The downside of marital longevity

So, the wife and I had a huge fight last week. We don't have those kind of apocalyptic spats very often, maybe every five years or so, but they can be epic, especially when I combine rhetorical brilliance with an abundance of Anglo-Saxon-derived cuss words. (Believe me, there are just times when all that marriage counseling hoo-ha about how to argue just doesn't cut it.)
The details here are unimportant. The only thing you need to know about it is that I was absolutely 100 percent right. There was no "two sides to every story'' stuff. I was right, she was wrong and that was it.
The good thing about this is that you get to build up a good head of self-righteous indignation, so that you are not just ticked off, but positively wroth the way Jesus could get with the money changers in the temple. You can hold onto that kind of anger, man, it keeps you warm, gives you something to hang onto -- for days, weeks even. Especially when you know that when it comes to spats and beefs in your home, you ain't right that often.
Except that you can't, not if you've been married to the woman I'm married to -- and married to her for the 26 years I have.
I tried. The morning after the fight, she apologized and I just grunted, still the aggrieved party demanding justice and not willing to show mercy.
What are you going to do? She's a sweet woman; I'm no walk in the park. The anger just kind of seeps out of you over the day, like a slow leak from a bicycle tire. You've been married too long to stay mad long.
But you're a guy, so when you get home you have to ease into normalized relations, thaw things out slowly the way you can't throw frostbite victims into the microwave.
Except that she knows what you're doing, and you know that she knows, which kind of cuts the charade short, and you've made up before you know it.
Rats!