Clash of Seasons

When Cindy asked me to go with her to look at, er, fauxChristmas trees., I went against my better judgement because I always have a good time with her. At one big box store, when she asked where the fake Christmas trees were, the woman said, "you mean artificial? ". Just as I was thinking she had no sense of humor she said, "There's your holiday boutique, right down aisle three next to the barbecues…."

There's something soul destroying about big box stores…at least for me. Seeing floor to ceiling shelves of boxed, predecorated wreaths, dancing Santa Clauses, and cheesy lighted, lawn decorations next to electrical supplies, lumber, power tools and barbecues does nothing to fill me with Christmas spirit. Especially a week before Thanksgiving. After visiting five of these places, we came home with one pet hair magnet….

I made a fervent promise that if it ever rained I would NOT complain about the rain, and I didn't, but I was quite looking forward to settling down with my sketchbook and pencils, when OilMan announced that he needed a ride to pick up his car following a transmission repair. Back onto the freeway in the pouring rain (not complaining…), through increasing traffic jams and decreasing visibility, and past all the same big box stores to the Ford dealership. When it comes to driving, people forget how deal with the rain. They forget from one season to the next, and when it's been two full years, it is as if it had never rained before

Finally home again,the sun made a momentary appearance, lighting up the trees across the street. I'm glad they know their place in the grand scheme of things and are sporting autumn colors rather than red and green lights.