Unskilled Labor: Sunrise, Sunset

We started out heading east running as quick as we could with a trailer in tow from the Upper Peninsula’s frigid winter chasing the sun. We have watched the sunrise pop up out of the Atlantic from the South Carolina shore,

and followed it across the sky early morning with a coffee cup in hand along the Gulf of Mexico in Alabama

and Texas:

While in Texas we turned our heads (and my heart) to follow the sun’s path and headed westward into Arizona and California.

Now we have finally once again watched old Sol lie down for the evening in Northern California’s mighty Pacific:

I am sorry to say it is getting very close to time to reverse our trip. We hear that winter is fading in the U.P. unlike last year (this photo was taken from our yard on April 21, 2009):

and so we need to make our way home. Like everyone else we have to prepare as tax time is drawing near. Tax time... hmmph... now that’s a real buzz kill.

Upon arrival in Northern California we promptly caught a wicked cold and a bonus prize of poison oak on our arms. We were the unhuggables. Folks would come in to visit and would reach out to hug and say hello but we had to give warnings not to touch and we would give a little wave and a smile instead.

Poor substitute for a hug I have to say. Then we would proceed to hack and sniffle all through the conversations. Nice. So we promptly tried to quarantine ourselves so as not to share our ‘gifts’ with the family but we were unsuccessful. We shared with my sister, my daughter, and my grandson... just the cold though not the poison oak. Somehow though I don’t think that was much consolation to them as they sniffled, coughed, and battled the subtle but persistent headache.

Now, it all seems to have cleared up so we have finally been having some nice visiting time with family and soon with friends too. I have to say that there never seems to be enough time for friends and family. It’s like eating chocolate... or nachos... you always want more. I suppose that is just the way it is though, as everyone is busy with everyday life. As long as we keep trying and keep reminding our friends/family that we love them even when we are not sitting with them all day visiting.

Along the lines of time passing... I have been noticing lately when I pick up something needing to be read I have been spending more time than normal adjusting my arm, hands, eyes, in order to be able to read the print.

Looks like I am working the slide on an invisible trombone. It seems that my arms are shortening after these many years and I need to hold things a bit farther away to be able to read things clearly. I wonder if I can find supplements of some kind at the health food store for restoring arm length.

I did not want to believe I was old enough it at first but it appears that I might be needing the dreaded reading glasses! Part of it is that I am getting to be the age where my eyes are probably a bit tired and the other part I fear might be payback for all the previous teasing of my only slightly older peers for this exact same malady... if you could call it a malady.

One of my previous supervisors... well a supervisor or two up the chain of command actually. She was the head of the Adult Division of the Probation Department to be exact. Anyway, she was a woman whose family was familiar to me since my high school days. In fact, her sister was in my graduating class. This woman was an authoritative sweetheart of a little red headed gal who stands maybe 5 feet tall... and during the last days of her tenure as the head of the division she was just starting to REALLY need her reading glasses. I simply could not help myself at times.

One day, I walked into the file room of our department where I found her peering up at the top shelf trying to read the names on the file tabs. This level of files was particularly difficult for her to see because the shelf itself was probably higher than six feet tall and then the tabs set up at different levels even higher. I glanced at her for a moment stretching, squinting, trying desperately to see the labels.

I stopped what I was doing, walked over closer to her, linked my fingers together and leaned over a bit putting my linked hands out like a step and asked, “Need a boost?”

She reached up and struck me viciously (not really) on the shoulder then laughed (sort of) and said, “Alright you asshole, I was looking for a file but it is one of your damn probationer’s files anyway so you find it and bring it in to me.” She then marched off to her office on her little legs... leaving me cackling behind her in the file room. It’s a good thing she liked me.

I now know what she did though... before I could bring her that file she went back to her office and hexed me so that I too will know what it is like to stretch, squint, shift and adjust when trying to read without reading glasses. She has been avenged.

Of course, I am going to try to play it off like it is no big deal... maybe even see if I can find some of those librarian, Diana (wonder woman) kinda glasses