CAT was Skunked

Walking alone, I stopped to pet CAT as I usually do. I noticed nothing wrong, but I did get a whiff of skunk when bending down near the stream. I happily walked to the stop sign and turned around. A car stopped with its window down, and the woman said, “In case you pet her, I want to let you know that the cat was skunked yesterday.”

The surprise showed on my face, and I said, “I didn’t smell her.”

With that, I smelled my hands and said, “Whew! No skunk smell!”

She said, “I cleaned her up, but she still smells a bit. My daughter used to do all that, but she’s moved away.”

She grinned when I showed her my thumb was down. Mothers know what it’s like when children grow up and move out. Her face would have glowed if I had told her what I was thinking. With her sun glasses on, I thought she WAS the daughter!

Further down the road, a cobalt blue car stopped as I was petting CAT to keep her from going in the road. The man asked the name of the cat, and I explained that to the dad it was CAT, but to the daughter it was Blake. He said he had put gravel over the deepening holes in the road, and I hastened to thank him profusely for that. He corrected me, that the man nearest the holes had filled them, and he just put gravel on top. The cat jumped on his car as he performed his wonderful service to us, and he wanted to know her name. Everyone knows she often runs in front of cars to keep us on our toes. I think CAT is a more expressive name for her than Blake. Wouldn’t you agree?

First Responders

When I came in from gardening, I took off my gloves and noticed a thorn in my finger. It was on the underside, right at the joint, and snagged on everything I touched. I could feel it, but I couldn’t see it. Of course, I turned to a couple of the best neighbors in the world.

I texted, “I think I have a visible thorn in my finger. Are you home? Will you have time to poke at it if I come to your porch? I could bring tweezers and a magnifying glass.”

Shawn replied, “We’ll come over. We were heading to the bank.”

She and Bob drove over and made siren sounds as they came up my steps. They were acting as first responders for my emergency call, which made me laugh. Shawn took the tweezers as Bob held the magnifying glass. The thorn broke off, and Bob tried to dig the rest out with a sterile needle. It was tiny, so we left it to work its way out by itself. Well, I’ll be here, of course.

As they worked, they mentioned they were going out to breakfast before going to the bank. Now that shows a true neighbor’s love, to postpone a meal they were hungry for to help me. I truly appreciated their sacrifice. They kindly invited me to go along, but I was smeared with garden grime and stayed home for a shower. As they headed down the steps, Shawn suggested they make siren sounds in reverse. If I had recorded it, you couldn’t have heard it over my laughter.

An Odd Ache from Physical Therapy

I knew the exercises would not stay as easy as they were in the first three sessions of PT. I was the only patient there, so everything was low key. This time there were two therapists and four patients, as well as the receptionist. The stories and laughter bounced off the walls. My body was fine, but my face ached from smiling and laughing for a full hour.

My therapist grew up in this area and has the gift of story-telling. He told of waking up in the morning and not being comfortable in bed. He shifted a bit and wondered what he was lying on. Finally he rolled over and reached behind him. It was a dead rat!!! The dog must have brought it in and put it in bed with him as he slept. I already knew he lived on a farm in a remote area, but this was almost beyond belief. The receptionist said if that had happened to her, she would have burned the bed – sheets, mattress, and all.

One Plump Skunk!

As I walked to the stop sign, I checked one message on my phone, making sure I hadn’t missed neighbor Joyce. I ignored the next 24 messages, figuring it was just people chatting. When I came back, Joyce intercepted me at her driveway. She asked, “Did you see the messages about the skunk going under your porch?”

She told me the facts, and I resolved to look at clumps of messages next time. Neighbor Julie joined Joyce and me as she walked Patches. She has had dogs skunked before, and she said a skunk can’t spray again for two weeks!

I went home and read every word of those texts. Shawn saw Izzy go into my yard and chase the skunk. She called it a plump skunk. She was relieved when the dog turned back. The next message said, “Oh, no! Too late! Izzy got skunked again!”

I found this on the internet: “Skunks can spray up to six times in succession if they feel threatened, but they only have a limited amount of spray and it can take them up to 10-14 days to replenish their scent glands.”

Not my Reunion

Neighbor Joyce invited me to go to her family reunion in the next county, and I had the most delightful time. We began in the little one-room schoolhouse that also served as a church. The people who came the furthest were from Arizona and Nebraska. Following the bulletin, we stood and pledged allegiance to the flag. I remembered most of the words, although I don’t think I’ve done it on a regular basis for 68 years. We sang two hymns, had a responsive Bible reading, and watched the unveiling of two sets of photos.

One by one we stood up to say our names and how we were related to Barak Norton. I explained that my next door neighbor invited me. Although I wasn’t on their family tree, I was related to all of them about halfway back to Adam and Eve.

There was a big tent set up beside the schoolhouse, and that’s where we had a royal potluck, brought by all of us. It’s the kind of thing you’d expect at a Sunday lunch after a church service out in the country. We ate fried chicken, meatballs, sandwiches, wraps, pasta salads, baked beans, green beans, macaroni and cheese, fresh fruit, and cornbread. And the desserts!! There were cookies, a decorated bundt cake, Brownies, at least three lemon pies, pudding, blueberry cake, and fruit bread. What a feast!

I talked to people from Nebraska and Georgia who were sitting near me. It was fun to listen to Joyce chat with a fairly close relative, although I missed lots of that conversation. The decibel level had risen quite high after we ate all that food.

We left as everyone else was leaving and had a lovely drive back through gorgeous mountains. My app showed we had gone about 60 miles each way. What a marvelous day it had been!

Multiplying Slacks

There is another mystery at my house. Weeks ago daughter Lise went with me to help pick out slacks appropriate to wear for physical therapy. I clearly remember buying two pair. I tried on both a few days ago. One fit fairly well, but the other was much too big. I thought that pair might do to walk to the stop sign, although I was shocked at how much extra material there was. I could only hope people would look at the road while driving and not look at me. I clearly remembered how I had to tug on the pants in the dressing room. A day or so later I put on the garment that I thought had been too big. It fit fairly well. My weight fluctuates, but not that much! How could clothes fit one day and be too big the next day?

When I was getting dressed to go to town, I found three pairs of exercise slacks!! How on earth did two turn into three?? I like the idea of multiplying clothing, but I wish they all fit. I’m sure the big ones don’t belong to Lise, because she wears jeans a size smaller than I do. She wouldn’t be caught dead in those balloony pants! I may wear them only in the house, but they are slated to go in the give-away pile soon.

Mystery Mail

I have written a letter once a week to a friend who can’t get electronic messages. I cheat by including blog posts, only adding personal news at the end. It couldn’t be easier. Sometimes, though, I make it much harder for myself. It happened this week. I spent a lot of time talking to people and realized at midnight that I hadn’t prepared the final part of the letter. The next morning I woke at 6:25, half an hour before the alarm would go off. I dressed for walking, then typed about one page before printing the letter and preparing it for mailing. There was still time for stretches and resistance bands before putting the letter in the mailbox and meeting Joyce at her driveway at 8. I told her that my arm began to go numb, because I was typing without stopping, and the angle was not good.

Later in the day I checked the video clips from the porch cam to see if the mail had come. I saw neighbors come and go, most in cars, but one on a motorcycle. Another neighbor walked Patches, her dog, and they showed up. A large truck delivered propane across the street, and a FedEx van turned around in my driveway. I never saw the car that usually delivers the mail, so I went out to check, anyway. To my surprise, I had mail! Not only did I have mail, but my outgoing letter was under the junk mail!

I am still wondering who delivered the mail without the movement triggering the camera. Surely it couldn’t have been a drone!! There is no drone that could open my very stiff mailbox door, which is not easy for me to do. Anyone walking on the street would have been recorded. I’m not going to solve the mystery by sitting here and wondering. Any suggestions???

Physical Therapy

It became more and more of an effort to stand up straight, so I asked my doctor if she would recommend physical therapy. She agreed and added balance training. It goes with the territory. I’ve now had my first session and enjoyed it tremendously. The therapist is a “people person” who can talk to anyone about anything. The receptionist also joined in when she was nearby. What fun it was! I had a full hour of gentle routines which didn’t tax me at all. That may not last long, because I’m sure the workouts will intensify.

I left with a sheet of three exercises for me to do at home. They were explained with words and drawings. I did them later, then looked at the company app on my phone. Those exercises were included. There were animated clips and a timer for each. I saw that I could exercise with the app and have it entered into my record. Old school habits made me repeat everything to get credit for it. Some things never change!!

A New Spin on Sausage

I have a new routine with sausage, cooking it in the air fryer rather than in a pan on the stove. The big advantage is a shortened cleanup. Instead of washing the pan, I just throw away one small piece of aluminum foil. The cooking time is also shorter. Having set the cook time for the correct number of minutes, I didn’t have to watch it; I just turned the patty over and let it cook a little more.

The second time I fixed sausage the new way, I heard something odd. There was a whirling sound. The noise stopped as soon as I pulled the basket out. I must have used a smaller piece of foil and pulled it closer to the sausage, because sausage and foil were spinning wildly!! What a surprise! I then discovered that dizzy sausage tastes just like the regular kind!

Sinkers or Floaters?

The subject is probably not what you were expecting, since sinkers and floaters usually refer to swimmers. I’m talking about pills. The supplements doctors told me to take were boring – same pills every day for years on end. Finding a good deal on vitamins for eyes, I bought them from a different manufacturer. The excitement began when I tried to swallow the first one. Pictured are the three I take after breakfast.

I popped all three in my mouth as usual, took a big gulp of water, and was able to swallow only two. A bit more water, and the tan one went down, fighting all the way. I was suspicious that the new one did not stay with the other two because it was floating. Who ever heard of a floating pill? The next day I took the odd pill by itself, and sure enough, it floated to the top of the water near the roof of my mouth. I’m positive I’ve never tried to swallow a floater before. It’s against the law of nature! Pills are supposed to go down, not up. Aaarrggghhhhh! These pills are going to last two LONG months! I am presuming the floaters will not kill me. I realize I could take that dratted pill with food, but that defeats my goal of zero calories for pill swallowing.

If you have ever taken floating pills, please let me know how you handled this bizarre situation.