Christmas shopping opportunity

If you're like me, and you would rather have oral surgery than face a large crowd of shoppers, you should consider doing your shopping on Ocracoke. (This time of year, there isn't a large crowd ANYWHERE on the island!)

To make it even more fun, the School Road merchants are hosting their annual holiday open house event on Saturday Dec. 6th from 1 to 4 PM. They will be offering light refreshments and holiday discounts. And there's such a wide variety of stores there, it may be possible to do ALL your shopping in one trip! Here's a list of the participating stores (and one restaurant):
Books to Be Red
Deepwater Pottery
The Gathering Place
The Hemp Shop
Indulgence
Ocracoke Restoration Co.
The Sunglass Shop
Thai Moon
Zillie's Island Pantry

And if you need some inspiration or encouragement, here's a note on why it's a great idea to shop on Ocracoke, from the flier announcing the event:
When you shop locally you keep money in our economy, you embrace what makes Ocracoke unique, you create local jobs, you help the environment, you invest in our entrepreneurship, and you keep us as a shopping destination.

Who knew? You can do all those good things just by shopping!

Craziness

We did something insane today, something I never thought I would ever do. We went to a MALL (which is weird enough for me) on Black Friday! (We only did this because we were going to the portrait studio there to have family photos taken, so I haven't completely flipped my lid, in case you were worried...)

Strangely enough, it wasn't that bad. We found a parking space pretty easily and the mall was not horribly crowded. There were plenty of people there, but it wasn't so busy as to make it difficult to walk through the hallways. That may be because we were there late in the day, or it may be a bad sign for retailers this holiday season. Time will tell.

Stay tuned...tomorrow's blog will provide info. about a calmer, slower, less crowded holiday shopping method and opportunity.

HAPPY THANKSGIVING!

Here's hoping you have plenty to be thankful for, wherever you are...

More song

If you are on the island this week (and I'm jealous if you are, as I am not and will therefore be missing all of these events I'm telling you about), you might want to plan to attend the annual post-Thanksgiving Ocrafolk Festival fundraiser concert. It will be held at the Community Center on Friday Nov. 28th at 7:30 (doors open at 7:00, and this concert usually sells out so I recommend getting there early). Planned performers include Molasses Creek, Marcy Brenner and Lou Castro (aka Coyote), Donald Davis, Ocracoke Jazz Society, Aaron Caswell, Molly Lovejoy, Rodney Kemp, April Trueblood, John Golden and Jef the Mime. Tickets are $15 for adults, $7 for kids and will be available at the door. All proceeds go to support the 10th annual
Ocrafolk Festival, which will be held June 5 - 7, 2009.

There are usually bake sale items available at the concert, too, which is an added bonus. If you go to the concert, enjoy both the music and a goodie (something chocolate) for me!

Wine and song...

(Sorry, you'll have to find the women yourself!)

Here are a couple of Thanksgiving week events happening in the next few days. If you are on the island, maybe you can enjoy one or both of them! (I'm in Mississippi so will miss both...darnit!)

Wine tastings at Zillie's:

Wednesday November 26 AND Friday, November 28 at 6 p.m.

Enjoy 5 wines paired with light hors d'oeuvres from the Pantry and get 10% off your entire purchase during the tasting! Call (252) 928-9036 to reserve your spot.


And now for the song...Martin and Friends will be playing at Howard's Pub starting at 7 PM on Wednesday November 26th.

Enjoy!

A walk on the beach

I took a walk on the beach today, and reflected on how I don't do that nearly often enough at home. I love walking on the beach, and would do it much more often if a) I didn't have to work and b) the beach was right across the street from my house.

Just kidding on that second part - I am actually really glad that there is no development on the beach on Ocracoke. Even though I appreciated the convenience of the short walk to get to the beach (down the drive of the condo complex and across the street), the fact that the view to my side as I walked down the sand was of high-rise buildings was a reminder of how lucky we are that the island's beaches are still all natural. I also hadn't realized how clean our beaches are until I saw the amount of litter here. Tomorrow I'll have to take a plastic bag with me on my walk.

Finally!

We finally arrived in Biloxi MS late last night, after two days in the car. Getting anywhere from Ocracoke just takes a while. We started at 5 AM on Saturday (that's when we got up, to get ready and get the car packed in time to make the early ferry to Cedar Island), and arrived at about 9:30 PM on Sunday. No, we didn't drive the whole time, of course! We stayed overnight in Columbia SC on Saturday. Splitting the trip up into two chunks helped a great deal. But I was still exhausted by the time we got here. Ah, the joys of travel...

But now I get to stay here for a week, spending time with family and remembering what I'm thankful for.

Hope you get to be with family this Thanksgiving, too, wherever you are...

Snow!

The weather has been warm here recently. Until recently. Today, it actually snowed! Snow on Ocracoke is incredibly rare in general, but almost unheard of in November - before Thanksgiving no less! Of course, none of it stuck around, so I don't have any pictures to share. You'll just have to take my word for it!

Great Greek!

I was lucky enough to enjoy the special "guest chef" dinner at The Back Porch last night. The theme was Greek food, which I adore, and which of course is not usually available on the island. So I had high expectations. I was not dissappointed.

I went for dinner with two friends: Jamie and Linda. The great thing about that was that we shared our meals, tasting each other's items so that we could experience and enjoy several different items. It was all delicious!

Bryan Bowers, storyteller?

I knew that Bryan Bowers was an excellent autoharp player, but I wasn't aware (until the concert last night) that he is also a fantastic storyteller. He didn't merely introduce each song with a short vignette, or a sentence or two about who wrote it; no, he told full fledged stories with great detail, so that I could easily see his Aunt Bess in the chicken coop, the spotless apartment of the college sophomore, and the beauty of Alaska. Talk about multitalented!

I tried to get a photograph of Bryan while he didn't have an autoharp strapped to his chest, so you could see his shirt. I enjoyed the sentiment on it greatly, but unfortunately did not get a picture which shows it clearly enough for you to be able to read it, so I'll just have to tell you: it said "Transcend the bullshit".

And another...

I'm in potluck heaven, having been to three in the past week. I love winter on Ocracoke!

The potluck last night was particularly terrific, for two reasons:

1. The kitchen table at Sundae's house was loaded with steamed oysters. John stayed in that spot the entire evening, shucking and munching. (And he shucked several for other people as well, including me.) Yum!



2. There was terrific music after the meal. Folks often play music at potlucks, and it is usually the highlight of the evening, but last night was particularly great, as Bryan Bowers (whom you can see in concert tonight at Deep Water Theater if you are here on the island) shared several songs.



Bryan encouraged the young 'uns to play as well, so Molly and Caroline played a few on their violins, with support from their instructor Dave.

Girls night

I went to Amy's house last night, for a glass of wine with the girls. It was a really fun evening - the wines (and the snacks) were delicious, and the conversation was terrific. It ranged from bawdy jokes to serious topics like racism, politics, and pro-life vs. pro-choice. Even though I'm sure we weren't necessarily all in 100% agreement on every topic, there was no stress or divisive feeling at all. We just talked and enjoyed one another's company.

It reminded me of a great quote:
Good communication is as stimulating as black coffee, and just as hard to sleep after.
~ Ann Morrow Lindbergh

Scavengers

I suspect that no matter where you live, there are animals which scavenge and forage in trash cans for food. In the mountains, it might be bears. Near wooded areas, it's probably deer. In many towns, it could be raccoons.

Apparently on Ocracoke, it might be a chicken.

Soundfront Inn

I spent the afternoon wandering around, learning about, and then writing about one of the oldest (possibly the oldest) buildings on the island: Soundfront Inn (also known as the Chase-Bragg-Boos house, and formerly known as Cedar Grove Inn). Here are a few pictures of this lovely old building.

The view of Pamlico Sound from the long upstairs porch is terrific!

The old cistern in the back.

Yes, that's a bathtub in a screened porch! No, neither is original to the house.

I love the way Soundfront is still old fashioned - there's no TV or air conditioning, but there are plenty of books and games, and this piano in the parlor.

Guests are still welcome at Soundfront. It's no longer operating as an Inn, but the house can be rented through Ocracoke Island Realty.

Potluck and a movie

I went to Bill and Lida's house tonight, for another potluck. That's two in five days...lucky me! There was plenty of delicious food, as always. My favorite this time was the parmesan fish that Karen made using the Cafe Atlantic recipe. Merle brought a terrific dessert: chocolate volcano cakes in individual ramekins, enough for everyone to have one. There was heavy whipping cream to pour over them, making it even more indulgent. Mmmmm. I haven't had breakfast yet this morning as I type this, and now I am officially starving from thinking about all that food!

After the meal, most of the guests stayed to watch a documentary called "Home of the Brave", about civil rights activist Viola Liuzzo. Most of us had never heard of her, and I suspect you may not have either, but she certainly had an impact on the civil rights movement. Examples like that - of people who are obscure, unknown, certainly not famous, who still make a difference and yet are unremembered - fascinate me. Unfortunately, as in many of those cases, the reason Viola's life made a difference was because it ended - she was murdered while helping drive marchers home after the Selma to Montgomery marches in 1965. If you are interested in the civil rights movement, you will probably enjoy the film.

Spotted on Ocracoke

There's a recurring column in each monthly issue of the Observer about things seen on Ocracoke, and it usually covers plants and animals spotted on and around the island. Today, I heard a report of a particular person seen here. I had previously been told that this person used to come to Ocracoke somewhat regularly, but that he hadn't been here in several years. He was here again last night, though, and spotted at the Back Porch Restaurant. So he has good taste places to visit, and in food, too. No wonder I'm a fan of Jimmy Buffett.

No, I didn't see him myself (darnit), but yes I do have this information from a reliable source. And unfortunately Jimmy has left the island. Darnit again.

Beach access meeting update

Here's the latest info. I've received regarding the negotiated rulemaking committee work currently in process to develop a plan for off road vehicle management in the Cape Hatteras National Seashore.

------------------------------------------------

National Park Service News Release
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: DATE: November 5, 2008
CONTACT: 252-473-2111 ext. 148
Information Available on NPS ORV Management Alternatives

Superintendent Mike Murray announces that information about off-road vehicle (ORV) management alternatives being considered by the National Park Service (NPS) for Cape Hatteras National Seashore has been provided to the Seashore’s ORV management negotiated rulemaking advisory committee. The information is also available to the public and has been uploaded to the PEPC website, under ORV Management Plan project, entitled 2008 11Nov 05 – ORV EIS Alternatives:
parkplanning.nps.gov/document.cfm?parkID=358&projectId=10641&documentID=25051

“For clarification, NPS is not seeking or considering public comment on these materials at this time. We are sharing this information with the negotiated rulemaking advisory committee now solely for members' use in negotiating a consensus alternative for recommendation to the NPS,” said Superintendent Mike Murray. “NPS highly values public input in the planning process and will actively seek public comment on the draft environmental impact statement (DEIS) when it is released for public review in the early fall of 2009.”
If you have further questions, call 252-473-2111 ext. 148.

------------------------------------------------------------

The next meeting will be held on Friday and Saturday, November 14-15. The public comment time is still at noon and 5:30 pm on Friday and noon on Saturday.

Upcoming concert

I received a press release recently about a concert to be held next week at DeepWater Theater, so I thought I would pass the info. along, in case you will be here next week and might be interested in attending.

Bryan Bowers in Concert ~ 7:30 PM, Wednesday, November 19th at Deepwater Theater sponsored by the Ocrafolk Festival Outreach Program & the Ocracoke Preservation Society. Bryan will also be giving an autoharp workshop on Wednesday at 4:00 PM at Deepwater Theater. Both events are free and open to the public, donations to the Ocrafolk Festival are welcome. For more information contact David Tweedie at fiddlerdave@embarqmail.com or 252-928-3411 or visit www.deepwatertheater.com or www.bryanbowers.com.

Bryan Bowers biography
Born August 18, 1940 in Yorktown, Virginia, Bryan Bowers was raised in New Bohemia near Petersburg of the Civil War's Battle Of The Crater fame. As a child, Bowers would tag along with the field workers and gandy dancers and learned to sing old call-and-answer songs. Bowers recalls, "The music I heard while working in the fields was mesmerizing. And, I'd see the gandy dancers coming down the tracks, setting the rails and getting their ties straight. You've heard that song `Whup Boys, Can't you line 'em?, Chack a lack.' Whup Boys, can't you line 'em? was the call the leader would sing. Chack a lack was the bounce-back of the hammer after falling on the pin. I just thought that music was something that everyone did. It was years later that I realized what I'd been raised around."

Bowers enrolled at Randolph Macon College in Ashland, Virginia, but found that college was not satisfying an emptiness he felt. Three hours short of earning a degree in Spanish, Bowers dropped out. About the same time (the late '60s), Bowers discovered music when he took up the guitar. "The roots of the music had gone real deep in me. Music was real fulfilling, unlike anything I had ever done before."

It wasn't long before Bowers encountered the autoharp. "I ran into a guy that played several instruments and could get the harp in good tune. He played without any fingerpicks, just with his fingernails. He had a real sprightly style on it. It was the first time I'd heard someone play it in good tune and play it well. It opened my eyes and my ears. I went out and got one the next day."

Bryan relocated to Seattle, WA in 1971 and played for coins as a street singer and in bars for the right to pass the hat. Once he had polished his technique, he headed east in a 1966 Chevy panel truck he affectionately called "Old Yeller." "The Dillards heard me in DC when I went to the Cellar Door," recalls Bowers. "I introduced myself and played the `Battle Hymn Of The Republic' to show them how the harp worked. Sam Bush, Curtis Burch and Courtney Johnson of the New Grass Revival were there. I didn't realize how presumptuous I was being. The Dillards took me to a bluegrass festival at Berryville, Virginia and when they got an encore, they put me out there for their second encore, saying `Here's a guy you ought to hear.' The bluegrass community has been real supportive."

Bower's creativity and talent have won him induction into Frets Magazine's First Gallery of the Greats after five years of winning the stringed instrument, open category of the magazine ›s readers' poll. This distinction put Bowers along side other luminaries, such as Chet Atkins, David Grisman, Stephan Grappelli, Itzhak Perlman, Tony Rice, Rob Wasserman and Mark O'Connor, recognized for their personal accomplishments. In 1993, Bryan was inducted into the Autoharp Hall of Fame to stand only with Maybelle Carter, Kilby Snow, and Sara Carter.

From his rather unglamorous beginning as a street singer, Bryan Bowers has become a major artist on the traditional music circuit. He has redefined the autoharp and is also well known as a singer-songwriter. Bryan has a dynamic outgoing personality and an uncanny ability to enchant a crowd in practically any situation. His towering six foot four inch frame can be wild and zany on stage while playing a song like `Dixie' and five minutes later he can have the same audience singing `Will The Circle Be Unbroken' in quiet reverence and delight.

For nearly three decades, Bryan Bowers has been to the autoharp what Earl Scruggs was to the five-string banjo. He presents instrumental virtuosity combined with warmth, eloquence, expression and professionalism.

"To call Bryan Bowers' performance simply a 'concert' would be inadequate if not inaccurate ... (it) could better be described as an experience!"
-Deseret News

"Bowers is widely regarded as the leading virtuoso on the autoharp... Bowers also has distinct gifts as a singer and songwriter."
-People Magazine

"...This man makes more music from an Autoharp than you can imagine from a 12-string guitar and a harpsichord combined. He has more stage presence and charisma than any stage performer in recent memory."
-The Washington Times

Potluck

Tonight was the annual Fall OPS membership meeting and potluck. The food was absolutely fabulous, even better than most potlucks. Which is saying a lot...as linguist Walt Wolfram, the guest speaker for the evening, put it: "Ocracoke has the best potlucks". So this one was the best of the best. One of my favorite dishes was the scallops which were in a terrific creamy sauce and of course were as fresh as can be. I told you this wasn't your average potluck!

After the meal, Walt showed a portion of the recently released DVD from the NC Language and Life Project, "Carolina Brogue". What he showed was the special features, which were three short tributes to well known and loved (and, now, missed) Ocracokers David Esham, Roy Parsons, and Muzel Bryant. Family and friends of the three had been invited to attend the potluck and meeting, and several were there. The tributes were touching, and seemed to be enjoyed by all. If you knew any of those three O'cockers (or even if you didn't, but if you just enjoy hearing and/or learning more about the Ocracoke brogue), I highly recommend the DVD. They are available from the OPS museum and would make excellent Christmas gifts for anyone who loves Ocracoke.

Going out of our way for BBQ

We went to Greenville today for a cardiology appointment for John. It makes for a long day, riding the early AM ferry to Swan Quarter, and then spending the whole rest of the day (or at least it seems that way) driving. Because of the time of John's appointment, we couldn't get back to Swan Quarter for the afternoon ferry home, so we had to "drive around" (go up to Manteo, across to Nags Head, then down the Outer Banks to catch the ferry home from Hatteras). As if that wasn't enough driving, we actually made it take longer intentionally - we took a smaller road, and then took a detour off it to a small building in the middle of nowhere. Why? Because that place sells the greatest barbecue around (at least in John's opinion). It's not a restaurant, it's a smokehouse/processing place. They sell North Carolina style (chopped pork) barbecue in tubs. John filled up a cooler with several pounds of 'cue, which made him very happy. It was well worth the little bit of extra driving!

A long line, and a full jar

The wait for brunch at the Cafe Atlantic today was anywhere between an hour and two hours long. Luckily, it was a beautiful, sunny day so people didn't seem to mind sitting on the porch (or standing in the parking lot) chatting with friends while waiting. I did see a handful of people give up and leave, but most hung in there until their names were called. The tip jar on top of the dessert counter was full, and I overheard a server saying that she had seen tables leaving $50 tips for $50 meals. The general sense was summed up well by a diner at the table next to me. When asked "was it worth the wait?", he said "I wouldn't have waited two hours just for the food, but it was worth it for the cause". I was personally very happy to be able to give to this particular cause, but I probably would have waited for 2 hours for Cafe brunch anyway!

Community support

Today, I enjoyed participating in multiple yard sales. There was the one on the lawn at the Pony Island motel, which supported the Ocracoke Youth Center. And then there was one at each of the churches, which supported...well, the churches, of course! There were lots of people at all of the sales, and I hope that all three organizations benefited.



The structure of the Youth Center yard sale was that you could donate items for them to sell, or you could set up your own table to sell stuff and then give them a portion of your proceeds. I had a box of things I wanted to sell, so I opted for this method. Unfortunately, I failed to consider the impact of being surrounded by other people who were also selling their stuff, not to mention the impact of visiting the other two yard sales. My point? I bought way much more than I sold, returning home with more than I had when I left! Ah, well...it was for a good cause.

This particular set of autumn yard sales has become an annual event, and I always enjoy participating. I love watching the community in action, supporting each other.

After the yard sales, I went to the Post Office and saw two flyers which reminded me about a couple of additional upcoming events of community support. Tomorrow, the Cafe Atlantic will be serving brunch for the only time this season. (I am very excited about this, as I've been jonesing for Cafe brunch ever since they announced they were no longer going to be serving it!) Then, on Friday the 21st a benefit lunch of BBQ chicken plates will be served at the Hyde County Government Center. Both of these events are to benefit a member of the community who has recently been diagnosed with cancer. I know that both events will be very well attended, because that's just one of the things this community does well: support each other.

Cake for breakfast and weather over water

I ate my cake from Cafe Atlantic today - for breakfast. Sometimes, you just have to completely indulge yourself and do something ridiculous. In my opinion, anyway.

This afternoon at 2, I went to the school to read to the first graders. I had been inside all day up to that point. As I was getting on my bicycle, I heard a ferry horn. I thought nothing of it. About a minute later, the horn sounded again. I thought "that's odd". A minute later, it sounded again. Now I was getting really curious. I heard the horn about 6 to 8 times in the time it took me to ride from my house to the school. As Alice would say, I thought it was "curiouser and curiouser".

When I got to the school, I heard the horn again and said something to Mary Ellen about it. She said, "it's because of the fog". Fog? I had no clue there was fog. There wasn't any in the village (or at least I hadn't seen any during my short ride to the school). It's fascinating to me how the weather over the water often differs quite a bit from that over land. (Mary Ellen said that earlier in the day it had indeed been quite foggy in the village, but I had missed that since I was indoors all morning.)

The last supper

We went to Cafe Atlantic tonight, to enjoy a last dinner there before they close for the season on Sunday. I often have a difficult time deciding which is my absolute favorite restaurant on Ocracoke, because so many of them are so great, but I think if I had to choose only one, it would be the Cafe. Everything they do is terrific - from the bread to the salads (with fantastic homemade dressings) to the entrees (I always have a hard time choosing one) to - and most especially - Ruth's delectable desserts.

Tonight, I was a complete pig and ate (well, at least ordered) one of all of the above. I wanted to have a full Cafe experience, since it has to last me several months! So I started with my favorite appetizer (not just at the Cafe - this is my favorite appetizer of all appetizers), then went on to have an entree (which comes with salad and bread). I was too full to eat dessert, but still ordered one and brought it home. It will probably be tomorrow before I have room for it!

Power outage and Lake Sunset

There was a power outage this morning which lasted about an hour. It started relatively early. I remember waking up when it happened. For some reason, power outages always wake me...I suppose it's the sudden cessation of background sounds, like refrigerators and heat/air conditioning running. The baby monitor we have begins beeping a few seconds after it loses power, so that would have startled me anyway, if I hadn't already been awake. I got up a while later, getting dressed in the semi-dark, after (of course) attempting to turn on the bathroom light out of sheer habit even though I knew it wouldn't work. As I was finishing getting Connor's breakfast ready for him, the power came back on, and has stayed on since.

The reason for this particular outage is - I assume - related to the rain we had last night. Here's a view of the street outside my house, which I dubbed "Lake Sunset". The water is not terribly deep, but there's certainly plenty of it.

Funny election day thought

I was seriously considering not voting this year, because I'm just...well, completely disgusted with the whole political process. It's so deeply flawed and corrupt, I hardly want to bother. Now, don't go posting any nasty comments with your opinion about whether I should or should not vote and for whom. I won't publish them anyway, so save yourself the hassle. And I probably will vote. But I won't tell you here whether I did or not anyway. It's my decision and my business. I do promise not to complain about the outcome if I choose not to participate in the process. So I guess if you know me, and you notice I'm not complaining about politics over the next few years, you'll know that either a) I didn't vote or b) the guy I voted for won, and then did everything he said he would. Oh never mind, that won't happen, so you'll definitely know it was option a. Or it could be that I just went back to my previous strategy when it comes to politics: attempt to ignore it completely.

That's not the funny election day thought, though. The actual funny election day thought is available (in song, no less!) on woot.com. It's today's "wootcast", and I found it quite humorous. You can listen to the ditty here. (The song starts after the first few seconds of general wootcast info.) Enjoy!

Last minute book shopping

I made it to the Book Fair just barely before it ended. Literally: I arrived at 5:30 last night; the event (which had started last week) ended at 6:00. That didn't stop me from spending a small fortune on a stack of books, though! Books, however, are one of the few things I don't regret spending on, especially books for children (I bought some for Connor, several I plan to read to the first graders, and a couple which went directly to the classroom from Mary Ellen's wish list). You simply can't underestimate the importance of reading, or do too much to encourage it.

Morning errands, small town style

I ran several errands this morning, and thoroughly enjoyed the many reminders of why I love living in a small town.

First, I went to the church. It was unlocked, of course, so I could pop into the back and pick up a copy of the daily devotional magazine Upper Room for November and December (which I forgot to grab yesterday morning).

Then, I went to the Post Office. I got there a few minutes before they opened. That usually doesn't matter, as the boxes are accessible 24x7, so you can always get your mail, but when I emptied my box I discovered I had a package, so I waited for Celeste to come in for the day, chatting with a handful of other people as they came and went. Once she arrived, Celeste gave me not only my package but also a handful of extra Ocracoker newspapers, as there's a picture of Connor on the front. Then Barbara helped me carry my mail to the car, as I had a medium box, another small package, a handful of mail, and Connor in his carrier.

At the Variety Store, I talked with several people, all of whom oohed and aahed over Connor (he IS really cute). Marcy, specifically, really liked his outfit (she had given it to me for him the day before). After I was done shopping, Jim carried the groceries out to the car for me (since I had hands full with Connor). He got ahead of me while I was putting the cart back, but that didn't matter since he knows which car is mine.

Finally, I went to the water plant to pay my bill. Janie and I picked up our conversation right where we had left it off when I stopped by to pay last month's bill.

When I got home, I realized that through the entire hour or so it took to run my errands, I had been smiling. It was a terrific way to start a Monday!

I've stopped answering my phone...

...because every time it rings, it is another political message or particular person asking (in a recorded message, of course) for my vote. I am ready for the election to be over!

Here's something that bugs me about the calls: I'm a registered (well it doesn't matter, but I'm registered with one party), and that's the only party that calls me. I find that annoying, like the other party has just completely given up on any possibility that I might even consider them. I think I'll change my registration to independent. Of course, that will just double the number of calls I get, so maybe I won't.

Hangin' out at the coffee shop

John, Connor and I took a walk to the Coffee Shop today. Well, John and I walked...Connor rode in his stroller, of course! It was a warm, sunny afternoon...perfect for a walk and a smoothie. So when we got there, I went in and got one. We then sat outside in the shade of the old trees and chatted as I drank it. Connor was happy as a clam, just hanging out in his stroller playing with his toys. We ended up sitting there for well over an hour, talking with different friends who happened by (John treated several of them to smoothies or whatever else they wanted from inside). Sundae and Caroline brought us the Girl Scout items we had ordered, and we had to break open two of them right away: cashews and chocolate covered raisins (more about those in a moment). We chatted and snacked, watching the day go by, and I simply didn't think about the 47 things on my "to-do" list. It was lovely.

Girl Scout chocolate covered raisins, I swear, are more addictive than crack. (No, I don't actually know this by experience, having never compared the two, but I do know that I could eat an entire can of chocolate covered raisins if someone doesn't stop me!) This fact has become well known by Sundae. I called her in a mild state of panic last fall, hoping that she still had cans left over from the sale, only to be disappointed when she didn't. Then in spring, I was crushed to discover that chocolate covered raisins are only sold during the FALL Girl Scout sales, and I would have to wait several more months before I could satisfy my craving! This year, I think I'm set. I ordered several cans from Caroline, to make sure I wouldn't run out.

But that's not the end of the story. Sundae, who is one of the Girl Scout leaders, suggested to Leslie (one of the other leaders) that they order a couple of cases of extra items, and have a "booth" type sale of them, setting up at the Variety Store or somewhere similar. When Leslie expressed concern about ordering a whole case, Sundae said "don't worry about it...if we don't sell any of the chocolate covered raisins, John and Kati will buy the whole case!"

But that's still not the end of the story. While we were sitting at the Coffee shop enjoying our snacks, John asked Sundae how many cans were in a case. She told him, he did some quick math, handed her the money and said "I'll take the whole case of raisins". We stopped by Leslie's house to pick them up, and her husband Bill expressed his surprise, saying "I thought I had heard you wrong when you said you were here to buy a case...I thought surely you meant a CAN". So now I have somewhere in the neighborhood of 16 cans of chocolate covered raisins in my pantry (good thing we have a big pantry). That certainly should significantly decrease the likelihood that we'll run out before the Girl Scouts fall sale in 2009. Probably.