In Pursuit of the Trivial

   The scope of tragedy is too grievous to process.  But still we go about our daily routines, one of which is shopping for food. Ordinarily I find it to be a dull and unwelcome task, but today I almost welcomed its diversion.  I bought sugar----the stuff that comes in a paper sack, the weight of which has shrunk from five to four pounds over the years.  Some health advocates consider white sugar to be almost toxic.  Maybe that's why the bag reads, "Great for Cookies, Cakes & Brownies."  There is even a recipe on the side of the bag for Peanut Butter Chocolate Chunk Brownies.  Nutrition Facts on the side of the bag read that the sugar is Gluten-Free, and contains only 15 calories per teaspoon.  There are far worse ways to die.

Friday the 13th--so far *Update

   The Honda is at the shop for a routine inspection, but we're told it needs new rear brakes and a new battery.
  I go outside to start the Subaru, but the battery is stone cold dead, and the engine won't even turn over.
   With no transportation, we have to cancel this morning's medical appointment.  They seem understanding about the late notice.
    I had been asked to contact a certain telephone number to procure tickets for an event, but the number I was given is not in service.
    It's only a little past 10:00 a.m.
* Minor casualty-----Out of boredom, I made banana bread, before I called to see if my car was ready.  I remembered it when I got back home.  New name for it is Crispy Banana Bread.
** It was a windy day, the 13th on Friday, and because our waste collector bypassed our house this week, the garbage can was still out front, away from any shelter, tipped over, and the recyclables strewn.  Oh, well.

Say What!!

   I use coupons occasionally, mostly those for  fifty-cents or a dollar , so I don't mind it when a store's cash register spews out a couple along with my receipt.  At Rite-Aid today, I got two coupons, one for $2.00 off and one for $4.00 off.  Both were for Incontinence products.  Certainly not based on past purchases, but what?  Age?  I think I'll file a lawsuit charging  elder abuse---of the emotional type.

Operation Mouse Eyes

   In the past several months, I have accumulated enough real-life forensic experience to form a valid conclusion:  the eyes of a dead mouse look just like the eyes of a live mouse.  It is a fact that of late I have seen more of the former, and mice eyes, though sightless, gleam bright and beady.
   A mouse was caught last night, in one of those classic wooden traps,of the powerful spring-loaded type.   I can't bear to touch them.  Thank heavens for the plastic grocery bags.  I slip my hand into bag one to pick up the trap and then drop trap and attached carcass into another bag which I usually throw into the trash can behind the house.  Because it was already dark outside, I didn't want to venture around back, so I deposited the little body-bag outside the front door.  This morning, when I went outside, the bag was gone.  I searched and, while the plastic bag may have blown away in the night wind, I located the trap about twenty feet away.  The trap with nothing in it.  This particular mouse had met its doom caught right in the center of its body, firmly wedged beneath the wire of execution.  The trap was clean as a whistle.

CAMPAIGN m. e..s.s.a.g.e.....

      Because we live in a split-level (party-enrollment-wise) household,we receive political messages from both major parties.  Yesterday we got a call from Dr. Ben Carson.  But his voice was so soft, and his message so lengthy, his words were mostly unintelligible------sounded something like he had tried to stab a relative who was robbing a Popeye's because their grain supply was too old.  Or something along those lines....

To Blog A Tale

   As the narrator of the Canterbury Tales explained to the diverse travelers he'd required to tell a tale: "If a tale has meaning for you take it and use it; if not, be entertained by it on the journey."