OPINION? Everybody Has One!!
Posted on Wednesday, November 19, 2008
Do you remember July the 14 th ? Hot, even hotter than July 4 th, and steamy heat at 6: 30 a. m. and not even a tiny relief in sight was the forecast and, believe me, that one was correct ! I do remember it well.
Then there is today, damp and cloudy, not one sign of sunshine and my hands are stiff and cold. I have been politely instructed to get the yard cleaned up for the substantial crowd of folks that will appear for the upcoming holiday. I am always such a nice and helpful feller that you know I don’t mind doing my share, but today ? It rained, the leaves are wet, the sun won’t shine and my hands are cold and stiff !
I went in for a cup of hot coffee about 10 o’clock. I think that is the defined hour of coffee breaks in the union jobs and she wanted to know why I was in the house and to please pick up the wet leaves that had followed me in ! My close relative is a gracious lady, one of genteel upbringing and always correct. She is correct no matter what and I have learned to understand that fact. I sat myself right down at the table and relaxed with my legs sorta out in the floor and crossed at the ankles.
Take my advice and do not sit like that when your close relative is in a whirl to clean, cook or just walk through at the speed of an African gnu escaping the claws of a lioness who is closing in ! Do you not know that you will definitely be in the way if you park your carcass in the middle of the floor when you are supposed to be cleaning up the yard in the first place ? I know that is a run on sentence but, what the heck, if she can say it in one breath I should be able to write it in one sentence !!
The leaves would not rake in a decent fashion, the leaf blower was of absolutely no use, so I had to struggle with the whole dang yard to get the nasty things in a pile. I must have hauled twenty wheelbarrow loads to the specific dump area. I piled the leaves in tight and scrunched them down. The loads were heavy and I had pulled my extra shirt off by 11 a. m. The flowerpots had to be emptied, potting soil saved in a big plastic sack and all the lawn furniture power washed. I was wishing for just ten minutes worth of that good old July heat. Now my boots were damp and so were my Levis due to the mist coming off the power washer. Cold toes matched up fine with cold fingers. I was wishing I was a lonely old cowhand riding the range by the time I got the dang power washer put away. It is my opinion, and everyone has one, a bologna sandwich and iced tea is not what a feller wants for lunch after a morning like the one I had experienced. But, as the sandwich was put in front of me, tomatoes peeled, onions sliced, lettuce carefully washed and dried, I saw the red knuckles and quickly looked out the window. Yes, the windows were sparkling and squeaky clean. Screens had been vacuumed and not one word had been spoken about the labor it had all involved. I deserved crow instead of the thick sliced bologna ! Do your thing and behave. It does not matter which side of a family you hold up, someone else is holding up the other side or it will collapse ! The sides are even, weigh the same, look different but, believe me, they are both weight bearing pillars and you need to see that ! Be thankful, like me, that I at least had a rake and a wheelbarrow !
—Bill
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