Mower Trouble

I think the guy who wants a romance just may be prone to stalking. Just great . . . I told him I was still mourning Butch and wasn’t interested in a relationship (completely true). But, he fixed my lawnmower and has my phone number. Sigh.
I used to work with over 100 men every day in a blue collar environment. I was 19 when I started there - young, naive and busty. I was there for 17 years. I can handle men.
I’m at a loss on this one. It’s just creepy.
To top it off, the lawnmower is already down again!

Mother And Child Reunion

Yesterday, a gorgeous brindle boxer chased a duck across a school lawn. In the midst of the excitement, the duck’s hatchling ran into a busy street and under my truck! I slammed on the brakes and it toddled out from under me on the opposite side. From there, it went into the parking lot of a fruit market.
Of course, I went after it. With assistance from a few customers and workers, I got the duckling and started carrying it back. Mama was looking for it in the last place she had seen it - in the middle of that busy street. I can’t imagine how she avoided the three cars that nearly hit her.
I chased away the boxer and put the baby down about 30 feet away from its mother, who was back in the school yard. When Mama started quacking, that tiny duckling crossed the yard in record time.
Sometimes, what seems little makes you happier than the big stuff does.

Road Trip!

I had my first out-of-town class this weekend! It was at the University of Cincinnati, so I also planned a trip to the zoo and a river cruise. What a beautiful town; it’s full of old architecture, displayed across the hills along the Ohio River. Walking through the zoo made me realize that it would be really tough to push a wheelchair up and down those hills.



(Check out the sloth; he's not using his front legs to hold himself. Talk about crunches!)
Wow, Cincy is huge! I went downtown Friday night to find the famous fountain, but there was a Reds game and it was a madhouse! I got out of the traffic via gritty, urban streets that are fascinating to someone whose hometown had a population of 1,000.



After I registered at the hotel, the car wouldn’t start. It’s a good thing that didn’t happen on one of those gritty streets! It was 95 degrees and my mechanic found it hysterical that I used the a/c for four hours after he told me to “baby the starter.” Hey, I think that pumping gas while the car is running IS babying the starter! What does the air conditioner have to do with it??
This was the biggest class I’ve had and it went really well. Timing is still a challenge for me; we ran over a little, but that’s because people were engaged and sharing experiences. All the student evaluations were great. I really love doing this!
With car trouble and what I thought was a broken ankle, I skipped the river cruise, but I definitely want to go back to Cincy!

Weather and Family

Southeast Michigan experienced both an earthquake and a tornado yesterday! I don’t remember that happening before.
I only recall two or three times that we’ve felt an earthquake around here. Yesterday’s epicenter was around Ottawa. They’re always mild here, so it’s just fun for us in Michigan to feel tremors.
Tornadoes, on the other hand, wreak a lot of havoc in the Midwest. I generally take a less-than-serious attitude, but last night I was driving on the highway in a torrential downpour looking right at the storm. It was dark, and I was nearly alone on the road. Every overpass had a fire truck or cop checking for funnel clouds.
Sarge, my cousin and the friends with whom I’d just been playing euchre called to check on me. The radio reported that there was a tornado headed right for me. I finally decided to get inside somewhere. I pulled into a Kroger, where workers waved me in, yelling, “Get in here! It’s two miles from us!” How welcoming!
A mix of a dozen customers and workers headed to the half-basement in the back of the store. We waited it out; the lights even went out for a few minutes. There’s a real camaraderie when strangers are in a situation like that. We chatted for about an hour and then were on our way.
When I called Sarge to tell her that I was home, she said that Mom had been crying because she was nervous about me. I guess she choked up, saying, “My Nancy, my Nancy.” God, that just tears me up to think of my mother worrying that much about me! I don’t ever want to cause her any upset.
This morning, she told me that she got mad at me for going to play cards. Now, that’s love!! Ha, ha! This is so typical of nearly every member of my family, who often have trouble pinpointing the actual source of their anger. They get mad if you don’t wave at them, even when you don’t see them! My family is a real hoot.
Mom had called me a couple weeks ago to warn me of a tornado. I didn’t get to the phone in time and the machine got the call. This is what she unwittingly left on my answering machine: “Shit! Why can’t she answer the damn phone?!?” I guess she didn’t see any relevance in that she had called me at 3am.
Yep, they’re a hoot . . .

The Color Purple

When the bird droppings turn purple, it’s time to make pies!
The strawberries are in, I picked a bunch of wild raspberries and, despite that I keep trying to cut down the mulberry trees, they’re producing, too. Is there anything better than berry season??

My Little Corner

****************I sit in a cubicle at work. I know that’s supposed to make me feel like a number, but it doesn’t. I kind of like it. It’s fun to tack stuff I like all over the walls.
Mine nook is decorated with some of my favorite pictures, a grave-rubbing that my sister did, a bright piece of embroidery of hot air balloons and some of my favorite quotes:
“It is a mistake to look too far ahead. Only one link of the chain of destiny can be handled at a time.” - Winston Churchill
“Humor is just Schadenfreude with a clear conscience.” - Neitzsche
“Truth, however profound, when it is not yours still remains untruth.” - Sri Bhagavan
“A democracy is nothing more than mob rule, where fifty-one percent of the people may take away the rights of the other forty-nine.” - Thomas Jefferson
“Only birthday plans should be whispered. Otherwise, what can’t be said aloud probably shouldn’t be said.”
“The more precisely you plan, the harder destiny will hit you.” - Anonymous
“Remember not only to say the right thing in the right place, but far more difficult still, to leave unsaid the wrong thing at the tempting moment.” - Benjamin Franklin

I'm Clueless

**************************************Hmm. I sense the expectation of a romantic friendship brewing. It feels very strange and I don’t think I’m ready for it.
This hasn’t happened since Butch passed away. Don’t get me wrong; there have been come-ons. (For some reason, I expected these to stop after a certain age, weight and loss of eyesight. Apparently, it never ends. Guys just keep plugging along, angling for sex, regardless of THEIR age, weight and eyesight. I’ve heard some spiritualists claim that we get to “be present” at our own funeral, so I’m expecting to view the fondling of my corpse by a couple of old letches . . .)
There have also been a couple of guys who, I think, misunderstood my desire to remain close with Butch’s friends right after he died. Not everybody gets that. And a couple who contacted me WAY too early in the game; I didn’t even consider what they were thinking.
But, there hasn’t been a real expectation. From someone who knows how much losing Butch messed up my head. And is okay with it.
It’s much easier to deal with the ones who would screw an armadillo wearing a bikini . . .