This morning I awoke to find that The Fog had descended. I can't remember ever seeing fog in CO, so I had forgotten the impact of seeing tree tops across the road eaten away by the dense, swirling stuff.
I'm having the usual trouble transitioning from intense blogging to regular blogging. Talking about the weather is always a good start.
Oh, hey, speaking of a good start, I got a pay as you go phone recently and while I was waiting for it to be authorized, the store clerks and I were standing around in an increasingly awkward silence. Normally I tune this out and stand there like stone, immovable. This time around I thought, hey, why not just try something for the fun of it?
So I said, "So it looks like rain..." and immediately the two clerks leaped into conversation with me like race horses bursting out the gate. Apparently, many people are like me in that they wish to be sociable, but are waiting for the other person to make the first move and it doesn't matter how mundane the first move is.
I also figured out if dogs were allowed on the golf course or not. I've been increasingly desperate after a serious of unfortunate walks on the roads alone. These walks included such entertaining occurrences as: Meeting The Neighbors, Death By Dog Leash and the Dead Squirrel Incident.
None of the roads connect to any other, so walking on them is nothing less than walking up and down a bunch of dead ends. At one point Lynn jumped up on me, as if in doggy intervention, as we turned away from the tempting golf course yet again, do it its being inhabited.
"Why, mommy? Why?" I was sure she was asking, her eyes searching mine.
When we reached the golf course yesterday there were no golf carts stopped on the slopping hills, no men at their leisure roaming about. I thought maybe I could make a break for it on one little path, so I could make at least a lopsided loop back home.
We were nearly in the clear when an older guy on a golf cart caught us out. My heart sank. I knew I couldn't live in the suspense any longer. I didn't want to be yelled at by irate retirees, even though this one had only waved at me.
There was a housing associate truck parked on the side of the road and I walked over to it. As it happened the old guy in the cart was there as well, maybe to point me out as a flagrant Golf Course Rule Abuser. Nevertheless, I went up to the truck and hailed them.
"My landlord has said I could walk my dogs on the golf course, but I never see anyone else doing this," I confessed. "It is really OK to walk the dogs on the golf course?"
"No!" quipped the old dude, immediately.
"I can't tell you that you can't," clarified the Golf Authority, a young man in a maroon polo shirt, the housing association badge sewn on.
What it boiled down to was they couldn't stop me, but nobody would like it and people might hit me with golf balls. OK, I exaggerate. But he did keep going on about the risk of getting hit with one, which made me wonder if he was hinting at something.
He did recommend that I walk during the early morning hours and impressed upon me the need to always clean up after my dogs. I showed him the plastic bags protruding from my jean pocket.
So, now I know. I'm going to try and go for the walk as soon as I wake up, before even taking a shower. I think this is going to work out for the best anyway, since it's already hot enough in March to feel like summer to me. I can't even imagine what it's going to feel like in June. Deathly, I imagine.
I'll let you know how Operation Early Riser works out. In the meantime, today Keith is bringing some of his men to the house to grill out T-Bones and chill. This will be the first time I've met any of them. Keith has been officially the Platoon Sergeant now for about a week; the guy he was shadowing has moved onward and upward. It's kept Keith quite busy. Last night, he was twitching in his sleep and kept hitting my pillow, causing me to wake with a start. So I shook him awake and asked him to roll over.
"I told you where those forms were!" he cried in frustrated response. "Do I have to do everything for you guys? Go down to the S.O.S. building and bring up the A-90 forms like I told you to do."
Poor guy, even sleep is no break from work! (By the way, there is no such building or forms and when this morning I told Keith what he had said, he laughed out loud. Funny for him! I had to keep pleading with him several more minutes before he finally rolled over in a huff.)
