Around Town and Around the Trailer

My visit to the eye doctor at the Big City mall was chock full of surprises. First, one would assume that a walk-in optometrist office situated in the mall, adjacent to a large vision correction chain store would be wall-to-wall people on a Saturday afternoon. When I commented to the staff that I was surprised at how I barely had to wait at all, the sweet little girl behind the counter said, "Hmmm, yes it is strange. We've been crazy busy all day. You had perfect timing, an unusual Saturday for sure."

I would go in to how that statement verified what I already knew had been a two day lesson in synchronicity, but I don't want to cause a snoozefest with the details. Just take my word that sometimes, life is a wondrous thing.

As for the actual visit, I went in expecting to hear what I've always been told by eye doctors, that my vision is passable, that a weak prescription would be helpful while driving or watching t.v. and maybe to ease computer eye strain. Sure.. I know as you get older, things tend to go downhill a bit, but when the good doc smiled and told me I could use bifocals I nearly fell out of the chair.

I reckon going 15 years between eye exams isn't an advisable thing to do.

He said I could get by with the distance adjusting prescription for maybe another year, but he was confident I wouldn't make it any longer than that. He wrote it both ways, I got the "so I won't see monkeys while driving" glasses for now, but I can go back and get the "pass me the Geritol and pull up a rocker" set with the same prescription. He said it like... when I'm ready to accept the fact that I can't see and need them.

I'm seriously reconsidering my decision to stop coloring my hair. Suddenly I'm not feeling so spry and perky.

I know.. I should stop whining. Most of my family have had to wear corrective lenses since childhood and one or two cousins have had to endure eye surgery when they were just wee little things. I'm just a little surprised is all.

I got the $99 frames, but I'm not going to say how much I ended up walking out of there spending. When I discovered that these weren't going to be "once in a while" glasses, I splurged a little and got something I could live with long term.

Thank goodness for tax refunds.

Enough of my whining, in other news...

The big news around town is the deconstruction of the pub. Ya'll may remember that the pub owner died in a car accident, coming back from Big City on election night. There's been alot of assumptions and speculation about what was going to happen to the property, the building has stood for a long, long time. I can remember walking back through town from the old movie theater with Ma, after seeing "The Frogs" and having to leave in the middle 'cuz Ma got freaked out. We stopped at the cafe that used to be housed in the same building where the pub later opened for business.

I was six years old at the time and had already developed an unrestrained mouth. I announced to the entire cafe that we had to leave 'cuz Ma got scared, leading to roars of laughter and the first of many firm talking tos on learning not to be quite so quick to share information with the masses.

I've never really gotten the hang of that.

Anywho... the old building is being torn down and rebuilt, but because it sits in a flood plain, it's taking some redneck ingenuity to git r' done. According to town gossip, if the whole structure ever comes down, it can't be rebuilt, so rumor has it that the new owners are taking down the roof and three walls and rebuilding them before replacing the remaining wall, effectively tiptoeing all around the whole "flood plain" problem.

That's how we roll down here in the holler.

Here around the trailer...

Me and the Amazon have decided to have a veggie garden this year. Ya'll may remember last year when we attempted to grow some stuff in containers. After buying pots, potting soil and seeds, that little investment ended up yielding one, tiny, premie lookin' cucumber... which we fed to the wild bunnies.

Not to be out done, this year we're having a big chunk of the yard tilled up, where we'll attempt to grow something edible. I'm hoping that by putting the garden in the same spot where Granny used to have hers, there might be a little spiritual intervention, maybe a little ancestral nudge, to help things along.

I'll take any help I can get.



This is the future home of the garden project. I'll keep ya'll posted on the progress. If I never mention it again, you'll know it turned in to a giant clusterfuck.

I have to admit, I'm almost as excited to get the ground tilled up as I am to attempt to grow a garden. The area you see is also the area where our most treasured ancient tribal artifact was found, a large, arrowhead shaped tool, first thought to be a dirt clod. I have a few odds and ends I've picked up around the yard and I'm positively giddy at the thoughts of getting in there with a hoe and playing archaeologist.

Yes, I'm weird. Just accept it.

I guess that's all for today. If you need me, I'll be walking around the house admiring all the newly discovered cobwebs and dustbunnies.

The house seemed alot cleaner when it was all a blur.

Ya'll enjoy your day and I'll be back when I can grab a minute or two in my suddenly, hectic schedule.

Later Taters!