Where Have All The Manners Gone???!!!

Today was the annual St Patrick's Day parade for our area.  A nice little affair, that in the minds of us locals, heralds the beginning of Spring.  Even if it is only 40 degrees and raining.  Locals from all over converge on the Beach Road ready for the festivities to begin. Alot of people arrive an hour in advance to get a good seat and a view of all that passes by. 

Here is where my problem begins.  At least today.  I have a hard time believing the audacity and rudeness of people that arrive late to an event and push their way in and stand in front of others.  All without even saying excuse me, is this spot taken, nothing!!  They just push right in.  Today was a good example of this.  I found a good spot to park, making sure to ask the landowners permission to park where I was, and set ourselves up right at the edge of the road.  I put out my chair and the hatch was up on the back of the Jeep.  My boyfriend and his mom wanted to stand and the dog was behaving well.  A lady set her elderly parents up on the down side of the wind, using my Jeep as a wind block.  They got all set with their chairs and blankets and were enjoying the view.  That is until the rude people started to arrive,  First it was a man and woman that were late and just came up and stood in front of everyone.  I couldn't see what was coming up the parade route, until it got right in front of me. They finally moved off, but was replaced with a group of woman and their misbehaving brood tagging along.  They also just stepped in front of the elderly couple and the little old lady had to stand to see.  I swear, they had to be close to 90 years old.

I said to my boyfriend how sad it was that lady had to stand to see because of people standing in front of her, loud enough for them to hear.  One of them turned around and looked, but it didn't register in her brain they were in the way.  Now some people would say that I am rude for speaking up the way I do.  I don't agree.  My mother taught me manners growing up and I remember to use them.  I say please and thank you, respect my elders, will hold a door for someone and appreciate someone holding a door for me.  I play fair, make sure I ask permission to use someone else's things, and avoid making rude noises or smells in public.  Mother said that is what the bathroom is for.  I say something about rude people because I am sick of being walked on, and just letting it go.  Too much rudeness is taking over the world.

Anyway, I just have a HUGE problem with people that have bad manners.  I guess they were never taught.  But there is still no accounting for bad manners or rudeness.  So if you read this and have children, please teach them manners.  If you were never taught yourself, take an etiquette class and share the lessons.

This whole world could use a little more "please" and "thank you"!  Have a great day!

Spring Is In The Air

Spring is in the air this week.  The temperatures have been in high 40's and low 50's with lots of sunshine.  I have been doing little bits of yard work at a time, so it does not have to be done all at once.  This week, I hooked up the yard sweeper to the lawnmower and got up all the gumballs that were in the yard.  The gumballs are the miserable things that fall out of a Chinese Oak tree.  I think that's the correct name.  Anyway, thank goodness for the yard sweeper.  Best investment I have made next to the tractor.  I just can't get out there and rake a yard anymore, and I can't stand to see all the mess in the yard either.  That's my dad coming out in me.  I did alot of raking as a kid, and I guess that nice tidy yard has followed me into adulthood.

I pulled some vines and dead tomato plants from around the porch.  Only about five minutes of work at a time, but accomplishing some headway in the yard none the less.  I did that once the past three days.  It gets me outside and a little exercise at the same time.  It is still irritating that I don't have the physical stamina that I once did.  Even these simple tasks drained me on energy.  But like I said, I keep trying. 

The planting bug has bitten me.  I got a few peat pots I had left over from last year and put some squash seeds in them.  I have set them in the back bedroom that I use for storage and hope they will be big and strong when it is time to put them outside.  I need to decide what heirloom tomatoes I want to try and grow this year.  I still have some leftover seeds from a few years ago that should germinate.  I love tomatoes and the heirloom varieties are so interesting.  There is a region and story behind each one.  Much more interesting then coming from the grocery store shelf.  And I grew them with my own hands!  That's the best part! 

Gee, I can't wait for Spring!  :-)

Finding A Long Lost Friend

It is amazing how you can reconnect with an old friend who you have not seen, or talked to, for over 25 years.  Time just rolls back like you were in high school again and talk for hours like it was only ten minutes.  Friends like that are so very valuable and hard to come by.

This very thing happened to me last night, as again, I am up late at night and on the internet and watching TV at the same time.  My sleep patterns are definitely not like those of other people.  I guess they really never have been.  But back to my friend.  I was going through my emails and deleting spam or old stuff and he IMed me.  How cool was that!  He lives all the way up the coast in the Boston area.  It still amazes me sometimes, the ability to have a conversation with someone just like they were right beside you, and actually 800 miles away. We ended up talking on the phone for almost two hours and took me back to my junior high and high school years when we would laugh and have great fun in the halls of school.  Too bad we lost touch after graduating high school.  He went off to college and I went to work.  Then, I moved over 350 miles from home.  Ironically, he had moved further away from home than I had, and in the other direction.

There was nothing better for my well being than this conversation with a long lost friend.  I slept well, without any distracting dreams, after this connection.  Even if it is only long distance, now that I have found a lost friend, I plan to keep in touch.  Now, on to the search for another lost friend!