The Return of the Cat

So, while the Cat (Paula) is away, What does the Mouse (Me) do?

          Paula is still up in Vermont with her sister who is recuperating nicely with the help of Paula who is a trained CMA, and who worked in a surgeon’s office for years. Paula is scheduled to return this coming Monday, Columbus Day. Her son Matt, and his family, are going up for the weekend and if all goes well, and Barbara feels good enough, they will transport Paula back to North Jersey. The original plan was for me to drive back up there and pick her up. We had allowed two weeks for this exercise to pan out so, I went ahead and scheduled the final Doctor’s appointments accordingly. Unfortunately, my last one is that next Friday, so, even if Paula were to return earlier than planned on Monday, we will still need to stay around for that last Doc Visit.

          So, what does the Mouse do?

          Well, he tries his best to keep busy and put everything that we were doing together (like binge-watching Downton Abbey for the second time) on hold. These types of activities need to be replaced with something else, so I’ve watched a few movies that are not on Paula’s Favorites List like, Haunted Motorhomes from Hell and Why Did You Pick Up That Hitchhiker?

          Only kidding! I never watch anything even remotely scary!

          So, Star Wars and History-Type movies have been inserted into the DVD player, much to my delight.

          I’ve also had the opportunity to spend and entire day in NYC with Jan and Kyle (her son) from Ideal Farms. It seems that about eight years ago they somehow were able to get involved with the Manhattan Plaza, a very large high-rise complex just on the other side of the Lincoln Tunnel, between 9^th and 10^th on 43^rd Street. There is a small park-like alcove right on the street where the landlord has some vendors set up on different days of the week. Ideal Farm’s day is Thursdays during the months of May through the end of October. They show up with all kinds of fresh produce, homemade cider donuts, cookies and other home baked goods, and seasonal decorations, just as you may imagine.

          Last week they were short a person (this is definitely a three -person endeavor) so Jan said to herself, “Hey, Donny’s not doing anything! I’ll ask him!”

          That’s how I found myself riding three-up-front in the Official Ideal Farms Transport Truck into the City. What an operation! Everything is on custom made rolling carts (they do their own welding and fabricating) that fit snuggly in the back of the truck and get wheeled onto the lift-gate and lowered to the ground and (very) hastily set up because as Jan warned me, “They’ll all be waiting for us!”

          She was not kidding! It was like the early morning Black Friday opening of Walmart! These folks knew that the good stuff goes quickly and even though Jan tries to bring as much as they can, eventually things sell out.

          Especially those donuts!

          Jan feverishly set up one of the two cash registers as Kyle and I wheeled the set-ups around and quickly put the Farm Stand together.       We were very ably assisted by Joan.

          Joan live in this high-rise and is an old and dear friend of Jan’s from back in her singing days in the Village.

          The things that you learn about folks when you’re squished in the front seat together  😊

          Joan waits for a call from Jan, usually when they are entering the Tunnel. Joan then goes outside and procures the first available parking spot in the Loading Zone which is thankfully right in front of the set-up area. On this particular day, the Parking Gods were smiling down as we were able to slide into the very spot that a truck happened to vacate as we put our directional signal on.

          I claimed full responsibility for this fortuitous opportunity as it was obvious to me that I had brought an abundance of good luck to them!

          Not having a clue what to do after the set-up was completed, and having exactly zero knowledge of working the register, or what any of the prices were, or how to work the digital scale, I made myself busy by appointing myself Chief Security Officer in Charge of Tomatoes.

          No one was going to plan a fruit-type heist on my watch!

          Well, it turns out that none of that was necessary. These folks really like Thursday when their friends from the Country roll in with fresh veggies straight from the Farm, and at reasonable prices to boot! Jan is on a first name basis with most of them and it was great to be introduced to all of the customers. Many of them are current or former Broadway actors, musicians, and/or stagehands that still reside in this area that is within walking distance of Times Square and the Theater District. I eventually became a productive Member of the Team as I finally worked up enough courage to slide behind the second register (right next to Jan) and learn how to work the stupid thing along with the scale. By the end of the day, I even knew the price of tomatoes and apples! This position was the most fun because I was able to re-use my old talking-to-customer-skills from the Chatterbox.

          I had a blast!

          The time flew by and soon it was time to roll everything back into the truck. We closed up by around 5:30 or so and were on our way back into the tunnel by 6 o’clock. Just in time for Rush Hour.

          I fell asleep on the way home, no surprise there!

          The rest of my days are spent on various activities like painting and working on our Second Year Yearbook. I have a lot to catch up on with this project and I am happy to report that by the time Miss Paula gets back home, I will be up to date with it. Here is what I’ve done before. Actually, every trip that we take I make a hardcover photo book about it. Way better than the old days when we had to put those 4×6 glossies into the four-corner tabs in the album!

          The painting part is not house painting, it’s artistic (I hope!) type painting. I’ve taken to painting small scenes on oblong pieces of wood, usually about 2” by about 15”, (just think “Panoramic”). These scenes so far are of my minds eye projections of Coastal Maine, complete with the requisite lighthouse and islands. Throw in a few schooners and colorful fishing/lobstering shacks and voila! There it is! I’ve also done some Country Scenes, with farms, churches, little villages, and a Country Fair thrown in for effect.

          Examples shown here!

          Believe it or not, I am trying to get to the point where I can sell these little guys. A little extra income for us retired folks is always a good thing! Plus, I love making them! I’m working with Erin Brady who designed our incredibly awesome Chatterbox website and logo to help me plan how to market these little pieces.

          If any of this pans out you will all be the first to know because the Plan is to attach whatever we do to this blog!

          The last activity of any consequence was that I was able to help my grandson Andy, with his acquisition of a BMW Z3. It’s an older model about 20 years old, with 190,000 miles on it but it is in incredible shape, and he was able to buy it nicely below what it probably should have gone for. Andy is one of those kids that can do research like nobody’s business. He found this baby down in Maryland and soon struck up a long-distance relationship with its owner, Bob, who is older than I am. But Andy knows what he’s talking about, and Bob was really impressed with what Andy had planned and the fact that he could drive a stick-shift car. His present vehicle is a very rugged Toyota Tacoma with a five-speed. Andy has already had most of the truck apart, fixing this and that, so he is the perfect candidate to get another vehicle and be able to do most of the work himself. Guess who got all of my (tons of) extra tools when I downsized my tools in order for them to fit into the motorhome?

          Yup….. Andy.

          We borrowed my nephew Paul’s almost brandy-new Ford F-350 Quad Cab and his big flatbed trailer and drove down to just outside Baltimore last Sunday. Everything panned out and the car was in better shape that we had hoped, so the deal made, the car was strapped down, and away we went.

          There was a grin on Andy’s face for the four-plus hours that it took for us to get back home. It was great to be able to spend that much time with just him. He’s almost 18 years old now, so I know that these kinds of times will become rarer. We’re planning a photo-shoot for this afternoon to properly introduce his new ride to the world. Plus, I get some extra practice with my new camera! These photos will be available for your viewing pleasure at a later date, but for now, here’s one from the driveway….

          So, that’s the report from Mouse Land. The Cat will be home soon and hopefully things will get back to our somewhat normal state of being and we’ll high-tail it out of here before the snow fly’s!