Busy, Busy, Busy

I felt like one of those parent birds in the oak yesterday, flitting from here to there and back again.  There is going to be a huge increase this year in the number of whatever kind of birds those are.  They fly too high and fast for me to get a good look at; all I know is they're smaller than a blackbird.  From day's first light to last, those babies are yelling at the top of their lungs and the parents can't keep up with the demands, but they try.

While taking a quick breather after barn chores I got a nice surprise, a text from Deb saying she and the boys are coming up this weekend.  Not having heard anything and so not expecting company, I've been sitting on my duff regarding house chores.  Actually, I don't need an excuse not to do housework, but it helps.  (The baby birds are waking up and beginning to sing the "Feed Me!" song.)

There was no time to fret about the house as I needed to get sluiced down and spruced up to meet Linda at Poor Red's for a celebratory lunch as her guest.  The weather as glorious and I dug down to the bottom of the pile and pulled out the first tank top of the year.  Red's never disappoints.  The French dip sandwich with a schmear of horseradish aioli is delish.  What with rain and one thing and another, it's been quite awhile since Linda and I have gotten together and it was good to spend time in her company.  We sat outside on the patio and dawdled over our meal.

When we parted, I needed to go to Wally World ("National Lampoon's Vacation," 1983, Chevy Chase, Beverly D'Angelo).  I'd mentioned to Linda that I could finish shopping in less than a half hour, and she doubted me.  I picked up everything on my list in 25 minutes (ha ha!), and then everything came to a screeching halt.  At the checkout counter, I'd finished my transaction when the system decided to reboot and the register ate my check.  I felt bad for the associate (when did "clerk" become a distasteful word?) as the line behind me began to get restless and started to grumble.  She'd put out an SOS for a manager who must have been on a coffee break.  She redirected traffic while we waited.  And waited.  It was the machine that took pity and finally released my check and I was set free.

The plan after shopping was to get home, unpack groceries, and get John Dear out to do some much-needed mowing.  So much for plans.  A cloud cover swept over and a cold wind began to blow and I wasn't about to get on the tractor under those conditions.

It was a busy but most pleasant day.