Sorry, but I've been busy.
Seems like I've been starting quite a few emails with that line lately.
Tuesday was the annual Airing of the Old Folks, in which the local golf course lends several golf carts to the adjacent nursing home, which then recruits staff and volunteers to ferry the geriatrics around the edge of the course to see the fall colors. A good time any day, but drop the temperature into the low 50's and add a stiff breeze and YYYYEEAAARRRRRRRRRRRGGGGGGGHHHHHHH!
My favorite rides are those with the disgruntled, crabby elders who are determined not to have a good time. It becomes a challenge to make them crack a smile. This year it was Bertie. Bertie was adamant that this little field trip was going to do her in. It was cold. The quilt was too heavy. Her back hurt. The cart bounced too much. I told her she had to hang in for just a little longer, because when the rest of the carts turned left to head back to the clubhouse...we were going to go straight, cut across the highway, and see if we couldn't score some free samples from the canning factory. Can't you smell the garlic and tomato sauce, Bertie? I bet you skipped breakfast, just like me. Let's go get a little snack. That'll set us to rights, eh? Maybe we can talk the foreman into getting us a couple of sodas from the lunch room vending machine.
Her lips drew into a tight little frown.
No? Not hungry, Bertie? Well, okay. How about we take a right at the highway and head out to the high school? You like kids, don't ya, Bertie? High schoolers are always an interesting bunch. We could bully them for their lunch money.
I didn't think it possible, but I believe the tendons and muscles in her face snapped allowing the frown to deepen.
Don't need any cash, Bertie? Okay. We'll just follow the others back to the first hole. Hang on tight, Bertie. This is where I flipped the cart the last time.
And I'll be darned if Bertie didn't smirk a little. Physical humor...it gets 'em every time. Next time I volunteer at the home, I'm bringing Bertie my 3 Stooges videotape.
What else has kept me away from the computer? Well, in addition to provoking old people, I volunteered in The Governor's preschool classroom on Thursday. I volunteered a few times when The Senator was in preschool, and I always walked away with a glowing admiration for the teachers who don't quit after the first week. I would. I'd quit, or I'd be in jail for shoving some 4-year-old into a locker for the duration of class. And helping out in The Gov's classroom has taught me that nothing has changed.
I don't know how the teachers do it. I looked around at the kids and decided that if you could get rid of the Lucy van Pelt self-absorbed, bossy little girls and the hyperactive, extra-loud, obnoxious little boys...you'd be left with about ten well-behaved children who would be a delight to have in class. Please don't ask if The Gov would make the cut. The jury is still out on that one.
Today The Gov and I are headed over to the lake to watch the brave young men from Anchor Dock and Lift brave the frigid water and winterize our shoreline. Depressing. It forces me to calculate just how long it will be before summer arrives. The answer: way too long.
Have a great weekend.
Posted by Cathy at September 29, 2006 09:00 AMI really, shouldn't do this, but I just have to:
http://www.azcentral.com/weather/
Yes, I'm rubbing it in. Again. And. Again. I just can't help myself.