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Joined: May 2003
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OP
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Comments go here.
Thanks for reading!
Rac
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Joined: Dec 2004
Posts: 326
Beat Reporter
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Beat Reporter
Joined: Dec 2004
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I am so glad they made such wonderful progress on the house. The house sounds amazing. Building something together is such a good way to build a marriage. And Clark got to feel like he was contributing to their life I do wonder about the incident with Clark and the rescue with the shooting. Will he be talking to Dr Friskin about that. I love the little brother comment Kathy www.chili-everyway.com
robinson
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Joined: Sep 2004
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Freelance Reporter
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Freelance Reporter
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domestic kents  love the description of the house/ library... really feels like a home... like this gentler lois, who is being patient enough with clark to give him space... though i'm sure things will come to a head eventually just a matter of whether clark will finally feel open enough to share or if lois will have to push him to get there...
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Nobel Peace Prize Winner
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Nobel Peace Prize Winner
Joined: Aug 2005
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I, too, love the description of how Lois and Clark built their house. And talk about all the new words I learnt in the process! The hardwood floors had been laid and the crown moldings installed. The wainscoting and wallpaper would follow shortly. ![[Linked Image]](http://tuscanyridge.net/Images/crown_molding_large.jpg) I had no idea! ![[Linked Image]](http://www.elitetrimworks.com/skin1/images/gallery/wainscoting/custom_p_hall.jpg) Really? I love your description of how wonderful the building of their new home was to Clark: “Nice work,” she declared, her simple compliment filling him with an almost primitive pride. Like work on the farm, doing something with his hands—making something solid and tangible and real—gave him a satisfaction nothing else could really duplicate. Here, there was a new sense of worth. What he hadn't provided his family with for those four years, he could provide them with now – a permanent home, a sense of stability, an easy and familiar comfort in the knowledge that he would be there for them, tomorrow and beyond. He felt almost like the father and husband he'd always hoped he would be. Wonderful. You're making me think of Laura Ingalls Wilder's book series about her childhood and youth as a pioneer girl. It was absolutely critically important for her family to stick together and work together to take care of all the problems they had to deal with. Your description of how Clark and Lois renovate a house together makes me think of a detailed description of how Laura's father built a house all on his own, with only his family, including Laura, to help him. Laura's father must have felt a strong sense of pride and self-worth when he could give his family a new house to live in. I love how that pride of accomplishment and "fatherly providing" is there in Clark, too. It was very painful to see Clark reacting with such panic to gunshots and screams. Every time Clark hears such sounds, he is reminded on a primitive, non-intellectual level of the unspeakable torture he himself had to endure, and the horrible mass killings that he was unable to prevent. And maybe, probably, he falters because he remembers how he himself killed Lord Nor, thereby both becoming a killer himself and being ineffectually late, because he killed Nor too late and allowed him to go on murdering other people who would have been saved if Clark had killed Nor sooner. Clark's reasoning does not make sense. But then it isn't his intellect that does the reasoning, but some much deeper and more primitive layers of his brain and his self. I hope Clark will be able to trust Lois not to lose her trust in him or her love for him if he tells her that his nightmares have everything to do with the fact that he killed Nor. I, too, loved the little brother comment! (Although I wouldn't mind a little sister - but a little brother would be great, too!) Ann
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Joined: May 2009
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Columnist
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Great part Liked the little brother comment too!
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Posts: 470
Beat Reporter
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Beat Reporter
Joined: Jul 2006
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There was so much in this part that I loved that it was hard to keep from quoting the whole chapter: She put her hand on top of his, smiling to herself when he interlaced their fingers and squeezed gently. “Jonathan, you know I’ll be happy there, but will you?”
“If I’m with you, I’ll be happy,” he assured her. There's more than one love story here. “Nice work,” she declared, her simple compliment filling him with an almost primitive pride. Like work on the farm, doing something with his hands—making something solid and tangible and real—gave him a satisfaction nothing else could really duplicate. Here, there was a new sense of worth. What he hadn’t provided his family with for those four years, he could provide them with now – a permanent home, a sense of stability, an easy and familiar comfort in the knowledge that he would be there for them, tomorrow and beyond. He felt almost like the father and husband he’d always hoped he would be. This is so poetic, and so true. “It hasn’t been hard on Jonathan?” Lois asked.
“He’s adjusting,” Martha said. “He’s started volunteering as a docent at the National Historical Society. I think he really likes being surrounded by so many other Civil War history buffs.” Glad for Jonathan! “I wish I knew what to tell you, honey,” Martha said. “I know how stubborn he can be. But he knows that you’re there for him. He knows that you love and support him.” And Martha is so wise. “Well, between you and your father, I had good teachers. Just don’t expect all this working around the house to translate into an ability to cook,” she warned him. Couldn't help grinning. “The suite in the First Ministers’ residence on New Krypton was actually bigger than this,” Clark said. She was surprised to hear him share something about New Krypton unsolicited. Progress? Finding themselves on the top floor, they explored their library slowly, drinking in everything. The hundreds of leather-bound volumes they’d managed to preserve—plus all of her books and all of his. The large, wingback chairs in front of the immense fireplace. The wrought iron spiral staircase, the cedar bookshelves that lined all the walls, the palace-sized Oriental rug covering the hardwood floor. The desks in two corners of the library--bearing their computers--were a concession to modernity in an otherwise rather timeless space. Around the room, Clark’s knickknacks and curios from his worldly travels dotted the shelves. A statue of a goddess here, a hand-carved elephant there, a mother of pearl inlaid keepsake box on yet another shelf. One area was reserved for their collective awards—more than a half dozen Kerths between them, plus a few Merriwethers and the framed certificate of her Pulitzer Prize.
She walked past their trophy shelf over to the false wall, pulling out the copy of The Count of Monte Cristo that covered the door’s hidden latch. She released the catch and the bookshelf swung open, leading to their hidden closet. Suits and boots lined the walls. All of Clark’s globes, now totaling nine, were displayed on shelves, the cabinets below them housing the awards and medals from their various knightings and her Nobel Prize. She disarmed the closet’s silent alarm so she could walk through it slowly. These two rooms—this library and its annex—contained within them the evidence of their professional careers and their success. But their hard work, their struggles and accomplishments, couldn’t be reduced to shiny award statuettes and medals. The life they’d built was about the things they’d done, the lives they’d affected, the love they shared. 1. I WANT THIS HOUSE! Or at least I want to visit. 2. The last line of this part was perfect. 
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Joined: Apr 2007
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Boards Chief Administrator Nobel Peace Prize Winner
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Boards Chief Administrator Nobel Peace Prize Winner
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Their home improvement sure looked like the typical super-powered type 
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Joined: Jun 2007
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Blogger
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Blogger
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I have been absent from commenting for some time. But can I just say how thrilled I am that this story is back up and running? I love it! So Rac, thank you, thank you I am just a huge sucker for the Jon storyline, so for me, my favcourite part of this instalment was the random joyful Jon moments. Specifically, the sticker on his elbow (as good a place as any right?) and the delighted bed jumping. I've definitely fallen in love with him Can't wait for the next round!  Frequent Flyer
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Joined: May 2003
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Columnist
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OP
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Thanks for your comments, everyone. I'm glad the extremely domestic home renovation scenes didn't bore everyone to sleep.  I figured these two needed something positive and constructive and almost normal (well, as close to normal as a couple of superheroes are going to get) to occupy them for a while. Kathy, thank you for reading and commenting. I'm glad you enjoyed this section and I agree, building their own house (especially since they don't have to deal with contractors) is a great way for them to spend time together. I also agree Clark should talk to Dr. Friskin about what happened. He doesn't always take my advice, however. Thanks for your feedback, Flowerpot. Lois is certainly more patient than she was before (I think motherhood has been the primary cause for that change), but patience has its limits. As for Jon's comments...out of the mouths of babes, huh? Ann, I'm glad you enjoyed this section (and that you learned some rather byzantine words). I'm a big fan of American architecture, so I'm hoping I didn't bore everyone with it. I agree Clark's thinking isn't rational, but I hope it's understandable. I also agree that a little sister would be just as nice as a little brother, but I don't fault Jon for his position. I'm sure the other kids at daycare have informed Jon that girls have cooties. Thanks for your comments, DW. Glad you enjoyed it! Thanks, cookiesmom. You are right that there isn't just one love story here. I've always thought that Martha really enjoyed Metropolis more than Jonathan, so I figured this change would be much tougher for him than her. Oh, and I want that house, too. Hi Michael. It's great to hear you enjoyed this section. I can definitely see Clark painting himself into a corner as you described. Thanks for reading and commenting, Frequent Flyer. I'm glad you're liking Jon's story line. More's coming up soon. Regards, Rac
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