Tuesday Testify

Today has been a good day. I never know what to expect when taking Mom out – she had a haircut, we did her errands and had lunch. Good day all around. I saw a man a couple blocks from her home, and I wondered what his story was. It was very moving for me to witness.

At the traffic light on 24th and F Streets, the block where our Grandfather’s drug store was, I stopped at the red light. I saw a man with a shovel and a very small rake bending over the curb where the storm sewer was. He was cleaning it out. I got Mom in the car, and when we stopped again at the intersection to turn and go South, I saw the man in full view .

He was working on a packed, clogged up storm sewer. Digging out as much dirt, debris, and leaves as he could. He had a prosthetic leg from the knee down on one leg. Wow. Right away, I imagined he was a Veteran, maybe injured by an IED. What a noble thing to do, trying to dig out the storm sewer. I would imagine further the businesses on that part of the block may have sewers backing up into their basements. The clogged storm sewer could be contributing to the problem.

I wonder if the City of Omaha knew of the problem? Were they slow to respond if a call was made? I have no way of knowing, so I cannot say, only speculate. What I saw was a determined man, with a strong, admiriable character, who tried to resolve a problem. Most people would just complain, scroll on their phones, and make angry phone calls. I saw someone who had a handicap that didn’t stop him from digging his heels in and try to make a bad situation better. It made me admire his spirit, and know he’s going to make the most of his life.By watching him for less than five minutes, I made what could have been wrong judgement about a man and his life. I think it’s a good story.

It could have gone like this;

What if he lost his leg in a motorcycle accident? It could have happened like this. It still spoke of someone with tenacity, who set out to solve a problem with a jam packed storm sewer that is causing a problem. I cannot think of any negative take on this wonderful sight I saw today.

Humans never cease to amaze me. I choose to think the best of them, not the worst. As I end tonight, I hope you also find good in our fellow humans. There is always more good than bad. It’s why we get to continue on living for the generations we do. Thank you for reading. I appreciate it, and hope you have a lovely evening. We’ll have an earlier blog tomorrow, so stay tuned! Be Safe, Be Kind, Be a Good Human See you tomorrow!

Moving on a Monday

No, Babe! Don’t panic. WE are not moving. I’m talking about moving and working on stuff and gettin’ it done. I always get up and am so thinking I’m still Wonder Woman, and then reality strikes a few hours later. Once the coffee kicks in. So I did an important thing. I went for a pedicure. Right after breakfast, and it felt so good They do all sorts of nice things I don’t do for myself normally. Why not? I guess I wasn’t in the age group that did stuff like that. Even doing one myself, I always ran out of time. Women older than my era rarely took time out to “relax.” My daughter was a champ at that. Sitting down to relax. When I was younger, under thirty, I would sit down after all the work was done, kids were bathed, in bed, and I’d collapse in the chair. That was the extent of my relaxation.

No, I’m not complaining. It’s just that things have changed so much for the good, it’s great. Women are no longer destined to a life in the kitchen, ironing, cleaning, doing laundry, scrubbing toilets. Although I spent a good deal of my adult life doing that while still married to my first husband, and spending the first years of my kids’ lives home with them. In no way was that something I regret doing. That was where I belonged during that time of my life. I miss parts of it.

I’m working on my scenes again today. It will probably take up most of the day, and I can take my time with them, since the Babe will be gone most of the day. That is, after the fireplace maintenance guy leaves. I like to have him home to deal with service people. He has a lot of questions I don’t like to relay and he’s more chatty than I am about that stuff. I handled my own household, service men, roofers, plumbers, carpet layers, etc., etc., etc. I don’t mind sharing the load of this. Traditional role for a man? Maybe, but he also knows so much more about block, brick, fireplaces, pouring concrete, building walls, curbing, gravel vs. decorative rock, I learn something about construction every time we do a new project. This man, the Babe. He’s priceless, and I don’t mind saying so. Out loud.

This, my friends, was heavenly.

In my excitement to talk about the show we saw Saturday night, I forgot to mention we also late-celebrated our anniversary with dinner before the show. We went to Longhorn’s in Omaha. They are a pretty consistent with their fare, except in these times, they no longer have Prime Rib. If you’ve ever met a South Dakota or Nebraska boy, you know they love their prime rib. And then, no NA Beer. That lessened our experience, but it was still good. The dessert was incredible. So light, you didn’t feel you were eating anything. What a great night it was.

My scenes are going to be crafted to tell the backstory through dialogue among the main characters. That is much harder to do than what you may think. Whomever is the narrator, they cannot intrude on a character point of view. I have done that more than I’d care to admit. The right amount of backstory helps make sense of the conflicts the main character has with others. My story has one main character, two less main but important characters. Katie is the main character, her mother Evelyn is a lesser main character, and her husband John is the second lesser main character.

Through backstory, you will discover how Katie’s Mom treated her, how it formed her character, timid, bashful, extremely codependent and naive. As it turns out, empaths like Katie seem to be drawn to people who need help, who need her strengths, and who take from her without giving. Not knowing any better, she complies gladly. Until she can’t.

It always feels like it’s a good idea at the time.

It’s so good to be free from all of that. It’s a full time job to keep working on staying free. That’s what happens when we break tradition, break fallacies, break away from “we’ve always done it that way.” Honoring a way that no longer works is a call for change. “But, how about if we do it this way,” is usually met with negativity. A new idea, a new way is hard, because it can be very lonely. My character Katie feels every bit of that loneliness. Being the black sheep is just as lonely. Finding one person who says, “Gosh, I admire your moxie,” propels you into a whole other world.

I’m off to write scenes for a few hours. I love the time spent, I know it will be worth it. Thank you for stopping by today, I appreciate it and hope to see you tomorrow. Blessings, and be safe out there.