won't you be my neighbor

i spent the long weekend keeping the Lowe's garden center in business. three trips later, i have some attractive flower beds, if i do say so myself. although anything would be an improvement over what was there. (i found a golf ball, a little green army man, candy wrappers, and roots that looked like they belonged to sweet potatoes.)

a big shout out to my neighbor-two-doors-down, willie, who tilled up the flower beds for me. not that he reads blogs, because he is like 65. anyway, willie is the sort of neighbor who is always mowing, weedeating, blowing, or pressure-washing something. my next-door-neighbor passed away a few weeks ago, so willie and i spent some time working on the yard between us. fixing the fence, trimming rose bushes, etc. the man cusses with every other word, but in the sort of way where you can tell he has talked like that all his life and doesn't even hear it anymore. the way i see it, a person who is willing to till up flower beds for an almost-stranger can cuss all he wants.

and after three days in the yard, i know all sorts of things about all of my neighbors. and the neighbors before them. and their dogs. it is sort of like mayberry, but with more drama. and a three-legged dog.

Meet Riley

Here's Riley, my new puppy.

tick, tick, tick, tick...

I was pretty sure I was about to witness a mass shooting last week. At Comcast.

I was standing in line to return a modem. The line was moving quickly, the employees were friendly, the sun was shining.

Then a man bursts through the doors, yelling obscenities at Comcast in general. He was pacing around the room while asking and answering his own questions and yelling at employees. He skipped all of us in line and barged right up to an employee's desk demanding he be seen next. The employee refused and told him to get back in line. So he wandered around some more and kept on blathering, getting more and more angry. He absolutely would not stand still.

Wishing that I was in a bank where an employee was reaching under her desk to press the silent alarm, I was also wishing I had brought my purse inside with me so I'd have my cell phone.

Instead, the employees acted like this sort of thing happens every day. They weren't concerned AT ALL. They were rolling their eyes and muttering about him - as if THAT was gonna calm him down. I wasn't the only one in line who was quietly panicking; even the men were glancing at each other trying to gauge who could tackle this guy.

During previous trips to Comcast, I've seen a security guard inside and wondered why they needed him. Now I know. Though I didn't see him THAT DAY.

He was so much fun! I sat in this chair and held him pretty much all weekend.