The Good Delay

I resign myself to major disruptions.

Minor inconveniences, on the other hand, irritate me to the point I become unbearable to other people.

For example, Thursday I was driving to a meeting 45 minutes away when a low tire pressure light came on. Now, I despise car warning lights. Like Click and Clack (the Tappet Brothers), I’m always tempted to just stick black tape over the light and ignore it. The last time this light came on, I had a screw in my tire just this close to my tire wall.

Never mind I found a tire plug set and fixed my own tire in a matter of minutes.

The exasperation of taking an unexpected hour and a half out of my day to find and fix the problem threw me off and made me paranoid of every little bump for the next . . .

. . . well, I guess I’m still paranoid.

So, the light came on and – since K and two other passengers were with me – I stopped at the next service station. Seeing nothing in the tire, I filled the low tire, checked the other tires, and filled them as well. Turns out every tire was low. All told I was now behind about 5 minutes.

Fifteen miles down the road and one mile from our destination, I witnessed a one-car accident. A truck to the right of us lost a tire. I did not say he blew a tire; no, the entire tire assembly broke off the axle and rolled into the gutter.

Have I mentioned at any point that it had been raining the last nine hours?

No?

Well, it had. No joke.

This is not his truck. I thought it would be in bad taste to take picture of his dilemma.

Remember: his tire assembly broke off completely and lay in a ditch full of rainwater.

Honestly, it was horrendous.

Thankfully, the motorist made it safely to the side of the road without flipping his truck or hitting another traveler.

My destination was on the opposite side of a divided highway; it just so happened I needed the next available turn-around. So I turned around, dropped off my passengers, and went back to check on the driver.

He was OK, but couldn’t get up with anyone for help. Turns out he was from out of state, in town to do some contracting work, and was due to leave the next day. None of his buddies were answering their phones. I was able to give him a ride back to his hotel where he could meet up with his crew. Traveling home several hours later, his truck was still there.

What would have happened if I hadn’t been delayed?

If I hadn’t been delayed, I would not have seen the accident.

If I hadn’t been delayed, I would not have known to turn around.

If I hadn’t been delayed, I would not have been able to help.

If I hadn’t been delayed, how long would that motorist have had to wait?

Call it coincidence or providence or whatever you will.

Everything worked out in the end.

I’ll try to remember that next time something hinders my plans.

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Saturday, 25 July, 2015

Procrastinate!

Why put off until tomorrow what you can avoid all together?

Things I Should Be Doing

Cleaning for my parents’ visit in a few days’ time

Updating lesson plans for the upcoming school year

Fixing the drain in the shower

Laundry

Things I’m Actually Doing

Reading

Watching Netflix

Facebook and Twitter

Writing this list

What are you avoiding today?

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Wednesday, 22 July, 2015

Monday Morning Grievances

It’s Monday and I haven’t had my coffee.

Specifically, I dislike:

1. End-User License Agreements

Seriously, does anyone even read those things?

2. Overuse of Exclamation Points

I’m looking at you Harriet Beecher Stowe.

Uncle Tom’s Cabin serves as a warning to us all.

3. Use of the word literally instead of figuratively.

Need I say more?

What are your grievances?

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Monday, 20 July, 2015

Sunday Snapshots

Food & Drink featured prominently this week:

I’ll try anything once; even chocolate-covered maple smoke bacon soda.

Yes, you read that sentence correctly.

First Impression: It’s not that bad.

Second Impression: Just a tad sweet . . .

Third Impression: I’m drinking carbonated chocolate syrup.

Fourth Impression: Oh dear Lord, that aftertaste!

Final Impression: This is vile; the bottlers should be charged with crimes against humanity.

A former student now living in Maine brought me a 12-pack of Moxie!

With patience, I can make this last for six months.

For the record, I still have 3 of the bottles I received on July 4.

I baked three apple pies this week.

My apple corer/peeler/slicer no longer cores or slices.

Sadness.

My mother called to confirm I’d bake one for her and Dad when they visit.

I’d count that as a success.

I went to Chipotle for the second time in my life.

I don’t normally photograph my meals, but this one just looked so good on the tray.

Mine is the one on the right.

I ordered the steak bowl with black beans, vegetables, mild salsa, sour cream, and cheese.

I’m not a fan of guacamole.

I like avocado and mayonnaise on their own.

Together, not so much.

I walked downtown

By now you know I took pictures of bricks:

Of course, I also made time for books:

I found this relationship schematic in the front of A Casual Vacancy. I’m sure it will make sense at some point, but I’m more concerned with the fact this was written in a library book.

Another package came this week!

Royal Mail and USPS delivered my copy of A Blink of the Screen by Terry Pratchett.

My TBR continues to grow.

Not that that’s a bad thing, mind you . . .

Also, I finally caught up with my Reading Challenge!

It feels good to be back on track.

Except – as of today – I’m already behind again.

I’ll make it up this week.

Maybe.

Probably not.

What did you do this week?

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Twitter – where you can see my thoughts in 140 characters or less. Also, funny retweets.

Sunday, 19 July, 2015

What Were You Thinking?

Every once in a while something catches my eye.

Something that makes me go

What !?

Something like this movie cover:

Just read that blurb:

…mashup of “SONS OF ANARCHY” with “GAME OF THRONES”

Who knew Shakespeare wrote popular TV dramas?

Worse, there’s no mention of The Bard anywhere on the case.

Such a travesty.

Then I saw this:

It’s the usual coffee quote, but since when is coffee wine?

Sometimes I despair for humanity.

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Don’t forget to follow me on:

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Twitter – where you can see my thoughts in 140 characters or less. Also, funny retweets.

Saturday, 18 July, 2015

An Apple [Pie] a Day

I’ve heard it said there’s nothing more American than baseball and apple pie.

Baseball I can do without.

Apple pie is another story.

Specifically, this story.

My pie starts with Grandmother’s pie.

For years, Grandma baked deserts for the lunch counter at the local sale barn.

Sadly, her legendary lemon meringue secret died with her.

When my mother married my father, she determined to make a better apple pie – specifically a better pie crust – than Grandma.

For years she labored, until one day Grandpa John said

I reckon this pie’s just as good as Gertie’s.

At least, he said something remarkably similar. This was before I was born.

Interestingly enough, when we moved Grandma out of that house sometime in the early 2000s, we found the secret to her pie crust:

packaged, premixed Flako Pie Crust

Grandma was a cheater.

And so, for as long as I can remember, Mom made the best apple pie – no questions asked (or answered, for that matter).

I wish I could say I learned mad ninja pie skills at Mom’s knee, but the truth is I never really paid attention to what Mom did in the kitchen. What came out of the kitchen, everyone paid attention to.

Like countless generations before me, I didn’t miss Mom’s apple pie until I left home. One year I was given a very nice Pampered Chef stoneware pie plate, and I thought

I’m not going to let this go to waste. I’m going to learn to make an apple pie.

So I emailed Mom; several weeks later I received actual, hand-written recipe cards for our growing collection.

Even if I failed, I’d have these priceless family momentos.

I had several false starts.

Delicious false starts, but not quite what I wanted.

I set out to make Mom’s pie recipe my own.

I experimented with apple varieties.

I tweaked spice combinations.

I adjusted various and sundry quantities.

Finally, I baked a pie I was proud to call my own.

And when they next visited, Dad said

I think this pie is just as good as Mom’s.

And he’s not just saying that.

My pie is now in demand at nearly every holiday party.

My students frequently request a pie or two throughout the year.

If they pay for the ingredients, I’ll make them a few.

$20 will buy all the ingredients for two pies.

In fact, I’m baking pies today for a get-together tomorrow.

I started getting messages last Sunday that folks were anticipating my pie.

Now, I won’t tell you exactly what goes into my apple pie, but here’s some pictures to whet your appetite:

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And don’t worry; I’m not the next Mrs. Lovett – or Mr. Lovett as the case may be.

Thanks to Vanessa of Petal & Mortar for contributing to the Prompt Box!

Have a suggestion for a poem, photograph, or future post?

Drop a note in the prompt box!

Don’t forget to follow me on:

Facebook – where I share news stories, articles from other blogs, and various and sundry miscellany that happens to catch my eye. It’s stuff you won’t see here! Well, mostly.

Instagram – where I show you my Life in Motion and share quotes and such. The widget only shows my last three photographs – don’t you want to see them all?

Twitter – where you can see my thoughts in 140 characters or less. Also, funny retweets.

Friday, 17 July, 2015

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Category: Life

The Good Delay