I've had two blog entries in my head since April, but I never found a round tuit to write them. Even though they may not be timely, you might find them interesting.
An April Fool's joke
On 1 April my wife was standing in the kitchen after breakfast musing about something. I said, "Your shoes are untied." She looked down at her slip-ons and said, "Oh, that's a good one!"
Who am I to complain?
For years when it's not ski season, I've gone downtown for coffee, then to the library, and then maybe to lunch.
At first, I went to a coffee shop owned by some friends. When they retired, I went to a coffee shop nearby instead. Besides the good coffee, I appreciated the classical music from public radio.
Then government budget cuts hit the library and it was no longer open on Monday mornings. So, I went to the fitness center instead. Maybe afterward I would walk to the library.
This spring when the ski slope closed, I went back to the coffee shop. Instead of classical music on public radio there was pop music on commercial radio. I mentioned it to a barista; he said the owner changed the station because some of the regulars complained that the classical music put them to sleep. They came to the coffee shop to wake up.
The pop music was not overly loud but the commercials were and set my teeth on edge. I never went back.
Who am I to complain? I went there once a week for nine months of the year. The regulars were there every weekday twelve months a year.
I went to another nearby coffee shop twice but the coffee was so weak that I decided not to go back.
I could have gone to another coffee shop (locally owned) but it was farther from the bus stop and over a windy bridge.
So, I've stopped going downtown on a regular basis altogether. Maybe I'm saving money but I miss dropping in on a few shopkeepers. And I've stopped reading the variety of magazines at the library.
The real downside is I've stopped walking so much. It has to be a nice day with no special errands for me to walk the mile to a local coffee shop twice a week.
"I took the [road] less traveled by, and that has made all the difference." - Robert Frost
