I’m not sure how this happened, but I was reminded again today that I have an unusual and creative partner in my life:

I have a lot of names for Maria, among them my Willa Cather girl, Tarzana and Wonder Woman.

As many of you know, I bought a new e-bike last week, and have been keeping it in the house. It’s a big and heavy bike and it has been taking up a corner of our small living room.

It is tricky maneuvering it in and out of the house and getting it down the porch steps in front or back and then back into the house again.

Maria came up with this idea of leaving it in a barn stall outside, after first doing some work to clean out the stall and protect the bike – it is expensive, and also a major investment in my health.

I balked at this, barns are dirty and cluttered, and I wasn’t sure this was a good idea.

We did stop at the hardware store to pick up some canvas, and I could almost hear Maria’s head twirling. I thought it was just something we would mull for a while, but Maria is not one to mull for too long.

I was working in my office for much of this afternoon, and Maria disappeared, I assumed she was chopping down dying trees,  stacking more firewood, digging several new gardens, talking to donkeys, or swinging through the trees in search of dinner.

After a couple of hours she came into the house, and announced: “well, I’m done.” She led me out to the big barn and one of the old cow’s stalls that was full of dried hay and old debris. She cleaned out all the day, swept and dusted the stall, and installed a canvas tent more than big enough for Betty, the new e-bike.

I have learned to never be surprised by the things Maria can do, but this one shocked me. There was canvas over and around the walls of the stall. I couldn’t believe it. My bike has the best home of any bike in North America.

And there was a drop cloth to put over the bike for good measure. All I had to do was get my riding clothes on and to the barn and just ride it out of the lawn and into the road.

I’m still shocked, but also grateful. There is not much Maria cannot do, and her creativity always shines – I wouldn’t mind sleeping in this canvas tent myself sometimes.

She did this with a rubber yoga mat and $30 worth of canvas. And she even got to use her drill, which gives her no end of happiness.

This is another one of those things that Maria does effortlessly than I could never do in a month of labor. Sometimes, I feel inadequate but mostly just grateful.

Betty will be safe, dry, and clean out there, and she is now so easy to get on and ride, I’ll be riding even more. Boy, did I marry well.

I told her I’d be there in the morning to take her for a run.