Saturday Slight

 

Happy Halloween!!

How 'bout that big Blue Moon!

Good bye, October!

Hello to yet another Saturday.  Retired folks like us enjoy them seven days a week.  Or, so they say.

Lookin' like a beauty of a day ahead.  

And, we get an extra hour before falling back and plunging into the dark ages.  

If you don't have a Glenn Lefebvre in your life, you are missing out.

This former student and consummate angler casts out as many thigh-slapping light-hearted takes on life as he reels in. 

I don't think he was getting ready for Halloween when he went to his beauty parlor yesterday.   

He was just being Glenn. 

Straight from the keyboard of Glenn: 

The hair salon raised prices and now I can either afford a haircut or a recolor, but not both.

Every visit is a do-or-dye decision.

When you have a Southern gentleman for a hubby, it's nice to have friends who go to Texas.

While in Laredo for a doctor gig, our neighbor Tricia was nice enough to go to the candy store in search of pralines. 

PRAYleens in her native Kentucky; PRAWleens in Bill's Luzianna. 

I told Bill, after he sent me a selfie earlier this week indicating that he had voted early and gotten NO candy, that his reward would be coming soon. 

It did yesterday morning, and Bill's genuine surprise when Tricia handed over the box was worth it all. 

We told our friend that she could have some more fence insulators in return for her sweet deed. 

Thanks so much, Tricia.  

Mighty tasty. 

"You weren't supposed to get that for ten days!" my friend Helen told me after I sent her a picture of the book cover above yesterday. 

Before contacting Helen, I had already read one story, after opening Scott Hancock's new book to a random page. 

The story told me about Watermelon Charlie, an old guy who heckled Scott, then a long-distance paper deliverer, when he'd arrive a minute or two late or even slightly early with his bundle of Salt Lake Tribune papers for the Southern Idaho cafe where Charlie helped out. 

Immediately, I knew I was going to like all the rest of this collection of tales from Scott's life. 

As for receiving the book a few days earlier than Helen expected, I'm just letting the other nine people who have or will be receiving complimentary books from Helen that you'll own a literary treat----concise, meaningful, well-written tales. 

It will be nice to have this book handy whenever I need a few minutes of escape into Scott's world. 

This recent release (133 pages) is available at amazon.com, or from Helen, if you're on her list of nine other recipients.  

She told me that she had figured the 3rd class mail rate would certainly involve several days in transit. 

When I received mine just one day after she sent them out, she noted that the U.S. Mail must be working overtime to improve its image. 

Could be. 

Judy Labrie and her sis Chris Moon

I drove to town yesterday to take a few Halloween photos.  While driving around, I kept thinking about my friend Chris.  

We haven't literally seen each other since before the Pandemic. And, I've missed her like I do so many friends. 

Several other times I've gone to town and hoped maybe I'd see her outside her home.  Never happened. 

Yesterday, I decided that I'd pull up, park and text her.

"Chris, if you're in there, I'm out here in my car," I would state. 

That seemed like a good plan BUT when I pulled up to park, I saw an open gate. 

Inside were Chris and her sister Judy doing some yard work at their duplex and then stopping to talk. 

So, I honked.  

They looked my way and kept on talking.

"Have I changed THAT much in seven months?" I wondered, honking again.

Continuing their conversation, they looked but did not acknowledge, so I pulled out my camera and pointed at them. 

They still stared back.

Then, "THE VOICE," which I've never been able to disguise, yelled out. 

That got a rise out of the two sisters. For several minutes we stood----at a distance, of course---enjoying the moment. 

To me, it was a gift.  Getting to see friends on a blustery but beautiful fall day and catching up just a bit. 

For Chris and me,
"catching up" usually means a full day of driving somewhere fun with nonstop talk. 

Looking forward to that opportunity again some day.  For now, yesterday was a true delight.

Great sisters. Great ladies.  

Thinking back on yesterday, I must say that it sure was a special day, filled with meaningful and uplifting interludes reminding me----in the midst of so much unease and uncertainty----that it truly is a wonderful life. 

Happy Saturday.