We’ve been in a weather pattern that leaves our Michigan roads
void of snow and ice and what a treat that is, says the lady who is thrilled to
be able to report this. It improves my social life not to have to factor weather
into my winter decisions to leave the house. Over the weekend, for example,
there was a Christmas party for my neighborhood association where we can pay
our dues, do a little business meeting, eat pizza and get to know each other. I’ve
lived within the domain of the association for thirteen years and have never
gone to their twice a year parties. When Don as alive, his wheelchair kept us
from going---we’ve got the only wheelchair friendly house in the entire 100
house association. Whatever possesses someone to open up their home to 100 potential
families for a party, is something I don’t possess and don’t understand, but this
chit-chat is side-tracking me from the Christmas party.
I know a few people by sight from walking Levi around the
neighborhood and, of course, the people on my short cul-de-sac but when I
walked into the party not a single one of them was in attendance. I had a flash
back to when I was in my twenties and walked into a party that didn’t take me long
to figure out was a party full of gay couples. What a shock! I had no idea the
girl who had invited me to meet her at that party was gay but she obviously thought I might me.
I didn’t stay, of course---it was the 60s and I barely understood what being
gay meant but I knew there wasn’t a chance of me meeting my future husband at
that party. And then there was an ugly scene with the girl the next time I saw her. God,
I’m getting side-tracked again but at least this one was a funny side-track. Back tracking to when I
walked into the neighborhood party and I saw a living room with wall-to-wall
women and a kitchen full of guys. After a few, “who are you” and “where do you
live” questions in the living room I moved to the line in the kitchen to pick
up some pizza. That’s where I met the only other person at the party over
forty. He was my age, not bad looking, a smart dresser and he talked too much.
That last observation is a strange criticism coming from a woman whose husband
was affectionately called “motor mouth.”
He was talking to another man when I walked up, asking if the younger guy
knew where the UAW union hall is moving to. He didn’t. I did and so I chimed in
the information and after a while the younger guy backed off and let us old
duffers entertain each other. I stayed a little longer than I did at the gay
party decades ago and by the time I left I had a better understand of why
phrase II people, where I live, don’t attend these parties. It was full of
phrase I people who live on the lake and learning about how our dues money is
spent made me feel like little orphan Annie. Phrase II people couldn’t even get
an entrance sign put up on our section while phrase I gets docks, fire pits and
boat storage racks built on the lake. And it’s not like we can quit paying our
yearly dues. If we do, they double every month for six months then a lean gets
put on our houses. In two years we get to vote on dissolving the association as
per the by-laws of the builder who who set up the association and
since phrase I people are in the majority, I can guess how it will go. Bottom
line: A phrase I-er would never date a phrase II-er I’m quite sure. And even if
they did, I’d find something wrong with the party guy---like he isn’t Don.
Changing topics: I finally finished reading the Hunger Games series and now I want to
see the last two movies. I don’t know why, they’re far from my favorite genre of
books or movies. The writing style in the books isn’t all that lyric and I didn't even have to look up a single word in the entire series. But, boy, can Suzanne
Collins ever do chapter cliffhangers that leave you wanting more. I’m hoping
against hope that my movie and lunch club, this month, will pick Mockingjay Part I. They won’t, but if it’s
running at the same time as whatever they pick, I may go on my own. Anyway,
this whole paragraph is just a lead-up to me sharing my favorite
line from all three Hunger Games
books and it came near the end of the trilogy: “What I need to survive is not Gale’s
fire, kindled with rage and hatred, I have plenty of fire myself. What I need
is the dandelion in the spring. The rebirth instead of destruction. The promise
that life can go on, no matter how bad our losses. That it can be good again….” That speaks to my widow’s heart. ©
What a lovely post about 'he's not Don'. Yep, I kinda saw that coming. I'm glad you went though.
ReplyDeleteI would like to hear about the meltdown with the gay gal though. I'm sure that would be some interesting reading.
Have a fabulous day. :)
I'll have to think about writing a post about the gay girl's crush on me that led up to the party and the ugly parting of our ways. Let's just say that I'll bet I'm not the only person on earth who went on a 'gay date' and didn't know it until a couple of weeks later.
Deleteoh i'm with sandee, i want to hear about the gay girl too. sorry, i just do! lol
ReplyDeletesmiles, bee
xoxo
Reaching back nearly 50 years ago into my memory bank is a long trip to take. I don't think I want to waste the time doing it in this case. I'd be tempted to put a light, comical spin on something that was painful and embarrassing at the time for me and probably more so for the gay girl.
DeleteEwww-I don't want to hear about the gay girl, okay? Been there and it wasn't pleasant. Anyway--we really don't want to date anyone that isn't Don or Fred do we. I think it might be fun, but when it comes right down to it, all I can think of, "He's not Fred and if he isn't, I don't want him."
ReplyDeleteDon't worry, Judy, I decided I've already written everything I'm going to on the topic.
DeleteWhen I was talking to party guy I couldn't help compare him to Don and all I could think of is, well, at least I'll get a good blog out of this conversation.
Jean, like George Bailey in "It's a Wonderful Life," you've already made your mark on the world, but you're not meant to know what it is. Think ripple effects.
ReplyDeleteI, too, was taught never to begin a sentence with "And," but I've noticed that everyone does it now, and I've jumped on the band wagon.
I believe the average stay in a nursing home is 1 to 3 years. I hope you and I are on the low side of that.
I hope so, Bella, on the ripple effect.
DeleteI'm reading a book on punctuation right now titled, "Eats, Shoots and Leaves the Zero Tolerance Approach to Punctuation." I haven't come to any mention of compound sentences yet, but I tend to break them up with the 'period' and starting the next sentence with 'and' or 'but' because I tend to write very long sentences and readers need a place to breathe. LOL
Jean,
ReplyDeleteOops! I think I inadvertently commented on the previous post on this post last night. I was pretty tired. I see it was only 8:10 pm. Good grief.
Interesting about how your community association works. It's a little microcosm of our country today, i.e. the 1% ers. They make the decisions and we pay the consequences.
As for the guy at the party, I know what you mean. There are guys who tell stories and guys who talk too much. One entertains others and the other entertains himself. :) He was probably a nice guy, but he "wasn't Don." It must be hard to see another in that role when you've had such a fulfilled relationship.
Glad your weather is cooperating with your social calendar. Let's hope it stays that way.
You put your finger on it exactly---the guys that talk and the guys who tell stories. Don didn't talk just to hear himself talk. He was and always will be the storyteller in any group we'd ever been in.
DeleteYou can't buy a house in new or newish areas without having to join an association because it's nearly impossible to find a building lot that isn't owned by a builder and they want to protect the value of their neighborhoods while they are still building in the area. Associations do makes sense in many ways as they establish rules that most people building new want like: no one can cut trees down without approval of the association. No one can build a fence in their front yard. No one can park a boat or trailer in their front yards. Dues are cheap; only $40 a year here but I know other areas charge more if their streets are private and not maintained by the city like ours.
We live in a newish community. Our house was four years old when we bought it 12 years ago. Everything still looks new and maintained in the neighborhood. We have a community assoc. Our dues are $60 a month. They do keep property values up by keeping homeowners from painting their shutters lavender. This ain't Key West. It's traditional Central Va. We haven't gotten edgy yet. :) I've never had a run-in with them. They did force H to put his garbage can in the garage (out of sight so as not to offend.) That did knock his nose out of joint a little. My only gripe is that they use the majority of the dues to do things that will benefit children. I don't mind so much, but it would be nice if they put in a walking trail or something else that adults would enjoy. Know what I mean?
DeleteI sure do know what you mean. Our association doesn't dictate colors or where you can put your garbage cart. I guess I should consider myself lucky on that score. One thing that is nice is when a couple of houses went into for closure and no one was mowing the grass the association stepped in, hired some mowings and billed the banks.
Delete