ShortHand Publishing - August 2004 Memo

August 2004 Memo

Don’t fence me! I think most of us have heard that old song. But what’s so bad about being fenced in? The last Thursday of July we watched helplessly as we were fenced in, or is that fenced out? Our neighbors, well, that is, neighbors on the other side of the empty lot next us, put up a solid wood fence. My first thought was, do you know something we don’t? You see the empty lot between us was recently sold, or at least the “for sale” sign was taken down. We thought maybe the neighbors knew something we didn’t.

Then I thought, was it something we said? But I knew that was just plain silly, I hardly ever say anything silly anymore. I suspect it’s that they wanted more privacy as they spend a great deal of time in their backyard with family and friends. I will miss enjoying their many colorful flowers throughout their yard.

Mom mentioned the other day she is enjoying the privacy which we now have in our backyard. She spends a lot more time out there than I do, it makes no never mind to me either way, but Mom is enjoying it regardless.

You may recall I mentioned last year we were plagued with Stinkbugs, well, I’m happy to report we haven’t seen any in a very long time. I think the heat of last summer killed them all off, and what a blessing it has been! When we pulled off some of the siding when the sunroom was being installed, it was packed to capacity with many dead critters.

However, just because the Stinkbugs are dead doesn’t mean we are home free. We now have Ear Wigs!! Mind you, we don’t have nearly as many as the Stinkbugs, but to me, bugs are bugs. I can do without any on the inside of my house. I guess the positive side is, at least Ear Wigs don’t stink!

On the writing front, I’m still working on the second book of my autobiography. (By the way for those of you who have read the first book, Too Much for One Lifetime, I’m thinking of holding a “Name That Book” contest to choose a title for the second book. You see when I started all this, I thought it would be just one book. Then my editor said it, meaning one book, would be “too much” I think he meant for the pun. Anyway, we decided to go with two books and at first I thought we’d have Too Much For One Lifetime:Book One & Too Much For One Lifetime:Book Two. However, I think that would be just too confusing. So we are looking at different titles for the book. I have one in mind but thought if anyone out there who has read the first book has any ideas we’d love to hear from you. Not sure what the prize would be, but I’m sure we can come up with a little something for the winning title.)

Now back to the cover, even if I’m not sure of the title, I am sure of the cover, that is to say, there will be a cover. A friend of mine, who just happens to be a professional artist, not to mention author and editor has agreed to do the art work for the new book.

I’m really excited about this because Bob is an extremely talented and gifted artist. I can hardly wait to see what he comes up with. Mind you, I shared an idea with him, and he thought it was a good one, so I’ll just have to wait and see. Having learned a few things from the cover of Too Much For One Lifetime, we are going to be doing things a little different this time. I’ll keep you updated on the progress.

Summertime usually brings visitors from out of town – at least for most people living in the Okanagan. We don’t get much company as a rule, but August is proving to be different.

Early in the month Bronson, my number one fan, and his twin brother Anthony paid me a visit, along with Karen, their Mom. I have kept in touch with Karen ever since she e mailed me after I visited the boy’s school early in 2003.

I picked up a couple of little things for the boys while in Toronto and with their Birthday in the middle of the month, now was a good time for a visit. I made fancy envelopes for their small gifts – which were a big hit. Then we had tea, cookies and a wonderful visit.

Not getting a lot of “summer visitors” I was surprised the next morning with I heard Mom on the phone trying to give directions to someone. I went to see if I could help and Mom handed me the phone saying, “Here, you tell Ron how to get here from Kamloops.”

“Ron?” I questioned.

“Yes, your cousin Ron?” Mom said.

It had been three years since we’d seen Ron and his wife Julia so you can see why I was a bit surprised. The last time we saw them was when they were heading home to Saskatoon from a trip to Vancouver and they were only able to stay an hour – it was far too short a visit.

I gave Ron directions and he said they’d be here early afternoon. It’s funny my house isn’t dirty but I sometimes leave things where they shouldn’t be, after all isn’t that one of the perks of living alone? I have for many years also been of the belief that a house is to be lived in not a “show place.”

Not long after they arrived we realized this visit was going to be different from the last. They were heading to Vancouver this time and their plans had changed slightly so, they could now stay, for an extra day!

We were having such a god visit it came as a complete surprise when Mom asked what we were doing for supper. This was a perfect time to try some of the local restaurants. Having heard so much about The Chicken Run, we decided to give it a try. We ate in instead of bringing it home, why mess up the house right? With it being early in the week we had the place to ourselves, at least most of the time. We took full advantage of this opportunity and enjoyed a nice relaxing meal without having to lift a finger, now this is the way to entertain!

Ron and Julia joined us for our evening walk and we showed them around our neighborhood. There is a new house being built up the street and around the corner so we checked it out. It seemed to be a strange lay out from what we could figure. The main floor is mostly double garage with a long narrow room behind it. There is a small room to one side of the garage by the front the door, but it seemed too small for a room but too big for just an entry. As you come in the front door, you also have a set of stairs to the right. It almost looked as though there would be a wall seperating the two, but that would make the room smaller yet.

We concluded the downstairs would make a good mother-in-law suite, and the family could live upstairs. I’m so happy with our home and its layout!

All in all we had a great visit. They left the next day and I look forward to hearing from them once they are home. We exchanged e mail addresses and promised to keep in touch.

On August 16^th I had the shock of my life! When I went to close the front blinds that evening I saw something I hoped I’d never see again – a Stinkbug! I thought we’d seen the last of them. Thankfully it was on the outside where I figured it could stay. I hollered upstairs to Mom, “Their baaaaaaaaaaack.” (Just in case you forgot what these little critters look like I added a picture of one from last year.)

I suppose she thought it was on the inside and came down stairs to investigate. When I explained it was on the outside she said, “Well, we’ll fix him” and she headed outside – in her nightie! She grabbed the Stinkbug in a tissue and swished him till she knew he was dead. “He won’t be multiplying, that’s for sure,” she said as she checked to see if there were any more around.

“Ah, Mom, there’s a man walking down the sidewalk….” I informed her from inside.

I can’t remember what she said but she did come back in kinda quickly. She probably said something like, “Well, what’s he doing out at this time of night?” It was only about 8:30 p.m. “If he was home where he’s suppose to be, he wouldn’t be seeing me in my nightie.” I can’t count how many times I heard her say that when I was growing up. “If they were in their own yard….”

I’m pleased to report we have not seen another Stinkbugs since; maybe his relatives got the message. Now, for the Ear Wigs that’s a different story. I looked them up on the internet and learned one thing that attracts them is water. Well, we’ve had quite a bit of rain in the last few weeks which is a very welcome sight after the hot dry summer we’ve had.

However we had the Ear Wigs before all the rain so I’m not sure what is attracting them. As I say, at least they don’t stink when you kill them and we don’t have all that many. As far as I’m concerned one is too many but I suppose it could be worse…

I guess that about does it for another month – time really is going quickly. It seems we just started summer and now in less than two weeks the children will be back in school for another year. Hopefully I’ll have lots of school visits to make. I’ll keep you all posted but for now, enjoy the rest of the summer and we’ll see you back here next month.

Until then, read much, stay positive and be well! J