We've been slowly catching up with the loads of stuff we managed to salvage from the apartment at La Terraza. Last week, Diane and some friends from nearby 4S Ranch loaded up three large plastic bags of coats and clothes I removed from the apartment on my first trip in and took them to a local laundry to clean them in the big commercial washing machines. Among the treasures in this load were Diane and Bailey's new lightweight down coats from Lands End, which they had hardly gotten a chance to wear, and the beautiful dress Diane wore when I proposed to her. This was the first dress I ever bought for Diane, was a perfect style and fit for her, and she loved it nearly as much as I.
The coats came out of the laundry fine, with no residual smell, but the dress still reeks of wood smoke after 3 launderings. Diane gave up and threw it out, and I don't blame her. We don't find the smell of wood smoke at all attractive anymore, and can't take the smell in our home. Sigh. One more small defeat.
