Re: [gardeners] The chill bite of winter

George Shirley (gardeners@globalgarden.com)
Fri, 02 Mar 2001 07:32:38 -0600 

Penny, you need to write a book for your kids. Life with Father is already taken
but how about the "Travails of Penny and Jimmy?" I just hope when I'm Jim's age
I have that much energy. I promise I won't get out in the cold and rain though.
Thoroughly enjoy your posts.

George, up since 4 am again and already tired

penny x stamm wrote:
> 
> Still struggling with the excess rain? At 34 degrees, Jimmie chooses
> to trot outside with a wheelbarrow and a long handled shovel, and
> he has been digging a hole in the ground to find the end of the drainage
> pipe which backs up and floods our cellar floor in a storm. Doesn't
> matter how or what I scream from the porch, he pretends he cannot hear
> me, and just keeps on digging. How, in the name of heaven, can he
> penetrate the supposedly frozen earth...?
> 
> Half an hour later he comes flying in, bellowing for me. "The water's
> POURING into the hole I just made!  Come out here and see it!" "Nope!"
> I yell back -- "I'n NOTgoing out there in this weather!  You are crazy
> to be digging!"  "But you've got to see this!" "Listen, sweatheart (thru
> clenched teeth), I'll wait for kinder weather, thank you!" And I slam the
> door.
> 
> Later on I simply have to get to the post office, and when I return guess
> what I have found.....  The wheel is off the old Toyota, the car is up on
> its
> jack, the trunk is torn apart, and Jimmie is under the car. "WHAT on
> earth are you doing, for Gawd's sake?"  " I'm inspecting the window
> washer fluid bottle. There's nothing wrong with it! "  and I start the
> screaming ----  I don't say anything about how can you be so dumb as
> to get under the car with no one home to check on you..? I just scream,
> "You KNOW there's a crack in that bottle!  All the fluid drops right down
> 
> on the pavement, as soon as I fill it! And furthermore, you KNOW that I
> ordered a new bottle from Toyota this afternoon!  Why wait until that
> moment to pull this caper?" "Your phone call just reminded me that I
> wanted to see for myself -- you know how curious I am. . . and there
> is nothing wrong with the bottle. I think the hose is crimped."
> 
> I fled the scene.
> 
> Dinnertime, we take off for the China Buffet, 4 miles away.  At the first
> intersection, Jimmie starts to turn right. "It's LEFT, Jim! " I call out.
> 
> Only lived here 48 years...   "Oh, I'm confused. Can't see anything."
> "Why can't you see anything, James?" "Wrong glasses..."  I groan,
> knowing that I cannot drive at night anymore. We go home to change
> the glasses...
> 
> Life has its ups and downs, but this surely has been a long slide.
> 
> Penny, NY
> 
> .
> .
> .
> 
> 
> 
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