Looking Up

It is always nice to be able to afford onlookers a moment of levity. Yesterday just such an opportunity came my way and who was I to pass it up? It all started like this: my family and I went out to eat at a nice, nearby restaurant after church. Other people had the same idea so we had to put our name on a waiting list for a table. Along one side of the long hallway where people sit to wait are a couple of checkerboards. You know the kind…the table is painted in black and red squares and the checkers are provided by the establishment. Uniquely, the chairs are those old-time wood Pepsi cartons. Two of them stacked together make a low seat for the low table (and, come to think of it, are probably placed there with children in mind.)  Sara sat demurely on one such seat and I confidently lowered myself onto the other across from her. Only thing was, my two Pepsi cartons weren’t fitting together that well. The top one slid as did I.   The wall was lined with hungry diners waiting to be fed and I really did not relish drawing their attention but I could no more stop myself from falling than I could stop–well–the force of gravity. So, my posterior hit the floor in slow motion and I found myself gazing up at a distinguished-looking gentleman with white hair and mustache. He gallantly offered his hand. It was either that or step over me since I landed at his feet.  He hauled me to an upright position.  That would have been the ideal time to feign great injury and pretend to faint. That way I might have generated more sympathy than merriment. But, alas, I didn’t think quickly enough. My son and daughter-in-law came to check that nothing was broken then returned to their waiting bench but not before I heard a few smothered giggles. At times like these, one draws one’s tattered garment of dignity about one’s shoulders and bravely climbs back on the Pepsi cartons to sedately resume the checker game.

I cannot let an experience like that go to waste so I’ll try to figure out how I can incorporate it into the next cozy mystery.

Speaking of mysteries, a cozy mystery writer in California, Joyce Oroz is an author to check out. Her blog is: authorjoyceoroz.blogspot.com. Her latest book is The Cuckoo Clock Caper.  This book and others by Joyce can be found on Amazon.com. Any time is a good time to sit down (in a comfortable chair, not the floor) and enjoy a cozy mystery!