more stories

Before starting, I want to mention that I wasted most of the day today, and the little book The Frog Princess by E. D. Baker was of great help in that accomplishment. I read it in about four hours (though not until after watching Jeopardy! -- which, unfortunately, is currently in their Teen Tournament). It was cute, though I couldn't help thinking how fun it would be to re-write the thing as an adult novel. That's one of the results of my Scholarly Writing class, I think. I also woke this morning with dream-memories about revising a paper ... a paper I've never written in real life.

Dr. Pepper at Goodyear
I finally took Harold (my white Buick Century) in for a check-up today -- got his oil changed, his brakes inspected, his windshield wipers changed, his tires filled and rotated. While there, I watched the Travel Channel on the TV in the waiting area. Shortly after I got there, a woman brought in her three small sons to wait with her. I'm certain they were no older than 3, 5, and 7 years old. She herded them over to the waiting area, informed them that she would allow each to have a soda from the soda machine, and then read them their choices. They each chose a Dr. Pepper. And then they proceeded to sit on the other end of the bench from me and pump their little bodies full of sugar and caffeine. And I thought to myself, "Oh yeah, this is a good idea." Clearly somebody didn't think something through. By the time they had finished sipping from their cans, they were crawling all over each other, vying for each others' positions on the bench, tearing pages out of the complimentary reading material, pushing their hands up into the candy vending machine. At one point, I heard a tinkling noise of water in water coming from behind me, and only realized what was going on when the mother turned her head and hissed, "Shut the door!" When her son reappeared a few minutes later, she hissed at him again, "Go back there and flush the toilet and wash your hands!" Her exasperation increased in proportion to their rambunctiousness. As did mine.

Loch Ness
In the meantime, I found myself watching a show on the TV about the Loch Ness monster. I was surprised at how strongly the show affected me, resurrecting in me the uneasy feelings I had when I visited Loch Ness in 2005. While there, I went for a hike to the top of a hill, situated a mile or so from the village where I was staying, armed with only a tourist-map of the trails around the hill. The hill, Craigmonie, is supposed to have been the site of a major battle between a Viking warrior, Monie, and the Scots. Monie was killed in the battle, and there is still a monument to him there. The trails were not marked particularly well, on the map or on the ground, but I managed to make it to the top. After I'd been there about 2 minutes, it began to rain, so I headed back down. Unfortunately, I didn't find the right trail, and I began to worry. Here I was, all alone in the back-woods of Scotland, without even someone who knew where I was, no cell phone, and on the wrong trail. The hill is in the Balmacaan Wood, which only added to the eerie feeling I had, and since I was on the far side of the hill, I couldn't even see the village I was trying to reach. I remember seeing some cows grazing in a field a mile or two further away from the village and thinking that at least that meant there were people living nearby. Hoping to cheer myself, I tried to sing "The Lord is My Light" to myself, but I couldn't even remember all the words. "The Lord is my light, then why should I fear? Hmm hm-mm hm-hm hm-mm hmm hm-mm hm-hm hmmm ..." Eventually, the path I was on merged with the path I had meant to be on, and it wasn't long before I was around the hill far enough that I could see the village, which relieved me considerably. But it's amazing how strong those uneasy, queasy feelings still are for me.

Getting Hit by a Car in Switzerland
The other night I went to IWA (which I usually avoid, but decided to give it a try), and while there I got to tell one my favorite personal stories, about the time I got hit by a car in Switzerland. I thought that, since I'm telling stories tonight anyway, I would go ahead and throw this one in -- after all, it is one of my favorite personal stories. But it's late, and I've decided I'll have to keep it for another day.

Quote
The last quote was, indeed, from Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory. For reasons beyond my own comprehension, I adore that movie. The following quote is one that's been on my mind a lot lately, since I've been investigating and dreaming about apartments in Chicago, and several of them indicate that they're close to the Blue line or the Yellow line of the El.

Believe me, I work at the El, I know. (21 points)