Let the Insanity Commence

It is, once again, that time of year; the first weekend in June, Good Ol' Days. Every year, as sure as the sun sets in the West, the insanity known as Good Ol' Days takes place. 

Some quick Good Ol' Days facts: 
1: It kicks off with what we call (loosely) a parade on Friday night consisting mainly of pick-ups and tractors, a few "floats", horses, and Shriner's (old guys wearing fezzes) driving mini cars in circles, and anyone who wants to be in the parade can be.

2: There is a carnival (again I use the term loosely) which my children have never attended because it is unsafe and unsavory. All of the riffraff comes out of the woodwork - both from here, and from other towns. (when they were younger, they complained, but now they see the wisdom of avoiding it at all costs)

3: There are vendors selling all kinds of crap - er, stuff, as well as food. Actually, most of the food is very good, and some of the crafts are good, too, it just depends on who comes. There's also a load of junk - ugly stuff your grandma wouldn't want.

4: Good Ol 'Days is not unique. In any way. There are all kinds of these festivals all over the Four State area and beyond, I'm sure, with various names like Bushwacker Days, and Little Balkan's Days, etc., but  a good majority of the vendors and bands are the same. 

5: Downtown is a parking nightmare. People get stupid(er) during Good Ol' Days and will park absolutely anywhere, even in clearly marked "No Parking" areas. If there's anything you need downtown and if you are a Good Ol' Days hater, you get it done on Friday before 5:00 p.m. or you wait until Monday.

You either love Good Ol' Days or you hate it. Some really dread it and absolutely avoid the downtown area the whole weekend, but usually even the haters will pop in for something specific like funnel cake or smoked meat, etc.  We used to always go, but in recent years it has been boring - same old stuff and not worth the hassle of getting there. Of course here at the funeral home it's always crazy because the Good Ol' Days Committee uses our garage to house the golf carts for management and law enforcement to use over the weekend. That and we have to rope off everything or we get people trying to park in our staging area, parking lot, and breezeway. There have been a few times when people have moved the ropes and parked anyway. We always have to put signs on our garage doors telling people not to block the entrance, because they sure have done it and will continue to do it. Happens every year at least once, even with the signs.

This year, our Youth will have a float in the parade, which I am curious to see. We haven't been going to the parades the last three years or so, but since both the boys will be in this one, we'll be there. Or, it might just be me, if Hubby will be driving in it this year. The city got new police cars - Ford Explorers - so they will probably have more than one car in the parade this year. One rule of Good Ol' Days (for the PD) is that everybody works it. So even though he is technically off this weekend, he really isn't because he will be working downtown. When I worked dispatch we didn't have a separate dispatch center for officers working downtown like they do now. We also didn't have two-person dispatching - just one dispatcher running the whole show. If things got crazy like when the river was out or grass fires, etc., firemen would help handle phones, and if it got really bad, off-duty officers and dispatchers would come help. The nice thing about the emergency services family is that when it hits the fan, they are in there helping, without fail.

The only good thing about the funeral home being downtown during Good Ol' Days is that I always have a parking space in the garage if I want to come down. So, if Bobby is driving in it, I will just hang out at work until parade time and maybe see if Dad wants to go watch it with me. If he's working the parade, then I will go hang out with him on whatever street corner he's stationed at. Sounds like a fabulous way to spend a Friday night, right? It's not so bad - some of the people on the floats throw out candy, and the people-watching is spectacular ;)  

I leave you with a shot of Howie peeking at me from his perch on the base of the chaise of the couch.

Everyday Things

When you take the same route everyday you see the same stuff: same people, same houses, same cars. This is true whether you live in a small town or big city. When you travel the same route over a period of time, you notice not just the sameness, but also when things are different. 

There is a house along my route that always has these tall brightly colored flowers that grow along the curb and alongside the walkway every year towards the end of May; blue, purple, and two shades of pink. I always think that some day I'm going to stop and ask what they are, but so far I never have. Last year, just as they were starting to come up the man of the house mowed them all down (I know this because this is a small town, after all). I really missed seeing those flowers all summer. I heard soon afterward that the man had moved out and they were getting a divorce. These are elderly people, now, and it's hard to imagine people upwards of 70 that have been together so long calling it quits, but it is apparently true. She has the house up for sale, but so far it has not sold. I can't help but wonder if the whole mowing-down-of-the-flowers thing was a catalyst. At any rate, the flowers are blooming again this year; proof that one asshat with a mower isn't man enough to keep them down for long...

Similarly, sometimes it is what you don't see that draws your attention. There is an elderly brother and sister here in town who after their respective spouses passed away moved in together for company and to save on living expenses. They adopted a dog that no one wanted when he was just a pup. He was part Basset Hound and Golden Retriever: he looked like a Golden Retriever but with a long sausage-shaped body and short stumpy legs like a Basset Hound. This is presumably why no one wanted him, but they took him in and named him Barney. They would walk him every morning and evening downtown for years, so everyone knew Barney and would stop and visit. As he got older and lost his eyesight and his short legs tired easier, they cut their walks back to just in the morning and not as long. I stopped seeing Barney and later heard that he had passed away. Now the brother and sister can be seen walking every morning, but without Barney. When asked if they thought of adopting another dog, they say no - there's only one Barney. 

Flooded!

I've been feeling a little overwhelmed lately because a lot has been happening. We rescued the five kittens that were under the AC unit as mama moved them to an unsafe location at the back of the property. We moved them the evening before we flooded back there, so they are in my house and safe. Then about a week later, I came home at lunch to feed kittens and discovered a pile of wet, crying kittens in my carport. The poor things were cold and wet and at first it looked like some kind of attack because they were lying all broken-looking and I immediately went into panic mode thinking something had mauled the babies. Bobby was home, thankfully, and we gathered them all up and began drying them and warming them. He sat with them for four hours getting them dry and warm and then put them in a box all together with blankets and towels until I got home. Then we began feeding them all with milk replacer - thirteen kittens! Four of the original five didn't need the bottles anymore, so they were drinking from a dish, but try to picture bottle-feeding nine kittens. It was a family event - we each took a couple of kittens at a time when we could. This lasted for two days until we could sort out what had happened and who the mama was. We figured out it was Miss Gray because she was hanging around more than usual and she was coming up by the door. We also knew that she had her kittens somewhere across the street and she must have gotten caught by the rain while moving them. They are close to being ready to wean, so she was moving them closer to a consistent food source - me. So when we we were sure they were all okay with no signs of pneumonia, we took them outside to the carport. Where we discovered her feeding the Carport Mama Cat's kittens. So now Miss Gray and Carport Mama were feeding each other's kittens and everyone's happy. Now I just need to find homes for all of these cuties. 

Another bit of insanity, I got accepted at Southern New Hampshire University and have gone back to school for my Bachelor of Arts Degree in Graphic Design and Media Arts. Even with an academic scholarship from Art Institute, I couldn't afford to go back there as it was way too much money, so I started looking at alternatives. SNHU was in the top five best online schools, so I decided to give it a shot. So far I really like it, but it is really different than my previous experience. For one thing, this is a school not dedicated solely to creatives, so the standards of excellence are a bit higher when it comes to core, non-creative classes. I also like how everything is organized and works as it should. Each class gives you links to appropriate resources specifically related to that class. So for my first class, Psychology, the resources links take me directly to articles and books, etc. on psychology. I don't have to search through an entire library of stuff looking for what I need, it's all conveniently organized for me. Also, they offer free online interactive and personal tutoring. I never had to use the tutoring at AI, but they only gave you a certain number for free and then you had to pay for it. So, I am once again a college student :)

This Summer is going to be a busy time for my boys as they have several activities throughout summer as well as camp and the yearly mission trip to Oklahoma to help with VBS at a church that serves a tribal community. S is super excited because he is now officially in Youth (grades 6 thru 12) and can participate in all Youth activities. T is less excited because now his little brother is in Youth, LOL. I heard him tell S to "not act stupid" which of course guarantees that he will. S won't be going on the mission trip until next year, though. It isn't a designated Youth activity, but rather a church event, but T and several other young people go every year. I just felt that S wouldn't be seen as a 'helper' by the other kids at the VBS, and therefore carry no authority and potentially be a distraction. He can go next year and he's okay with that.

I leave you with a photo of Percy smelling some peonies. He apparently really loves them as I caught him licking them. Uh, okay....