Storm; Yesterday; Today; Felines

There's a storm raging outside. Oak-cleaving thunderbolts. Brilliant flashes of lightning. Pelting rain.

You look out the water-steaked window and expect to see Sherlock Holmes and Watson creeping across the moor. Holmes points to the southeast and says, "There, Watson!" And in the distance you can see a glowing, lumbering figure of immense size vaulting across the rocky ground.

In a flash of lighning, you'll see a lone black horseman on a hill. And he'll say, "Baggggiiiiinnnnnsssss! Did he come this way?" "Be gone with you!", you scream! And you unlatch the gate and let loose the hounds. And the horseman swirles his dark cloak and charges straight at you. You flinch in sheer terror, your face becoming a mask, and you fall backwards into the mud as the horse flies over you.

The owner and his wife and some friends came in and sat on the other side of the bar. The fried gyoza was very spicy, so I needed some more ice tea. The owner noticed almost immediately, got up and went to the kitchen and said, "Customer, sushi bar, ice tea!" I don't know if he does that for everyone, but I was certainly impressed. Made me feel ever so important.

I spent the rest of the afternoon at work trying to catch up again. This is becoming a habit.

A friend and I bustled off to eat shortly after five. If we were to wait any later, it would take an hour to get a table. The wait is so bad that we don't even consider some places.

We chatted and squawked, mostly about the news and tv and movies. And we always make the mistake of stumbling unto a performer or movie that we can't remember the name of. "Oh, you know! She was in the third 'Back to the Future.' And she did that thing with Johnny Depp. OH! And she's married to Ted Danson."

I did a late lunch at a deli and watched a batch of soccer players. I didn't see a lot of mud or grass stains, so their game must have been cancelled because of the weather.

After lunch, I drove home and picked up the dirty laundry. I debated if I could leave it for later, but a quick look said, "Ain't no way! Today!"

I managed to drag everything in before the next cloudburst. The laundry was packed. Almost every machine was in use. I'd forgotten that there's a covy of Mexican construction workers who do their collective washing on Sunday afternoons. It was strange to hear almost nothing but Spanish for the time I was there.

When I finished I was able to get home and carry everything in between breaks in the weather. Most fortunate I was.

PAX!