The Last Straw

Many tragic things have happened in the last month. Boats have sank, deaths have occurred, buildings have collapsed and I spent most of the last three weeks confined to my home. No, I wasn't under house arrest, but I might as well have been. either the road wasn't plowed, or when it was, the berm blew up the possibility of crossing it, then the marina plowed and the way was free. Except that when my car was in it's customary spot, the marina plow buried it.

I finally figured out how to beat the system. Hans Neubauer, Manager of Scenic Bay Marina would take pity on me when I removed my car, and re plow to allow my parallel spot to stay open.That was way appreciated, and a hearty thank you, Hans. The only problem with this whole thing, is that like the stars aligning, everything had to happen in sequence.

It doesn't do any good to have a parking place plowed out if the highway department comes after Hans does. My little Japanese excuse for a car doesn't jump two foot packed berms. ergo, stay at home. For the most part, I enjoyed the undemanding chore of looking out to see whether I could reach the paper box or not, because that was the only real important job I had. Feed the cat (cats) my neighbor has about six cats that are not apparently well fed and they camp out on or under my deck waiting for me to feed my one cat. On my way out for the feeding ritual, go get the paper. (spokesman-Review, of course) One day I pushed snow almost up to my waist. That was the day, the only day, that I wondered whether reading the paper from cover to cover was worth the effort. But hey, I went anyway. Having been the owner of "Herb's Paperback exchange in Dalton Gardens for a couple of years, I have lots of reading material.

But I digress. Of all the catastrophes that descended upon us this winter, none was worse than the one that transpired last night. To catch you up, my sister-in-law, Marilyn Huseland, sends me cookies at Christmas time every year. Chocolate chips, Peanut butter and the cream de la cream, date-nut cookies. The peanut butter cookies arrive at about half strength, being brittle, about half of them turn into powder. Still they are enormously tasty. The best? Date nut cookies. Alas, though, I finished the last of them yesterday. I languish in despair. Fortunately, when I get real frustrated, I make my own, since Marilyn coughed up the recipes for me. Still, it isn't the same. somehow going to the post office, carrying out a huge box of goodies is way better than doing it myself. Somehow, I'll survive.