When I left home this morning, I wasn’t surprised to find it -12 below zero. Ouch! What a nasty welcoming to the month of March. Now if we were living a few States south, there would likely be Spring flowers beginning to bloom at this time. As the sun is drawing closer and the days growing longer, I’m all the more fearful that we’re going to have some major flooding if our temps all of a sudden jump above freezing and stay there. I don’t even want to think about the possible flooding that may occur.
I decided to stop at one of our fast food restaurants and pick up a breakfast sandwich when knowing I was going to be needing some extra carbs to burn while working today. One of my dear friends was there with her family, so I decided to have a seat and join in their conversation. We always seem to find people, places and things to laugh about which certainly helped to lift our hearts and warm our souls. She really is a dear one and does far more for others than anyone could possibly imagine.
While at the grocery store yesterday, I bumped into a past client whom I’ve known for well over 30 years. First off, I had to apologize for having missed her husband’s obituary when it was published, and by the time I found out, it was too embarrassingly late to send a sympathy card. I asked how things were going, and as most of us know, the death of a close family member can take a very long time for their survivors to get to a point of being considered “back to normal”, because as most of us know, with that type of loss, there is no getting back to what was normal.
She felt a bit ashamed when finding she’d started crying, and I insisted that it’s a normal reaction when struggling thru a death. I told her I even find myself teary-eyed over several deaths that took place a few years ago. I was compelled to give her a good hug and wish her the absolute best, and after I hugged her, there was a little old lady standing not so far away and loudly saying, “I wish I could get hugged like that.” I was taken aback a bit, and when later thinking about it, I should’ve given her a hug as well.
Speaking of hugs, just in these recent years, I’ve been noticing that people don’t hug each other as much as they used to, which is likely yet another by-product of our digital age. The lack of real human contact is becoming so commonplace now that any physical connection becomes awkward at times because the general public is no longer accustomed to it. I make no hesitation to hug those who’re used to it, yet even more careful in these times with others.
Since I needed a haircut, I drove to Garner yesterday afternoon to my cousin’s new barber shop. He’s been open over a month now and doing quite well. I believe the name of it is “Gentleman’s Way”, and it’s located in that yellow brick corner building that’s on their main street going south thru town. If my memory serves me, that building used to be Farmer’s Bank Building, and when I pulled up, it still appeared to have been one.
My cousin Ryan Brown was an instructor for LaJames Cosmetology College here in Mason City for a number of years, and suddenly one day he decided to open up his own shop. He’s cut my hair for years now, and I think he does a great job of it. The reason he opened up shop in Garner, is because that’s where he and his family put down roots. And speaking of family, his son who’s about 10 or 11 years old was there and I couldn’t help but mention once again how much he resembles my father. My cousin never met my father when he was alive, so he continues to dismiss his son looking like him. I finally said to him yesterday, “You have to remember that looks don’t always move in a genetic straight-line because they can also move sideways within family trees.”
Of course we also must remember that resemblances aren’t always male to male and female to female. I’m related by marriage to a woman who is a dead ringer in looks with her father, and a number of years ago I happened to be shown a photo of my great-grandmother whom I couldn’t help but agree when that relative mentioned how much I shared her looks. Even today, while showing a home, I mentioned to the male buyer how much he looked like his mother’s side of the family, and of course those present agreed.
The remainder of my day was spent working on a research project I agreed to perform, and now that I have all information gathered, I can start putting it together. While working at it, I reminded myself how tedious a job it must be for research librarians. On the positive side, I’d say I couldn’t have picked a better day to be indoors because I’m growing all the more winter weathered from this snow and cold.
Tonight’s one-liner is: I’m still waiting for narcissism, entitlement, drop-crotch, tattoos and piercings to be driven out of vogue.