Pandemic Road: Second Chances and OMG More Holidays!

Happy New Year all you dear readers! With Covid still at the top of all news cycles, I actually do have some good news to begin with for my first blog of 2022. You may remember that at the beginning of the pandemic in March of 2020, I had a piece of collage art work that was accepted for exhibition at Rice University. I was thrilled. I was delighted. When everything shut down, I was devastated, disappointed, and forlorn. There was a virtual reception of the art, but there was no public showing.

Well, flash forward two years and the exhibition is on again and my art work will be displayed during the Spring Semester which starts on Monday, January 10th. Be still my fluttering heart! It will be in the Peter T. Brown Gallery on the first floor of the Anderson-Clarke Building on the Rice Campus. I can’t wait until I go see it! Also, while I am there, I may actually be able to walk around the campus like I haven’t done since March 2020. I’ve missed looking at all of the art that is spread around the campus and I am proud now to be a part of that.

I was flying high on my happy emotions, but then I walked into a big store. I will not name the store, because I don’t want to bring shame to their name. However, if you wanted to shoot an arrow at the big red dot, you might be able to figure it out. What did I see? Red, red and more red. Valentine’s Day Red. On another aisle, there was the color green as in shamrocks and St. Patrick’s Day decorations. Now I know you have heard my rants about Halloween and Thanksgiving being swallowed up by Christmas. And unlike Halloween when decorations are taken down right away to make room for the jolly red fat fellow, Christmas decorations are still up in many places. Of course that’s all right because there’s not another holiday for a long, long time. What’s the rush?

What’s the rush you ask? This premature display of hearts and flowers is all ready beginning to crop up. It’s just as if Cupid was hiding behind Santa’s sleigh holding on to his bow and arrow just waiting to jump out and start working his love magic. Good grief. By the time Valentine’s Day actually gets here, I am going to be quite sick of all the red and pink decorations. At least I haven’t seen any goofy decorations popping up in my neighborhood.

At some point I am going to call a meeting of all the holiday witches, skeletons, both Santa and Mrs. Claus, Cupid and a few Leprechauns to discuss this ever increasing blending of holidays. The phrase that comes to mind on this topic is “Stay In Your Lane!”

Contemplating this conundrum and planning my future meeting, I went to the Arboretum to receive some solace from nature; including trees, squirrels, and turtles. I found that solace, but also found a path where apparently the armadillos had enjoyed a dance party the night before. Obviously they hide out during the day to rest up after all of their raucous partying.

I promise to keep you posted about my plans for a Holiday Coordinating meeting. I wonder if the armadillos would like to be invited?

Until next time.….

Hearts And Traffic Jams

I hope everyone had a nice Valentine’s Day.

This is the blog post that I intended to write yesterday when it actually was February 14th. But that was before all heck broke out in Houston.

The Southwest Freeway was shut down because a truck overturned. No one was hurt, but the entire freeway was shut down on a Friday afternoon just around lunch time. Now trucks turn over on a regular basis in this town. However, this one was extra special because the truck was carrying .….…wait for it.…..raw sewage. Yep, you read that right. Raw. Sewage. All over the freeway on a Friday afternoon on Valentine’s Day. I went out to run one little errand and almost couldn’t get back home. All of the traffic from the freeway was spilling out onto the main roads, the side roads and every other type of road.

By the time I got back home, I was running late to get ready for my Valentine’s Day date. We had reservations at the Backstreet Cafe. I wanted to be a proper lady for the occasion so I wanted to take a shower, wear a dress, etc. It takes time for me to look all ladylike. So I put off this blog until today.

And all I really wanted to say was a nice “Happy Valentines Day” to all my friends and blog readers.

Surprisingly, with all of the traffic jams around the area, we actually made it to dinner on time. I wonder how many other dinner reservations had to wait, because folks were stuck in traffic and honking their horns. There was a lot of horn honking yesterday. Egad.

Our dinner at the Backstreet Cafe was wonderful. We really took our time. Service was wonderful and the menu there never disappoints. There were rose petals on the table for that special romantic touch. By the time dinner was over, the freeway was open and traffic was back to normal.

I hope your romantic day was a joy and not stymied by the traffic. Did you do anything special?

And I would like to end this blog by wishing Susan B. Anthony a Happy 200th Birthday! She was an American social reformer and promoter for women’s rights. If you are a woman, please give her a nod of thanks every time you go to vote in an election.

Until next week.….