Hoodie Weather, Crazy Cat People, and the Warm Fuzzies

Fall is definitely in full swing here: the leaves are changing colors and the evenings are getting crisp. Of course during this time of climate transition, the temperatures swing from hot to cold like a hormonal hotflash. Hubby and I went for a ride on the new bike Saturday afternoon and it was downright hot! Then the next evening it was hoodie weather. But that is how it is here: hot one day and frost on the ground the next. Unpredictable, yep. But the trees are beautiful, and so I planned on getting a picture of the Maple tree in our front yard. It was a good plan, only it was super windy last night and most of the leaves that were on the tree are now on the ground, the street, the gutters, my neighbor's gutters...anyway, my tree is quite bare now. Instead I will post a shot I took last year at the park.

My crazy neighbor behind me has two gorgeous trees that miraculously appear as if they didn't lose any leaves in the wind last night. I'm sure if I try to take pictures of her trees she will no doubt photograph me photographing her trees and report me for suspicious activity. My kids have permission from our neighbor one house over to the North to play in the grass lot that adjoins Crazy's, and several times while out there playing catch or Nerf guns they have seen her taking pictures of them. Waiting for them to step foot on her property? Who knows, but if I catch her taking pictures of my kids, I will file a report, because that's just creepy. She's an odd one, that's for sure, and not just because of all the cats.

In all fairness, I don't feel that I can continue calling her the "crazy cat-lady" anymore. I say this because I have been feeding five kittens and Mama-cat who have moved from the crawl-space access to the carport. Actually buying bags of kitten food, not just food scraps or whatever. I found an old fleece scrap of material that I was going to do something with at one time, and put it out in the carport for the kittens. I try to do a head count every day, not easy when by some silent command they all scatter in different directions as if they KNOW what I'm doing. I worry if they are staying dry when it rains, and if they are warm enough on those chilly nights. I try to figure out ways to make their "den" more secure yet roomy for them. As if that isn't enough, now another mama-kitty has been to the food bowl and has been spotted carrying kittens into the planting bed just on the other side of our fence. Argh! These mama's apparently know a sucker when they see one. I'm going to have to start buying bigger bags of kitten food...

Recently I was asked by our youth pastor to go along on a day-trip to a mall in the city as an adult female sponsor. My teen who is in youth seemed glad that I was going to go with, and at the time I didn't think much of it. But I got asked to help with the youth lock-in this Friday (Halloween) and when I mentioned it to the family last night, I heard genuine excitement in my son's voice when he said "Awesome!" Which caused me to think back to the mall trip and realize that my teenage son still enjoys spending time with his mom and that made me feel really good - warm and fuzzy. My oldest son was much the same way until he moved away from home. Now I'm doing good to get a text! I must be doing something right, though if my boys want me to play video games and watch TV or movies with them. Good to know :) 

Because That's Just What I Wanted to Do

My go-to phrase for many of life's little frustrations is some variant of "because that's just what I wanted to do." Spilling the contents of one's purse when one is in a BIG hurry: "well, that's just what I wanted to do!" Mindlessly driving past one's turn-off, forgetting that one had to pick up kids instead of going straight home: "Ah, just what I wanted to do." Very versatile phrase, just change the emphasis to go from snarky-sarcastic to plain vanilla sarcastic. 

My husband recently got to use this phrase as he failed to negotiate a turn on a really curvy stretch of road on the motorcycle while driving to Fayetteville, Arkansas for the Bikes, Blues and Barbecue shindig. He became a human lawn-dart, plunging down into a ravine and then rolling the rest of the way with the bike following behind - closely. Of course the bike stopped finally when it hit a gully, but Hubby kept going through brush and trees. He was riding with a group of firemen/EMT's and an anesthetist, so he was in good hands. Although he walked away from the wreck with a relatively small assortment of scrapes and bruises, as well as thoracic and cervical sprains, he did take a 32 mile ambulance trip to be thoroughly checked out at Freeman Hospital in Joplin. He was warned by the Paramedics that he was coming in as a trauma case and he would have a team of doctors and nurses on him like flies on... well, you get the idea. And apparently he did - he said it was like one of those medical shows on TV. As soon as the ambulance doors opened all he saw were faces and lights and equipment and everyone talking at once - organized chaos is what came to his mind. They immediately shucked him of his clothes (no need to cut them, thankfully) and checked him for broken bones, internal bleeding and head trauma, as well as punctures or lacerations. All of the guys he was with, the Trooper working the accident, and the emergency crew that attended him were amazed at his condition considering the circumstances. But that's what prayer will do for you. 

The night before the ride, Hubby's oldest son felt the need to pray because he had an uneasy feeling about it. That morning before he left, I did also, and I usually don't - feel uneasy about his rides, that is. Between the two of us, and unbeknownst to each other, we prayed over the ride. And God was with him because it was a flat miracle that he wasn't seriously injured, and by all accounts, he should have been. The bike, however is another story. It was a beautiful 2006 Honda Shadow Sabre, Titanium and Silver flames and now it is scrap metal. The insurance company was good to us, though and we were able to get enough to put down on a new bike, but more about that later. 

Meanwhile, while hubby was traveling to the hospital in Joplin, one of the other guys on the ride called me at work and proceeded to give me a very smoothed-over account of what had happened - almost like it was no big deal, just taking precautions, etc. He of course didn't know that I rarely (not never, just not usually) panic over the big stuff. I get that from my mom - case in point; when my brother had a bicycle accident that took out his two front teeth and left asphalt shoved up into his gums and him bleeding into his shirt pockets, she grabbed a wash rag, got it wet and began washing him up About that time she noticed something missing and asked him, "Robin, where's your teeth?" But I digress...

So the fireman (whom I know) begins with "Hey Dara, this is____", and then proceeds to tell me how he's on the ride with Hubby and where they were headed and where they currently are...(I'm following his meandering tale, trying to figure out what's going on) and he eventually tells me that going around a curve Hubby laid his bike down on the side of the road, which is a highly technical term for wreck. You can see how using that phrasing makes it sound pretty harmless, right? He tells me he's fine, just a few scrapes, but his back hurts a little so they encouraged him to go get checked out. He has provided me the important information that my husband is among the living and not seriously broken, so the first thing I ask is: "What about the bike?" Typical response among people who ride, although I don't ride per se, I ride with. (there is a technical term for this also, but we won't go into it because it's less than flattering and well, I'm keeping it G as opposed to PG) In the beginning the tone of the conversation, as I mentioned before, was casual and designed to minimize the situation to avoid outright panic, so his response to this question was "well, it's got some scratches" (true) and "the pegs on one side are bent and broken" (also true) and "it's a little messed up" (understatement). Later when I called him back because I got no answer from Hubby's phone (remember I had no idea about his "trauma" status), I asked him point-blank if the bike was driveable and as it turned out, no, it was not driveable at all.

Before (not ours but same model)

After

That first image is our model bike but without saddlebags, windshield, Mustang seat, and backrest. That second image is our exact bike and is unrecognizable except for the tail light. See that hole in the brush just beyond where the tail light of the bike is? That is where Hubby continued to roll. Yeah - so it was much worse than I thought. Of course once I knew what I was dealing with, I was starting to get more concerned about Hubby's condition, but he assured me that he was in good hands and they were looking him over. He gave me updates as our oldest and I made our way to Joplin and I felt better about it all. Then I started getting texts from Hubby once ER released him. His first message to me was "well, I've been saying that I wanted a Harley - looks like it's Harley time" Yeah, he's okay.
He's been pretty sore, but otherwise fine and lucky to be alive. He's got a little gimp in his walk, but at his age, who doesn't? 

I mentioned that the insurance company gave us enough to put down on a new bike, so we took a trip down to Joplin to Hideout Harley Davidson. We ended up getting a 2015 Heritage Classic Softail in Black Magic and it's beautiful. I wanted the white model (actually called Morrocco Gold) but he thought it was kind of girly *eye-roll* and since he will be driving it, I agreed to go with the blue one. Besides, I decided that if I relented on the color, the least he could do was get me a leather coat. And so he did :)

Our new ride :)

The people at Hideout are wonderful. They treated us like family and we never once felt like we were just "a sale", so I highly recommend them if you are in the market and in the area. Hubby had the next day off also, so he spent it getting to know the new bike and it is safe to say that he is in love with it. He took me for a ride on it once I got off work, and it was awesome!  ~