I'm Just Saying

If there’s one thing that gives any woman of ‘a certain age’ a little boost, it’s being asked to show identification when buying beer at a mini-mart. Especially if you conveniently allow yourself to forget that it’s mandatory for any customer, and, no, frankly, you don’t appear to be under 21.

The last few days have been something like an episode of ‘Wild Kingdom’ here at the Funny Farm. Or, to be more precise, shall I say, “Mild Kingdom,” as there’s been no Rhino ear- tagging by the hapless Jim, his weekly suicide mission dictated by Marlin Perkins, from the comfort of a voice-over booth, or fleeing from a herd of Wildebeest.

The term, ‘binge watching,’ has been around for quite some time which probably explains why Paul and I have just begun embarking upon it.

You see, we’re rarely ‘on trend.’

Evidently, our omnipresent red clay just ain’t good enough and so we are now importing dust. A 4,000 mile long plume, whipped up by storms across the Saharan desert, visible from space, is now heading to the southeastern coast of the U.S.

For the life of me I can’t imagine how it would feel to have the street directly in front of my driveway, along with our farm’s sign and even nearby street signs, defaced with obscene and intimidating language designed to torment my family. And yet that is what happened last weekend to a community in our immediate area.

Let me tell you what happened at the Dollar store the other night.

After stepping back into the parking lot with my yellow plastic bags, I stopped abruptly as I noticed the rear wheel of Paul’s Hyundai was flat.

“You got a flat!” hollered Ann, the manager, from the doorway.

Remember how, when we were little kids, many of us wanted to grow up to become astronauts? Then life happens and safer, earthborne options seem more obtainable: law school, nursing, teaching, engineering…stand-up comedy.

You may have seen the charming video making the rounds this week of a senior English clergyman—Robert Willis, the Dean of Canterbury, actually--delivering his online morning prayer from a place we Anglophiles cherish: his outdoor garden, on a stout wooden chair, cup of tea (with saucer!) at his side.