So Trite And Yet So Pretty

I looked out yesterday while eating my yogurt to see a cardinal sitting plumply in the bare apple tree.  How could I resist taking a picture?  Then I heard the raucous call of a bluejay and one swooped down to investigate my peanut wreath.  I watched as it came back again and again, finally bringing a pal.  Yay!  Durwood was disappointed that he hadn't seen one on there yet but I had faith and yesterday my faith was fulfilled.  Ah.

One of my most favorite customers (and people) came to see me at work yesterday just to visit and say Merry Christmas.  PJ's a near-expert on shipwrecks in this area and always has fascinating stores to tell.  Yesterday he told me about his uncle who was in Peking in the late 1930s and some of his adventures in the military during that time, I could listen to PJs stories for hours.  He was followed by one of my least favorite customers (and his marginally bearable wife).  This guy whines and complains about everything and everybody (except Eileen, he loves Eileen, but who doesn't) and it's all I can do not to smack him upside the head and tell him to "get with it."  Now he's going on about a regulator (a breathe-y thing) that he bought in 1972 being discontinued; he wants the company to give him another one because it has a lifetime warranty.  The company will give him a price on a replacement but corporations and the economy have changed since 1972 and he needs to grow up, get realistic, whatever, just get out of my face.  After all of that I didn't put one thin dime into the till, so I put up with him for nothing.

But my chili was a big hit at the BLKG meeting.  I told them that I'd made it because I was cold when I was thinking about what to make.  They think I'm hilarious but there was maybe a full serving left to take home, so hilarious but also smart.  There were some excellent pasta salads, a mini salad bar, deviled eggs (yum!), and yummy desserts.  I got some advice on how to resize my giant cardi and I lovelovelove my swap washcloth.  Look at the colors!  Turquoise and lime green--what's not to love?  I also didn't need to donate a cloth to anyone as all had brought one.  I didn't take one picture though, I was too busy having fun.

The only hitch in yesterday (aside from the grump and no paying customers) was that the rear door on the driver's side of my car decided not to open again after I'd put all my crap in, so I had to unload from the other side and, let me tell you, that's a royal pain when you've got as much to unload as I did and you're used to using that door.  Guess I'll be stopping at Dell's after I walk Porter.  Speaking of which I need to hustle my buns.

December 13--China, Ensemble.  She wore him in a harness on her back like a schoolchild carries books.  All through the days he rode there, babbling or napping, as she walked to the market for food or to the river to wash clothes or to the well for water.  At times she mused that she had merely moved him from her front to her back, that he had been easier to care for before he was born but now her back hurt less.  It was hard to keep him out of the sun as he pulled off his hat but it made her laugh when it sailed past her when he threw it.

I was tired so I quit and now it's time to me to sign off and brave the not-as-cold to give peels to the chickens and take Porter for a walk.  Enjoy your day!
--Barbara