Reading Can Get You into Trouble

Last week I rode the bus up to my dental appointment. It went great. No falls. Nothing out of the ordinary. On the way home I was reading James Michener's "Mexico" and obviously was deeply engrossed because the next thing I knew the bus driver said, "Hello, this is the end of the line." I looked all around and I was the only one on the bus. I didn't even know where I was. I had not even noticed the Oregon City stop which is where I get off along with a lot of other people. I was now at Clackamas Community College. Lucky for me, there was a bus that was going to Oregon City in 15 minutes. Due to my error, I missed the Canby bus and had to wait in Oregon City for an hour. Instead of getting home at 7 pm I got home at 8 pm. Thank heaven for cell phones or Grandma would have been plenty worried. Actually, I missed my stop in Portland the day before due to this same book. Downtown, however, you only have to walk a couple of blocks and wait for 15 minutes. I want you to know that I have learned something from this spontaneous experience. Notice I don't say what I learned.

Miguel broke his ankle last Friday. This fad is spreading far and wide. He wanted me to share a story that happened about 3 weeks ago. He bought some property 2 1/2 hours north of Houston. He is clearing it and then hopes to build a cabin soon. (The ankle has thrown a wrench in the works). While he was out cleaning out trees and brush, he heard something whiz past him. Then another one. Someone was shooting a gun (not for killing), seemingly purposely - he doesn't know if they were trying to scare him off, not knowing he owned the property. He ran as fast as his PF Flyer boots would carry him. (PF Flyers are a tennis shoe from when I was a girl. Grandpa D. sold them.) He said they were shooting at cans - AmeriCANS. :o:
Today was the day I take care of Ella. A mutual friend asked Dana if she could leave her 2 yr old while she went to help out at the school. Ella wanted a peanut butter sandwich so I made her one. Then - I heard this friend telling Dana (Ella's mom) that Olivia couldn't have milk or - guess what - peanuts. Same as Abbie so I knew the whole story. The hard part was getting Ella to keep her hands away from Olivia and to wash up when she was through eating. I can't say I was calm during that time. We made it, though.

I have been reading a lot of books, lately, because of riding the bus. One of the recent ones was "Cry, the Beloved Country" by Alan Paton. It was one of those books that you could read over and over. Well, today, I went to the library to check out another book and, as I walked in, it occurred to me that the Friends of the Library might have the book. I decided not to look. I again felt I should look. I got in there, saw they were not in any kind of order so decided to leave when - you guessed it - there it was. It jumped right out at me - figuratively, of course. I am so excited. It's beat up, but who cares.