Strange things around town

I've been meaning to mention this for a while... we talked about it on the radio this morning. There are some weird goings-on around here. When Pat & I lived in High Point, I used to call High Point the "vortex of weirdness" because every time you opened a newspaper, if something strange happened, it seemed it always happened in High Point. Now I'm afraid the weirdness is overtaking Kernersville.

For the last several months, some mornings when I'm going to work around 4:45am, there's this guy who walks (and occasionally staggers) along Kernersville Road in the pitch black, wearing only his pants: no shirt, no shoes. He walks not on the shoulder, but IN the road and WITH traffic. Where has he been? Where is he going? Needless to say, he has scared the wits out of me more than once when I come over the rise at Hastings Hill and realize I'm about to hit a pedestrian in the dark.

Another weird thing, which my neighbor Tonja reminded me of today, is the cell phone guy. He's an older man who stands in the parking lot of the trailer park across from the Kangaroo station -- all day, no matter the weather -- and talks on his cell phone.

We also had a listener who wrote in that she regularly sees a woman driving a yellow Mini Cooper on I-40 in Greensboro who brushes her teeth while she drives. Chuck brought up a good question this morning: where does she spit?

I'd be interested to know if there's anything else weird that you run into on a regular basis.

Waiting to inhale

Enough with the 100-degree heat already!

Actually, today's not too bad... it's about 80 and looks like it might rain. Might. The humidity is stifling, though... like trying to breathe through a hot, wet blanket. I talked to the folks in Pittsburgh last night and they've had an absolute deluge of rain, yet we can't get a drop. The grass is crunchy again and I'm making an extra effort to feed the birds now that they're bringing their brand new babies to the feeders. Seems like they're not finding a lot of things to eat in the woods these days.

All together now, we're gonna pray for rain.

The best day ever!

We sure didn't expect this when we started out today. John wanted his grandparents, visiting from Pittsburgh, to see one of his favorite places -- the Richard Petty Museum in Randleman. Weeks ago as we lay snuggling before bed, John said to me, "Mom, I really want to meet The King." And today it happened. We went to the museum, never expecting it to be the day of Richard Petty's monthly meet & greet! John was sitting in the back room, coloring yet another picture of "The King" character from the movie "Cars" when through the front door walked the man himself. I told John he might want to come out of that room for a minute. We stood in a line of maybe 20 people before it was our turn for autographs. That child was so starstruck he could barely breathe. Richard couldn't have been nicer. He took time with each fan and truly made every one feel special. Thanks, King, for what John says was his "best day ever!"

What I did on my summer vacation

We just got back from a week-long vacation to Utah. All I can say besides, "Wow! What gorgeous scenery!" is that I learned a lot. So I decided to make a list of What I Learned About Utah:

- It's VERY family-friendly and the people are just soooo nice.

- The liquor stores have an extremely limited selection ("What do you mean you only have six types of red wine?").

- Everybody has either a camper or a boat and uses it regularly.

- Utah drivers are the most polite bunch. Only once did I hear a horn honk and it was probably an accident.

- There doesn't seem to be much in the way of ethnic diversity, just a lot of white people.

- Never, ever try to run at an altitude of 10,000 feet.

- Don't swerve your car while doing 80+ on the interstate.

- Watch out for BIG potential roadkill - moose, elk, bears, etc.

- Not many tattooed or pierced people.

Some vacation pictures are posted here and more will be uploaded once they let me.

Still, there's no place like home... First thing I did when I got back was to go get some BBQ and sweet tea!

A big thank you

Never have I been so touched as I was by all the people who came out to downtown Greensboro last Saturday for the 2007 Memory Walk for the Alzheimer's Association. I had five new friends whom I'd never met before sign up to be on my team, the Forget-Me-Nots. It turned out to be a beautiful day for the walk -- thank goodness we got done early before it got too hot! The Association made over $67K of its $85K goal. If you missed the occasion, it's still not too late to donate and make a difference in the lives of caregivers and those who suffer from Alzheimer's disease. Click here for info!

Forget me not

At the same time the news was devastating, yet somehow a relief. Mama has Alzheimer's. We got the official diagnosis a couple of weeks ago after years of dementia and delusions that doctors were at a loss to explain, despite repeated MRIs and CAT scans.

I now realize I have a calling. I will be walking in the Greensboro Memory Walk, a fundraiser for the Alzheimer's Association, on June 2nd. And during this time, I have truly found out who my friends are. Even friends I didn't know I had. After I talked about it on the radio, I suddenly had people wanting to join me on the walk-- people whose lives had also been deeply affected by Alzheimer's. Generous donations are coming in from friends and family.

I have also found out that you might as well laugh as cry when someone you love has this disease. It's the only way to keep your own sanity when that person is slowly being robbed of his or her personality. It truly is an adventure. In the past two months, Mama thinks she has gotten married, saved someone who's been dead for two years from a fire at their home and taken Pat & John on a trip to New York. While the stories are harmless enough and even comical, I wonder how I'll feel the day I walk in and she no longer recognizes me.

The view from my deck

I am sitting on my deck on a cool evening while Pat mows the grass. I've been paying bills online - it somehow seems a lot less like bill-paying when you're doing it on the deck with a nice breeze blowing and the pungent-sweet scent of freshly mown grass in your nostrils.

Now for the bird update. So far the past few weeks, we've spotted not only the usual residents (cardinals, sparrows, goldfinches, nuthatches, titmice and chickadees), but also the much rarer blue grosbeaks and indigo buntings. What a sight they make on the feeder alongside the brilliant yellow goldfinches and the vivid red cardinals! All three primary colors, right there. I enjoy them while they're here - last year they didn't seem to stay around much more than a month.

Under the feeder is a field mouse I've named Jerry, because he looks just like Jerry the mouse from the cartoons. He's brown with big ears and bright, dark eyes. He's worn a path from beneath the fence straight to the feeder pole and I like him because he keeps the ground clean.

I highly recommend birdwatching. It's less trouble than an aquarium and infinitely more entertaining than TV.