My kingdom's fence is falling down, part 2....

Well, the contractor didn't come today to fix the fence but no other panels fell off today. Fortunately, it also wasn't a very windy day and the sun was nice and shining.

Which just figures because he and his crew are supposed to be here tomorrow to fix it. A day when the weather is supposed to change and the winds will be fierce. The weatherpeople are already saying that there's going to be a Red Flag Warning plus other watches and advisories for the day. If you don't know what a Red Flag Warning is -- that's when burning things is not advised because the wind will be very forceful and can spread embers quickly and over long distances. It's also used in nautical terms to let you know that the water will be too rough because of the waves created by the wind.

In our area, we have a local weatherman who issues a Small Dog Warning on days like that. You can guess what that means. Actually, from what I've been reading on the forecast changes this evening, it might become a Medium Dog Warning. I want to see these guys trying to muscle around large 6-foot-by-8-foot panels of wood in the wind. Had they just done the job correctly the first time they wouldn't have to worry about it.

I'm headed back to the television. Had a long rehearsal tonight for our community theatre production; will have another long rehearsal tomorrow night; and there's an episode of Top Gear (the BBC version, not that crap on History Channel) with Eddie Izzard as the Star in the Reasonably Priced Car. Top Gear and my favorite comedian -- I should sleep well tonight.

My kingdom's fence is falling down....

Gaah!!! It's been less than a month since I finally got the privacy fence I've been waiting and waiting for and the stupid thing has started falling down.

Yes, I know there's been some bad weather and it's been windy but (1) the tornado didn't touch down here, (2) high winds were reported but they were blowing towards the fence which would push it into the posts and not outward towards our neighbor's yard, and (3) it's only been a freakin' month and the stupid thing has started falling down! I've contacted the contractor and he says it will be fixed immediately but not Monday.

We'll see about that. If the panels keep falling off, someone will be fixing it and it's not going to be me. And, if for some forsaken reason it is me, there will be a lot of money returned since he's already admitted that the panels should have been screwed and not nailed onto the posts.

I'm going to go stomp into the other room and severely watch TV while waiting for tomorrow to come. I'll update as needed.

70 years of love trumps 6 weeks of winter

Every year I've felt sorry for the poor rodents all across the country that get dragged out of their dens as the crack of dawn to see a "shadow" and predict the weather. It's kind of hard for them to NOT see their shadow because of all of the television lights and flash bulbs going off during the process.

This year the majority of the country's "official groundhogs" supposedly "saw" their shadows. Depending on what part of the country you're living in, you don't really care that there will be six more weeks of winter because "winter" as we've always known it hasn't existed this year. Lots of people are blaming it on global warming. Funny thing about that is this -- the local news channel went through their archives of recorded temperatures for the month of January all the way back into the early 1900's. The average temperature in January 2012 doesn't even rank in the top ten of the warmest temperatures. The warmest was in the 1930's.

If you mention Groundhog Day to most people, they either think of the poor rodent awakenings or of the movie starring Bill Murray. I, however, have pleasant memories of associating Groundhog Day with a different type of emotion -- love. My Maternal Grandparents were married on February 2nd, 1942. Sadly, they've both passed away but I still remember seeing them exchanging flowers or gifts or planning to go out for dinner instead of worrying about whether or not Spring was coming soon. They loved each other very much and even after my grandfather had a stroke, my grandmother stayed right with him to help him. I know it wasn't easy on her, but she was there. And then after he fell and broke his hip and had to move into a nursing home, she went every day to visit him. She'd even do his laundry and often take him food. We told her that we paid the staff to take care of those things, but she wanted to be the one taking care of him. It was always hard to get her to take time for herself just to go out to lunch with us, even when he was telling her that she needed to go. When he passed away, she was terribly lonely but I could tell that the love was never going to end. Today, the two of them rest side-by-side in the family plot. If they could, I'd bet that they'd still be holding hands today.

So, I dedicate today's blog post to their memories. Sure, I could sit and write funny stories about groundhogs or the weather or any other number of topics. But today, on what would have been their 70th anniversary, I'll remember the love they had for each other and consider myself incredibly lucky to be in a loving relationship.