Whacky Weather

Last night was thunderstorms with rain; today, snow, snow and more snow. Difficult to measure as it blew on the way down.

I received a request from a family friend today and loaded up the incubator with 42 eggs. In three weeks I'll see how well the roosters are doing their jobs. ;) Normally I would pick out clean eggs, but the warm spell meant all the eggs were muddy. I can only hope being wiped off won't hinder the development and hatching.

Errant Thoughts Story, Part 17

Dave pushed the lawn mower to the far end of the church lot. He normally didn't work on Saturdays, but they had been so busy that Hank had asked him to come in and catch up on some of the regular chores. Dave didn't mind mowing, with the noise protectors in his ears he could zone out and let his thoughts drift. At the end of the property, he turned and lined up the mower to make a neat straight line back. Then, looking up, he spotted a woman marching towards him, waving a purse with a furious expression on her face. Reluctantly, he throttled down the mower and let his ear guards dangle around his neck.

"How dare you ignore me like that! I have better things to do than chase you all over. I'm an important person in the congregation; you had better show me proper respect or I'll see you never work here again." Folding her arms, she glared at him.

Keeping his expression neutral was a battle, but the only sign of Dave's rising temper was the flaring of his nostrils. "I'm sorry, Mrs. Pruett. I didn't hear you. How can I help?" He asked the last question quickly, hoping to defuse the tirade she was drawing breath for.

"Humph! I want to pick out my chicks now. Give me the key."

"I'm not allowed to hand out chicks. Hank said only he is to do that."

"Quite right, but I'm not asking for your help. Just give me the key and I'll do it myself."

Silently, he groaned, knowing this was about to go very badly. "I can't give you the key, ma'am. I'm sorry. Let me go get Hank for you."

Seeing her face flush dark red and her eyes narrow dangerously, Dave to took his heels and ran for meeting area attached to the church. Inside, he found Hank deep in a pile of paperwork with a couple of the committee members. "Please, Hank? I need help."

Frowning at the interruption, Hank peered at him over his glasses. "Well, what is it? The lawn mower?"

Glancing nervously at the others, Dave wished he could talk privately and said, "Um, no. Could you come outside?"

After hearing the youth's explanation, Hank sighed. "Why don't you go work in the garden while I deal with this. Better if the sound of the mower doesn't upset the chicks." What he didn't say was it was better not to remind Mrs. Pruett of Dave's presence at the moment.

It was a good hour before Hank returned to the garden where Dave was hoeing diligently. Shaking his head, he considered how much to tell his young helper. That woman was a thorn in his side; stirring up trouble and gossip. She had a faction of the the congregation riled up about employing someone who didn't attend church. Hank knew, though, that what really made her angry was her husband being unemployed. He snorted, as if Mr. Pruett would be willing to work in the dirt for minimum wage. Actually, he might do it just to get away from his wife, but then she would start pushing for him to be paid what he was 'worth' and things would get even worse.

Calling Dave over, Hank smiled at him and said, "Now, don't you worry about anything. I'm happy with your work. Understand?" Nodding to acknowledge the look of relief that crossed the young man's face, he continued, "Go ahead and finish mowing, then you can clock out."

"Are you sure? Shouldn't I do the trimming around the gravestones too?"

"Hmm, you're right. It doesn't look tidy unless it's all done evenly."

"I'll take care of it, Hank. Thanks." With a wide smile, Dave strode back to finish mowing; confident once more.

Part 18

More cat adventures

After my cats tore open the lettuce bag (!) and ate some, I remembered my sister giving me a pet grass kit for my last birthday. It grew wonderfully and has received the kitty seal of approval.

Winter Returns

Winter made a comeback! This week we got 7 inches of snow; the most we've had this winter. It came in a series of smaller falls every other day. The funny thing were the weather forecasts: 'watch out! Saturday will be the big one!' Obviously, the result was that Saturday there was only a dusting of snow in the region. The heaviest amounts were a little over an inch. No wonder people mock weathermen.

The heavy frost was pretty, especially combined with the wet snow.

I did find a nice surprise on the doorstep a couple days ago; a box under 5 inches of snow containing these goodies:

From the amazing Punkin's Patch.

The Greatest Showman

Wow and wow and wow some more.

Going in I didn't even know it was going to be a musical, so imagine my surprise when they started singing. I was hesitant about going at all because I don't like circuses (hooray there were no clowns in the movie!).

Great singing and acting. We left smiling.

Chicken Time

From the kitchen chickens...

to the ones doing all the work.

I was getting some seriously irate glances from those settled in for the night, so I'll spare you the others.

In other news: I finished another 7 year old project! It's a toddler sweater and, although it's marked as 'easy', it's the hardest thing I've knitted to date. On the plus side, most toddlers I know aren't too fussy about mistakes in their clothes.

Errant Thoughts Story, Part 16

Danny could tell something was bothering Melody as they were working the Friday night shift; a frown flickered across her face frequently and a few times he heard her muttering. Unfortunately, it was one of those evenings where it seemed that everyone in the area wanted pizza and he didn't have time to talk. The advantage of being so busy was how quickly time passed and at last they were cleaning and setting up for the next day.

The ritual walk to her car had become Danny's favorite part of the day. Tonight, he waited for her to say something. Finally, she spun around and, with arms crossed, asked, "How did you get your mom to listen to what you want?"

Before he could do more than open his mouth, she was continuing, "They just keep pushing and pushing me about which school, which major, which career path. And now." Her voice broke on a little sob, "It's all gotten so much worse. I thought when Joy...but, instead they can't seem to leave it."

Danny awkwardly patted her shoulder, wondering if he should ask for more details. Deciding she would tell him when she was ready, he answered her original question, "I don't know if I'm much help this way because I never confronted Mom about her plans. I didn't even tell her I didn't want to go to college because my uncle was being so generous about paying and she was so sure it was the right thing to do. Mostly because she never went and regretted it.

"When things changed, we both knew I couldn't get the scholarships to pay my own way and she wouldn't pressure me into student loans because she's so against going into debt at all. So, there it is, I didn't have to fight for what I wanted, but I was going to go along with what she wanted." He leaned against her car and waited for a reaction.

At first, she just gazed expressionlessly at him, then, she moved next to him, close but not touching. Together they watched the bugs spinning around the light hanging over the parking lot. "Joy was my cousin. She just graduated from an Ivy League school. Everything she ever did was perfect: sports, grades, projects. Her parents bragged about her all the time, but why not? She never let them down. Last year, companies were recruiting and vied for her. She accepted one and we all thought her life was set. Until last week." Melody paused and swallowed. "The company rescinded on her job offer. None of the companies were hiring. Her parents found her in the garage."

Danny didn't know what was worse, the monotone or the pain-wracked voice she finished with. Afraid of saying the wrong thing, he turned his hand up and, when she grasped it, held on gently.

"I'm scared," she whispered. "My parents are acting weird and they're normally so solid. And I feel guilty because I knew about all the suicides happening all over the country, but I didn't really think about them until it was my own family."

"Would you like to come over some time and talk to my mom? She's good at listening."

She snorted, "Must run in the family. Yeah, maybe I will."

Showing amazing sensitivity for a seventeen-year-old, Danny discarded all the topics he had planned on talking about this evening and silently held her hand until she was ready to leave.

Part 17