A Busy Day

Good thing I (semi)bounded out of bed this morning because I picked up Porter to meet Skully and Maggie for a (shortened) walk, took a halfway decent picture of Henny & Penny or actually that's Penny & Henny.  Came home to shower, dress festively, then go ring the Salvation Army kettle bell in the foyer of Copps grocery for an hour.  I was way overdressed for how warm it is there, plus I didn't stand still for a minute, so I shucked off my outer fleece jacket and carried on.  I discovered my inner dancer.  There were carols on the PA, interrupted by announcements like "meat dept. line 1," that jarred my rhythm but I kept time with my bell and figured out how to make it sound different so I could "play" along.  It was a blast!  And it was interesting to see people walk by not meeting my eyes when they weren't going to donate.  It felt kind of good to abash them.  They could put in a quarter or a dime.  Dimes add up.  I'm going to start carrying quarters so that I can put one in each time I pass a kettle whether there's someone there or not.  I can afford a quarter a time.  One elderly lady confided that she sent the Salvation Army a check for $500 but she resolved to put in a dollar when she sees a kettle, just because she can.  Wow.  I told another lady how easy the SA makes it to volunteer (just pick a shift online, put in your name, they send you an email saying what to do, then there's a card on the kettle stand with the info too, it's a snap), so hopefully she'll ring for an hour.  I danced.  Somebody posted a video about dance walking on Facebook yesterday and I watched it.  I love dancing and I'm not very inhibited (I know you're surprised) so I just danced, kind of did the stroll, and sang along.  I even helped the cart guy figure out how to untangle the cord for a riding cart that someone had managed to get the cord wrapped twice around the axle.  Actually he was ready to give up but I asked him to tip it over once more, crouched down and figured it out.  Made me feel like Superwoman.  There's a bench right inside the doors from where I was and a busload of elderly ladies gathered there with their shopping and they watched me dancing.  On the way out a couple of them commented that I'd better be careful that I didn't wear myself out.  I told them that I was dancing so I didn't wear out.  They laughed.  After my shift I came home for a quick lunch, then went to get my nails done.  Today's Photo a Day theme is "stars" and I haven't got a clue on that one.  Sorry.  I put the little flamingo out so you get that instead.

December 7--Nanha, Shah Jahan Album, Portrait of Saif Khan Barha.  He had a curl, a real spit curl, right in front of his ear.  The end of it barely tickled his earlobe and Stella was fascinated with it.  She did her best to keep her eyes to herself but she'd catch herself staring, her fingers itching to stroke his cheek.  She yearned to draw her finger along his strong brown cheek, to trace his molded lips with her fingertips but she controlled herself.  He was beyond her reach.  She only caught glimpses of him and she rarely got close enough to hear his voice.  No matter.  It was that curl that drew her like iron to a magnet.  She was powerless to resist.

And that's it for me today.  I've got a few pretzels to nibble and I have to do the Mensa crossword for today.  See ya.
--Barbara