I Spy

Back in the day when my Kids were younger (okay, a lot younger) and we would take road trips, there were no such things as iPads or PeaPods or whatever they are and no video screens in vehicles, either.  We played games, we sang songs, we told jokes and believe it not, we kept ourselves amused.  One of the games we played was "I Spy," in which one would pick out something they saw and the others would try to guess what it was.  I wish I'd had a bunch of kids with me yesterday to play the game because I needed extra eyes to keep a lookout for a dogwood tree in bloom.  Legend has it that it will snow one more time after those blossoms show and I would really like to have that forecast.  I even came back from town over Cedar Ravine, a heavily wooded road, thinking I'd double my chances of seeing a dogwood.  Either the trees bloomed and I missed it or snow is still on the agenda, because I didn't see a one.  Phooey.

It really was a gorgeous sunny day and if it hadn't been necessary to keep an eye out for the treacherous, numerous potholes in the road, it would have been a most pleasant drive to town.  Some civic-minded, obviously local person had used bright orange spray paint on the asphalt to warn drivers of a particularly nasty large hole on Fair Play Road.  Maybe Cal-Trans will take notice, too.

It wasn't surprising that the weather had an effect on everyone.  People in the stores were smiling and particularly patient and polite.  At the doctor's office, I had an opportunity that doesn't come that often up here.  An oh-so-young man (looked like he should have still been in high school) was checking in next to me.  I couldn't help overhearing that he was back from a tour of duty in the army in Bahrain.  As I passed him, I took the chance to thank him for his service.

Even Bessie Anne was affected.  At her age and with her leg ailments she's mostly sedentary now, but when I got home she grabbed up a stuffed kangaroo that Ralph had hauled out of the toy basket and raced around like a puppy.  It made me so happy to see her happy.  The feelings were contagious.  I worried for a minute when I went out to put the girls to bed and found them running up and down the pen until I realized they were playing like kids just because they could.

For someone who avoids town like the plague, it was a good day.