We Lit Out

Yesterday was gorgeous--warm and sunny--so we lit out for a drive.  My thought was to drive to Lena (about 35 miles) for Parmesan cheese at Kugel's Cheese store and then find someplace for lunch, not fast food.  I was thinking pasties which would have necessitated us driving into Michigan but when Durwood thought of driving across the Menominee River to Menominee, MI (about 50 miles) for pasties his brain screeched to a halt at Mickey-Lu's in Marinette (about 45 miles) which is just on the Wisconsin side of the same river.  He used to eat there when he was on the road being the Gillette salesman so we scrapped the "Lena for cheese" portion of the trip for lunch in Nostalgia-land (we didn't have a cooler anyway).  The exterior of Mickey-Lu's looked like it was caught in a time-warp, the interior was the same, and it was jam-packed.  They were so busy in the tiny place that they didn't take time to clear tables until the next diner sat down.  I thought Durwood was stretching the truth when he told me that the malts were so popular that they had one person doing nothing but making them.  He wasn't; there was one woman who did nothing but make malts and shakes from the moment we sidled in until we side-stepped out.  I ordered a cheeseburger and chips, Durwood got a double brat with pickles on the side, and we shared a chocolate malt.  One glass and two straws made me feel like Richie and Fonzie would walk in any minute.  Shades of the 1950s.  My burger was good, Durwood raved about his brat making me feel like I'd ordered wrong.  *shrugs*  Oh well, live and learn.

After lunch he drove across the river into Menominee looking for a Shell station to see if gas was cheaper in Michigan.  It was, 6 cents a gallon, which when you're gassing up a big van like his makes a difference.  After filling up we swung into Colonel K's Pasties drive-through for a couple frozen beef and rutabaga pasties to go.  You'd better believe we'll be having those for supper one night this weekend.






I saw that my yellow iris is blooming when we drove up the street and one of the poppies was just about ready to burst out of its bud shell.










Last night at Friday Night Knitting I found a knitting book and a crocheting book for 99 cents each (why don't they have the "cents" sign on keyboards anymore?) and snatched them up.  Then while talking and talking and laughing the night away I got the first Sudoku afghan panel joined.  I'd finished knitting the second strip on our drive (and started the third) so I wove in the tails and got to joining.  Look!  Two more panels--just four more short, horizontal strips--then two long, vertical strips to join the panels, then the edging and it'll be done.  Just as long as I don't push it too far out of sight for other, more alluring projects I'll be okay.  I think.

June 4--Andrew Child, Airliner Takeoff.

Like an Olympic long-jumper
the jumbo jet
roars down the runway
gathering speed
until by some physic-al magic
it rises into the sky.
Without me.
~~~~~

Going yesterday was great.  It was just what I needed to get out of the house, not on an errand, not for work, not to a doctor's appointment, just to go, but flying away on an airplane pulls at me in a way I can't explain.  It always has, even when we'd just gotten home from a long vacation and I saw a plane fly overhead I wished I was on it.  Always have, probably always will.  Speaking of going off, we're off to have breakfast with friends.  Hasta la vista, babies.
--Barbara