The Week's End

We were tired when we finally arrived home last Sunday evening, but what a nice surprise these zinnias were waiting on my porch. They had been left by a friend and just in time for repotting for the deck along with some other April and May flowers from other friends, including Mexican petunias from the St. Louis friend. I can’t seem to find Mexican petunias here.



So the next few days, warm and sunny, meant mowing, waterproofing the deck, reloading the deck with furniture and birdbaths, etc., and repotting flowers. Then it was a mammoth travel laundry, restocking the refrigerator, getting the mail, tending to small but necessary issues, and finally a cup of tea on the freshly opened deck. We had just finished the nice up of tea in the evening on Wednesday when a storm blew up, and we had to hurry to take down all the flowers I had just hung up! We were driven inside, longingly looking at the deck-our outdoor parlor where we are happiest especially in the spring.

Yesterday, with severely aching bones and muscles from the days prior, we continued on our spring work list. DH measured the house for paint which is the next big job here. We have used nothing but Sears Weatherbeater since the day we moved in, and it has served us well. So with a trip to Joplin town on the books for evening to do Writers’ Guild, we left early for some stops. One was to go to Sears for paint. Whoa! We were told no more paint in Sears, that the closest paint was in Kansas City. We were in shock since the reason this excellent paint has been canceled is that other chains sell lesser quality cheaper and people no longer are interested in quality, only price. Sad, sad. The last paint job has lasted 20 years and doesn’t even look bad yet, only needs a refreshing in our book.


Later that night we went to the Joplin Public Library and my meeting in the large meeting room had just started when every library patron was being pushed in with us. Tornado warning and we had to stay together for 30 minutes. We tried to continue our meeting with cell phones, a scanner, laughter, and a television going. Ah, that was pleasant. Finally, the storm moved on, we finished our meeting and critiquing and went home. What is it about Writers’ Guild that brings on weather trauma? January was canceled due to severe ice and snow, February was dangerously cold and icy so was poorly attended, March was tornado watch night, April was severe thunderstorms with rain so heavy driving was hard, and May we spent “sheltered” from possible funnel. The group blames my magnetic charm as president for drawing storms!


I will spare you the Weatherbeater paint stories with Sears today. Suffice it to say “Push One if..” and no human contact. When you did get a human they did not speak good English and repeated canned information like a robot. I finally found a kind woman after four hours and she helped me. The result was that there is no longer any Weatherbeater paint in any Sears store; you can buy online from third party vendors but…. We made a change, went to Sherwin Williams here in town, made a choice, bought paint and came home to a new rain storm-again. Now tonight it is so cool as to be downright chilly after being 90 degrees two days ago.


Somewhere on the sides of all this, my mind has been working overtime in the imaginary. I want to try to write a western. Shoot (pardon that six gun pun), I don’t know a thing about how to do it. But I am thinking!


Speaking of writing, one more thing: I got a notification of an interesting sounding contest. However, when I try to go to the site, my virus protector throws a real fit. So I will post here and some of you “beer “writers might be brave enough to check it out!


Yeast of Eden, an anthology of stories inspired by beer, is requesting
submissions.1,000 to 7,000 words, fiction or nonfiction, September 1, 2011 deadline.


visit www.beeranthology.com for more information.

Also:

Walt Whitman Birthplace Association is seeking poems about food with recipes to accompany them, for a cookbook anthology to be published in 2011. In addition, all poems submitted (only the poems) will be entered into a poetry contest awarding cash prizes!
"Whitman Cooks" Poetry Contest- Deadline: June 30th, 2011
http://www.waltwhitman.org/component/eventlist/details/49