I did not have much time for taking pictures yesterday.
To put it mildly, the day was a full-throttle version from start to finish.
By nightfall, I realized that I even ran out of time to water my deck flowers.
They'll get priority in the watering line-up today.
It must have been busier than usual cuz I slept through the entire night without waking up once.
Not once!
Nights like that need to be marked on the calendar for this former insomniac.
I can say "former" because my sleep habits have improved slightly over my 17 years of retirement.
SEVENTEEN!??????
That's as shocking as getting a full night's sleep!
Where DOES that time go?
Anywho . . .
lawn mowing, trying to catch up on raspberry picking, leading horses to and from the hay field (four walks to and fro with three horses each time), cleaning cat boxes, shopping, etc. did not leave much time in between to yell at the television set.
I can play catch-up on the latter pretty much any day, so it was probably good to take a break.
Happily, today should be a bit more laid-back with raspberries and blueberries and a few beans to pick, along with the usual chores.
Maybe I'll take more pictures too.
On another subject, I read an online piece this morning about the benefits of talking to strangers.
We all know this is not always wise.
I have notched up a couple of incidents where I learned that sometimes strangers actually do live up to the long-held reminder: don't talk to them.
Once when we were on a trip to Michigan, I talked with a seemingly nice older gentleman who had parked his car next to ours at our motel.
He was interested on where we were going and from where we had come. Seemed innocent enough for this 15-year-old to tell him.
At the time, our traveling group in the '58 Ford Ranchwagon included my two little sisters, Barbara and Laurie, and my mother, who did all the driving.
We were headed to my aunt's house in Kalamazoo where my older brother Mike would be meeting us after his plebe year at West Point.
Well, that night, someone tried to break into our motel room. My mother, who used those old metal curlers, was putting her hair up at the time. My sisters and I had fallen asleep.
Suddenly, frantic whispers from my mother awakened me, and that was the end of that night's sleep.
The intruder never broke all the way in. Mother, a former city girl who had adopted the trusting ways of country dwellers, had simply put a chain on the door but had not locked it.
Light from the outside suddenly shone into the hallway as Mother sat up in her bed, listened and watched as the person fiddled with the chain.
Apparently, when she turned on the lamp, the potential invader left.
Doors were ALWAYS locked and chained on trips after that night.
Having had car trouble and knowing the road ahead in Northern Michigan had considerable construction projects, we stayed put----armed with cans of Franco-American spaghetti as weapons---until the first light of day gave us the guts to get in the car and get the heck out of there.
We were very fortunate but also enlightened, to say the least.
I no longer told strangers on road trips my destination.
Another time, in my 30s, I was by myself riding a commuter bus on its way to the zoo in Washington, D.C.
It seemed to this country girl that it sure was taking a long time to get to the zoo, so I finally asked anyone out loud about when the bus would stop for the zoo.
"It's the next stop," a gentleman next to me said, acting as if he wanted to help.
Soon, the bus stopped.
I walked down the steps, out the door and to the sidewalk, The man who had answered my question exited right behind me.
Suddenly, the bus driver yelled to me, "Lady, get back on this bus. This is not the stop to the zoo!"
The so-called helpful man next to me, suddenly became agitated and insisted that it was the right stop.
"Get back on this bus!" the driver repeated.
Wasting no time, I complied.
Once I had sat back down, a lady who had heard my earlier question told me that she had alerted the bus driver, knowing that the stranger had lied to me.
Talk about the fear of God!
Let's just say that my visit to the Washington, D.C. Zoo was marked by fear and a strong desire to find someone, anyone I knew.
Happily, I had gone to the nation's capital for a 4-H conference and, happily, I soon spotted some other conference attendees who had gone to the zoo.
So, yes, I have learned the hard way and fortunately without too many consequences, the dangers of visiting with strangers.
That said, however, I have also learned over my life, in safe situations while exercising caution, acting on instincts and using common sense, that visiting with total strangers can more often than not have positive results.
Some of the richest moments of my life have come from striking up a spontaneous conversation.
Happily, many times those conversations have led to friendships with interesting people in my home town AND from around the world.
There's a sense of richness, education and inspiration that can come from striking up a conversation with someone we've never met before.
Plus, we never know how much that friendly gesture can just plain make someone's day.
And, so, I'll leave you with the link below.
It's a fun and insightful read.
Happy Tuesday.
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