It's finally Croc season.
There's a bike race in the outskirts today.
The Farmers' Market opens for business at Farmin Park in downtown Sandpoint today.
A bunch of Rotarians have come to town.
There's a trivia contest at the museum.
And, then, along with a lot of other activities, there's The Derby.
Whatever the choices, there will be more than enough available to avoid boredom on this idyllic and gorgeous day in May.
Did I forget to mention planting garden and mowing more lawn or picking out more flowers?
Yesterday I went to Pac West Parts, which is owned by our lawnmower wizard Tony. The night before he had taken a bad tire from our Toro lawnmower with him with hopes of finding a replacement.
So, we agreed that I would stop by yesterday to see if he was successful. He was not, but he had found a tire that would probably work if he put it on our Toro rim. He also ordered a new tire for the mower.
It took him a while to prepare the loaner tire, so I spent some quality time visiting with his mother Eileen and daughter Stasha (pronounced STAHSHA but so often mispronounced that she says she answers to anything, including "Crasha," which her father sometimes calls her because she's accident-prone.
While we talked about names and kids and dogs, Tony's mother pointed to a framed photograph on the wall (the one above).
It's Tony at a slightly younger age, but the photo proves one thing for sure: that little guy was destined to know and fix lawnmowers during his lifetime.
Who knows how many thousands of times he's gotten acquainted with the innards of lawnmowers and fixed them up just right to make their owners happy.
In the 20 or so years that Tony's been repairing our lawnmowers, I'm sure that I don't have enough fingers or toes multiplied many times over illustrate how often I have sung him praises.
His clients are all SO lucky that little Tony knew his destiny way back when. We've all benefitted from his knowledge and persistence to do the job right.
💚💚💚💚💚💚
Sandpoint's "Three-Name Lounge" is have a Derby benefit today.
~~Tervan - Tavern - Tam o' Shanter~~
Sounds like fun for a worthy cause.
So Happy
Out of So Cunning and by Run Happy
I think I'll stick with him for today's Kentucky Derby because we need a lot more happiness in our world.
He's a long shot, a bargain horse with an old jockey riding him AND there's a touching story to go along with him.
Let's all hope we'll be SO HAPPY at the finish line.
Whatever the outcome, the stories about horses, their owners, trainers and jockeys should be wonderful as ever.
🐎🐎🐎🐎🐎🐎🐎
In the food for thought department:
Have we arrived at this point with our interactions or lack thereof?
A segment from this today's New York Times morning newsletter
It has become very easy to avoid talking to strangers.
Noise-canceling headphones, internet shopping, self-checkout lines and,
when all else fails, our phones — taken out at a bar, a party, a concert
— insulate us against humanity’s intrusion.
It’s not all terrible: I
recently made a doctor’s appointment via consultation with my medical
practice’s “virtual assistant” and it was refreshingly frictionless.
In a
city, headphones are indispensable for boundary setting; they send a
signal that one is not to be bothered.
But when not interacting becomes
the default, our social muscles atrophy.
Some people tell me that I've never met a stranger, but they have it all wrong: I've met many many throughout my lifetime in a variety of venues.
For the most part, the experiences turned out to be rich, sometimes life-changing and almost always interesting.
We just have to be cautious and use our antennae when we decide to engage with a perfect stranger, and when we are careful, the gesture just might make somebody's day along with our own.
Happy Saturday. Enjoy this beautiful day.
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