REMOTE HEAT

My son Alex and I were standing at the front door, waving good-by to my husband Steven, as his car pulled out of our driveway, headed for the airport.

“I sure hope he has fun while he's away.” I said as I closed the door. I couldn't help but shiver as the cold from outside was still in the foyer. I rubbed my hands together and looked at the thermostat. “It's a little chilly in here isn't it?”

Alex zipped up his sweatshirt. “That's because we had the front door open. It'll warm up in the few minutes.”

I looked over at Alex as a realization came over me. “Do you have the thermostat app on your phone?” I asked.

Alex shook his head. “Dad tried to download it on my phone last night but it wouldn't go through.”

“I don't have the app on my phone either.” I was feeling a little concerned. “What if we want to change the heat while he's gone.” I went over to the new thermostat he had installed a few months ago. “Is there a way to manually change it?” As I got closer to the smooth round circle on the wall it lit up and told me it was 29 degrees outside. “Okay, so I know what the temperature is outside. Where does this thing tell me what the temperature is inside?”

Alex went across the room to another device on a shelf in the dining room. “It says it's 72 degrees inside.”

I shrugged my shoulder. “Well, that seems warm enough. But still, how do we change it?”

“I guess the same way we did before.” Alex started to laugh. “We call Dad and tell him we're cold.”

I shook my head and sighed. “He's going across the country to a time zone that's three hours behind us.”

Alex shrugged his shoulders. “Oh well, it's only for the weekend. He'll be back Monday.”

As I watched Alex walk back to his room I couldn't help but call out to him. “You know we're suppose to get snow this weekend.”

Alex stopped and looked back at me. “Yeah, I heard that.”

“Do you know how to use the snow blower?” I had a hopeful tone for my question.

Alex shook his head. “Nope.”

“Me either.” I sighed. “I guess we'll have to hope for a dusting.”

Alex walked back to me and patted me on the shoulder. “We'll be fine. He's only going to be gone for a few days.”
“I know. It's just that I should know how to do these things.”

Alex laughed. “Why? When you go away do you think we're sitting around wondering who's going to be cooking dinner?” He gave me another pat on the arm. “Or even crazier saying that we should learn how to cook a pot roast?” He looked at me with a big smile on his face. “Of course not! We just pick up the phone and order out!”

Now I had to laugh. “I guess you're right. Your Dad's good at some things and I'm good at others. If it gets cold in here I can always text him to turn up the heat.”

“See. Now you're getting it! So what are you thinking about for dinner?”

I went over to the take-out menu drawer. “I'm thinking Italian.”