One Woman: The Gatekeeper

Saturday was already a busy day, but since I remembered that a nearby kennel was having a two-hour free play time in their dog park each Saturday during the summer, and since Tilly and I have gotten very little walking in recently because of the extreme heat, I decided to squeeze it in.

When we arrived, the gate was locked and there was no sign with instructions, though there were a few women and their dogs already at the park. After trying to open the gate and failing, I had turned to go inquire in the office when one of the women came up to the gate.

“I can probably let you in,” she said. 

Let the Good Times Roll

Recently, I woke up in the middle of the night, slightly panicked.

I couldn't remember if I had been dreaming, and there wasn't any thunder rolling outside. I checked my cell phone. No texts or missed calls. Yet a sense of dread hung heavy over me.

I fluffed the pillow, and as I turned over on my side, pulling the covers up tight around my neck, I knew what I was worried about.

There are too many good things happening in my life right now.

One Woman: The Historian

I pulled in to the blueberry patch where I had picked several quarts myself last year. I had been waiting for the sign to go up announcing the arrival of the new season of U-Pick berries. Instead, I saw that they were selling flowers, $5 a flat. The information on the picking season would easily be worth the $5. The flowers would be a bonus.

As I maneuvered off the busy street onto the dirt road, cars were parked in a scatter pattern, mostly to avoid the stumps of the recently razed tree stand that once stood between the drive and the berry patch. I pulled in just to the side and just behind an older-model luxury car. An elderly woman was getting out of the car and adjusting her walker by the time I parked and began making my way toward the flower stand.

"If you're smart, you'll come back next week to pick blueberries," the woman said, smiling out of her sticky red lips. The broad rim on her floppy orange hat cast a shadow over her pale, loose face.

"Oh I'm planning on it," I said. Happy for the information that perhaps next week is the opening.