By Fred Prout
WARNING! You may find one or two slight exaggerations or factual fractures in this article. The people, however, do exist . All alleged facts may or may not be true.
My friends are fun people. Let’s call them Dick and Jane. They live in what is called The United Kingdom . The UK for short. Across the Atlantic Ocean. Famous for Sirs and Ladies, small cars and Doc Martin. The Telly show, not the shoes. Celtic Women, Irish whisky and Loch Lomond. For identification purposes I will tell you that Dick and I share a strain of lunacy and weirdness. Jane and Willie share a compatible niceness that usually offsets the two of us.
I got an email from them the other day letting me know what they have been up to since we last saw each other in Yachats. They had a wonderful time visiting Ontario and Quebec Canada. Also the beautiful Finger Lakes region of New York State. A little bit of New England. Their future plans include visiting Egypt, Turkey, some of the Scandinavian countries and the Netherlands. Not sure about Greenland. Of course nobody’s sure about Greenland. I know that in the past they have been to France, Italy and Spain. So they are seasoned travelers. I know that they are not bragging or anything, but, I got a little defensive and sent the following.
Wow! You guys have had an amazing year. Can’t wait for you to come back to Oregon. We really miss you both. Although we certainly can’t compete with your adventures, we try to do our best. Financially, I have done quite well. My total winnings playing bingo at The Home come to a grand total of four dollars and seventeen cents. Somebody confused pennies with dimes. Still time to add to that. I also won four candy bars at the Halloween party. Three are left. So far. Willie and I led the Cinco de Mayo wolf howl where we served margaritas to the residents and fakearitas to the youngsters from the dining room. We had over thirty people outside howling at the full moon which didn’t come for another week. And three hours later than the celebration.
We have many activities lined up at The Home. At Christmas time we had a variety of groups singing Christmas carols. Most of those attending were able to stay awake for most of the carols. New Year’s Eve party got off to a rousing start at four pm. The one man band was terrific for the two hours he was here. Willie and I were among the dancers. The other people were very considerate and stayed off the dance floor so we could have plenty of room to maneuver. The fruit punch was an excellent vintage and was well received. Reduced sugar cookies were appreciated by all. A few of us stayed up to watch the ball drop at midnight. In New York. Three hours earlier.
We keep both vehicles at the ready so we can get to our medical appointments. Don’t want to have the doctors waiting because of a dead battery. We usually get there early so we can feel sorry for the people in the waiting room who all look worse than us. The staff is always appreciative of our recognizing their voices and calling them by name when they verify the appointment. Next month we will update you on medical waiting rooms . Just to whet your appetite.
So much more that we could mention, but, I don’t want you to think we are trying to minimize your adventures. Stay well and please keep us tuned in to your fun stuff . We love reading about them. Look forward to seeing you soon.
Fred