PORCH PONDERINGS

Grasshoppers and Frog

Today again started off chilly, in the low 50's this morning. We did meals on wheels today. On the way there, I walk by my garden plot. Something catches my eye. A hopping green blob. A very large frog - or is it a toad? Never can tell them apart. But it is green and large and covered in warts. Nice. I tell it to hurry and eat all the grasshoppers in the yard that are slowly invading the garden. It ignores me and hops away. So we go to the Senior Center to do 'Meals on Wheels.' The list is divided in two sections, West and East. Curious, I ask. Why? Oh, they didn't think you were coming today. Choose a side. I chose West, hee haw, we'll be done early. 'But if that other side is still there when we are done, we'll deliver it as well,' I tell hubby in the car. The deliveries are made in record time. We return. Sure enough, the cart is still sitting there, waiting for delivery. We head out again. We deliver the East side of town. In record time. 'Thank goodness for you two.' Yeah, yeah. Good old Norma and hubby. It's what we do.

So we sit and eat lunch, sloppy joes and salad and dessert. We hear why there was a mix-up. The lady who schedules the volunteers is having a worse day than we are. Laughter all around about bad days people have had. Then I hear "Norma, phone call from Dale." Hmmm. How does he know I'm here? Oh, that's right, I just delivered a meal to his wife. Dale lives next to my church. The city needs to get into the church to turn back on the water service. The city is replacing water lines and the church has been on temporary water service for a week or so. I jump in the car and head to the church, let the city guy in, go back home, gather some materials, and head back to church for bible study, then head to the thrift store where we volunteer.

At the store, I opened a box that made me sad. It reminded me of Hemingway's famous 6 word story: 'For Sale; baby shoes, never worn' In this box were little girl baby shoes, four pair, a baby Christmas outfit, baby bottles, baby diapers, a baby photo album, baby blanket, baby rattle, and baby hat. And the book 'What to Expect When You're Expecting'. A booklet of baby shower games. Nothing had been used. All brand new. Aaahhhh. What happened? It made me sad. I wanted to know.

Our time at the thrift store always goes by fast, and soon we have to leave. When I got home, I listened to my governor speak about a new directive. Seems masks will be required in any county with more than 4 cases of the Corona virus. That leaves me out. Our county has 0 cases. But I will have to wear one tomorrow when I make a trip to Billings to go shopping. The cases there have exploded, due to a nursing home if I understand the news. We don't really watch the news anymore. But I do sometimes catch things online.

Tonight is play practice. I love the drive to Musselshell. Sometimes I will see a bald eagle in a certain tree. And as it gets toward August and September, the elk begin to gather in a field near there. And there is a wet area where birds will migrate through. Sometimes there will be white pelicans.

Yesterday I actually won two contests! Amazing but true. I won the Writing Cramp daily award as well as the Daily Flash Fiction. I love it when the muse gets to going and things just click. So look for 'To the Moon and Back' and 'Grandma's Lamp'. It has been a long time since I had won the Flash Fiction competition, so to open that email to read I was the winner was quite a surprise!

Enjoy the rest of the evening, folks. I go to pretend I am someone else. For just a little while.