air will kill us like it’s killing my plants!”

When I got home from work that night, I discovered that Arnie had welded an airtight cap over the open access point. I thanked heaven that his weld seams were always airtight. I never wrote about this before, because I usually talk about me, my thoughts, my doings, my work, but occasionally, I wanna to talk about him!

Toby Keith’s ‘I Wanna Talk About Me’ lyrics

Uh huh, that’s right
We talk about your work, how your boss is a jerk,
We talk about your church and your head when it hurts.
We talk about the troubles you’ve been havin? wit your brother
?bout your daddy and your mother
and your crazy ex-lover.
We talk about your friends and the places that you’ve been,
We talk about your skin and the dimples on your chin.
The polish on your toes and the run in your hose,
And God knows we’re gonna talk about your clothes.
You know talkin? about you makes me smile, but every once in a while,

I wanna talk about me, I wanna talk about i
Wanna talk about number 1 oh my, me, my,
What I think, what I like, what I know, what I want, what I see.
I like talkin? about you, you, you, you usually, but occasionally
I wanna talk about me! (me, me, me,) I wanna talk about me-e-e. (me, me, me)

We talk about your dreams and we talk about your schemes,
Your high school team and your moisturizer cream.
We talk about your nana up in muntzi, indiana,
We talk about your grandma down in alabama.
We talk about your guys of every shape and size,
The ones that you despize and the ones you idolize.
We talk about your heart, ?bout your brains and your smarts,
And your medical charts and when you start.
You know talkin? about you makes me grin, but every now and then,

I wanna talk about me, I wanna talk about i,
Wanna talk about number 1 oh my, me, my.
What I think, what I like, what I know, what I want, what I see.
I like talkin? about you, you, you, you usually, but occasionally
I wanna talk about me! (me, me, me,) I wanna talk about me-e-e (me, me, me)

(I wanna talk about me) mmmm me, me, me, me, me
(I wanna talk about me) mmmm me, me, me, me, me

You, you, you, you, you, you, you, you, you, you, you, you, you,
I wanna talk about me!

I wanna talk about me, I wanna talk about i,
Wanna talk about number 1 oh my, me, my.
What I think, what I like, what I know, what I want, what I see,
Oh I like talkin? about you, you, you, you usually, but occasionally,
I wanna talk about me! (me, me, me) I wanna talk about me-e-e
I wanna talk about me! (me, me, me) no me-e-e! (me, me, me)