The clouds in the west gathered force and moved toward me as I set out on a quest for a car dealership yesterday. The brochure in the mail gave the address so why couldn’t I find it? Surely it was a large establishment proudly proclaiming all kinds of beautiful automobiles. I’m sure it was there but it was hidden from my sight. The reason the dealership was important to me was I had gotten a promotional in the mail and I scratched off the required number of matching numbers and right there in black and white, the writers of said ad assured me I had won something. What? They didn’t say but I wanted to find out.
Dejected but not defeated, I headed back toward town as the sky became darker and the wind became brisker. I stopped to get a few groceries and as I stepped from my own well-worn but much-loved vehicle, I noticed people hurrying to or from the store. Have you ever noticed how an event (and believe me, right now in this part of the country, rain is an event) seems to make people friendlier? A woman pushing a grocery cart smiled at me. “Doesn’t the rain smell good!” I enthused.
“It sure does,” she answered. “We need it too. Here. I’m through with this cart. Do you want it?”
Before I got to the door of the store, a man with a wide grin said, “It’s going to rain.”
“Yes,” I agreed. “And we sure need it.”
I entered the store feeling that the world is a friendly, happy place. (Actually, I know this isn’t altogether true but believe me, Northwest Arkansas people are very friendly and the kind of people you are proud to call your neighbor.) And rain can make friends out of perfect strangers.
I hadn’t gotten home before the clouds hovered over town and opened wide. Rain poured down. Rivers ran down the street. Trees and bushes lifted thankful limbs and I was glad to be safe inside my own little home and enjoy looking out.
The picture at the bottom of this posting is O’Malley standing in a puddle. When Sara was much smaller, she would take off her shoes and wade in that puddle. We didn’t care if mud splashed her little legs and squished up between her toes. A nice, warm bath later was fun too. So that puddle has sentimental value.
Rain can do strange things, inexplicable things. It can turn a sedate, mature writer of cozy mysteries into a frenzied cook. I decided chocolate chip cookies were in order. While the oven was hot, I might as well bake a pie crust for cream pie. And Nathan really likes Mem’s fudge so why wait ’til Thanksgiving or Christmas? I stirred up a batch of chocolate fudge, rich, creamy, mouth-watering (get the picture?)
Before I forget, I had a “first” at my tender, advanced age. Yesterday, I kept score at Sara’s volleyball game. Now, I know nothing about volleyball but she assured me they needed a score keeper or they couldn’t have the game. So, who was I to stand in the way of a worthwhile sport? Fortunately, the woman seated next to me knew how to keep score. I found out that it was actually fun and I learned quite a bit about volleyball (like, to duck when that hard ball comes toward me).
As you can see, the television/computer technician came yesterday and my internet is up and running. For how long? Only the Shadow knows (heh heh).
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