DIDN'T IT RAIN?

MOST YEARS the weather turns hot once school starts, but so far this fall, it's been relatively cool and today water is steadily coming down from the sky. Wet water. And on the day that I  got up at 5 to have my hair washed and blown dry ahead of taking Mr. Bob for his chemotherapy session.


Last night, in anticipation of this morning's rain, I asked him if he knew where the umbrella was. "Oh, yes," he sez, sez he. (Thornton Burgess was an author of children's books and I once read that he was paid by the word, therefore there's a lot of "he sez, sez he")


Except that this morning there was no umbrella to be found."Well, it's in the car," he sez. It's quite a walk to the parking lot, some day I'll count the steps. Giving him the bag of unforgettables, I told him I'd come around and pick him up in front. I think he had in mind coming to the car to find the umbrella, but it seemed of little use to me since by then I'd be thoroughly wet and our destination was in a covered parking structure. So I think I kind of barked the instructions as I repeated them. I splashed my way through the puddles, finally, out of breath, reaching my destination, heaved myself into the van and backed up..........but the remote control had no effect on the gate. Over and over I tried. What to do? Mr. Bob had my cell phone, no one was in sight, time was racing and I was going nowhere.


Finally I dared to honk a couple of times, hoping to be heard and Roberto, one of the maintenance crew came running toward me in his yellow slicker and did something magical that allowed me to exit. Mr. Bob doesn't tolerate tardiness, but this time we were fifteen minutes late and he knew it was best not to challenge me on the point.


He did what he had to do......it was just an hour's session this morning.....and as we prepared to head home, a search of the car turned up nothing in the way of an umbrella. I'm ashamed to admit that I drove home with tight lips and hair growing increasingly limp. This is a long-standing issue for us with umbrellas.


I let His Nibs off in front of the Manor where he was just a matter of a few steps from home and seethed my way around a couple of blocks before I decided to go in search of an umbrella. Remember I didn't have the ability to get in the gate......no doubt it was a battery issue. And Mr. Bob frowns at the idea of my parking on the street in front of the Manor. He bristled when someone once left a card, "We buy junk cars".


CVS was the closest place I could think of and since I didn't want one of those modern, collapsible, fancy-schmancy umbrellas, I had a choice between two bumbershoots that were left over from the rush to buy them that the first rainstorm always brings.


I don't think we'll overlook this giant, redder-than-red one with
G.L.E.N.D.A.L.E  emblazoned on the side. Of course there's really nowhere either to store it or let it drip dry, but it was a perfect out-picturing of what I was feeling at the time.

And to top it off, I parked on the street.


Really, he shouldn't have commented on how prematurely I step on the brake in wet weather. He's a better driver than I, but one without  a license, more's the pity. And besides that, he's not the only one with cancer.

BEWARE! MAD WOMAN AT LARGE!

"When angry, count four; 

when very angry, swear."  

                                                             ~Mark Twain

IRENE

PRETEND this is tomorrow's post. Found this as a facebook entry and was quite taken with the coverage of the recent hurricane. You know, if there's anything I love in life it's sharing things I like with other people. I think that's why I lasted 37 years at Once Upon a Time. It provided the ultimate opportunity to share.

LAZY SUNDAY

THE WRINKLIES were sent on their way yesterday as they embarked on the last couple of weeks of their four month trip. Their choice of travel to Seattle was Amtrak, on the Coast Starlight. I'm feeling a tinge of envy, for it's such a beautiful trip. We've only ridden it as far as Oakland on the train, but that stretch of the route was highly scenic. I take that back. We once traveled from Seattle to Los Angeles at the end of a trip, but what I remember best about it is a lot of boisterous children.

Harvey & Sheila reported that they saw, on their trek from San Antonio to Los Angeles, a decline in train travel amenities but they still think that Amtrak is a good way to travel. 

My pipe dreams include the possibility of either taking this trip or buying a pass and wandering around the country by whim and then I think of our difficulty of walking from here to there and wonder about walking on a lurching train and getting from one car to another which wasn't the easiest thing I ever did in less physically stressful times. I did go to the Automobile Club to ask about getting from here to North Carolina on blue highways and the agent had never heard of that term . So much for that. She handed Bob a map of the United States and suggested buying local maps along the way. 

It's a rainy, blustery day as another storm moves in. Northern California actually had a tornado warning yesterday as the storm headed south. We've decided to stay holed up in our rooms today, all cozy and snug. No socializing for us until tomorrow.

The wind is howling and Mr. Bob just asked if I didn't think it was a good thing not to have to worry about making sure the windows were tightly closed and checking that the roof wasn't leaking. My answer was, "Yes" and for me, the best part is not having a store in which I have to worry about merchandise getting wet. In four locations, every single commercial building leaked and it was a constant worry when it rained. 

We have books to read, Netflix movies to watch, the onerous world news to follow, and plenty to do should the mood strike us. I'm glad that bathrobe I wrote about way last October is two sizes too large. I'm swaddled in it and it's comforting.