Little City Stories

For those who have been kindly following along, my Dad is okay. The battery of tests showed no permanent damage and he's looking great. Thanks to all who sent good thoughts and emails.

I've been working a lot of days, even if not enough hours to pay the bills at my paltry pay scale, so I don't have a lot of stories from the little city. Was very sad to miss the balloonfest here again this year. Had to work right through it and the balloons didn't fly to this side of town as they apparently have in years past. The newspaper coverage tells me it was a great success. They had perfect weather for it.

It's getting cold again and sound carries further on the crisp night air. Apparently my local high school team won some contest a couple of nights ago. The cheering was so loud it felt like they were right next door instead of a few blocks away. I may wander over one of these nights to catch a game. It's in comfortable walking distance and it might be fun to see how the locals entertain themselves.

The last night it was really warm, which was last week, a very black man dressed all in white was walking down the sidewalk late at night. He was carrying two very full white grocery sacks. He was singing, "Please don't take my sunshine away." I think he was singing about the weather because we had three days of rain after that. Anyway, I love when people sing on the street.

And sadly, I missed my chance to take a photo of the odd flower that popped up in the lawn. No leaves. Just a stalk with a round flower head with red petals and very long stamens. Looked kind of like fireworks. By the time I managed to get out with the camera, it was already passed. I'll have to see if I can ID it at some point. Would love to know what it was.

Oh and speaking of work, I had a chance convo with a co-worker I've never met before. She tells me that on Black Friday, which I'm sure you know is the day after Thanksgiving, every single employee has to be at the store at 5:00am. Also they may require us to wear pajamas for the day. Which of course we will have to buy from them. Gah. I really need a new job...