This is A Snow Angel

Not to be confused with the ones that you make yourself by lying in the snow and flapping your arms and legs to make wings and a gown.  Nope, this is a REAL ONE!

Now I hear Snow Angels are rare and only come out in the most rotten of weather.  They can be found in all shapes and sizes.  You see, angels are not of one age or gender.  They tend to appear only out of the goodness of their hearts.  They ask for nothing in return.

 If you are not aware of these elusive Snow Angels, let me fill you in on their purpose in the cold – they come around after a big snowfall, sometimes they come out while the snow is still falling, if it has been going for hours already.  

They appear at all times of day.  You will know they are around by the sound of the motor on the four wheeler or snow blower or by the scrape of their shovel on the ground.

They visit only your sidewalk and your driveway, they do not bother you at the house.  Their main focus is on the grandma on the corner, the single woman, the elderly man down the street, nearby vacant houses and the person who travels for a living and is not currently home.  They know all.

I hear that not every neighborhood has one.  That is truly a bummer.  There are a few around here; I think they may congregate in like places.  I’m not sure if snow angels are competitive, but the sight of one usually means there are more in the area and it’s possible after the next snow you will see a different one.  

I have to tell you, we see ours all the time.  This one is the most popular and his sightings are the most frequent.  He can do more in less time than any other snow angel.  Plus he has the best equipment! Must have some extra brownie points with the man upstairs to have gotten this ride!  It is possible this one is THE Arch Snow Angel.  

But you dare not disturb them to ask any questions– they have a task to do and usually you are on the benefitting end of it, no one wants to stop that.

They are good angels and I am so glad we live in an area where they are prevalent.  If they aren’t in your area and you have huge snow dumps, you may want to ask yourself why.  Maybe you can assist until they start to congregate near your home?  

I know they are appreciated, we’ve had this one ten years. He’s invaluable.  And no, I don’t think he’s willing to switch neighborhoods and I certainly am not going to ask him!!!  Get your own…

A New View on Outpatient Surgery

A literal one…

Driving down one of my favorite avenues in the area – one that supplies me with lots of blog fodder, I came across this.  

THIS – is someone having surgery.

SURGERY – I can see them having surgery!

Now it took me a few minutes to figure out what I was looking at.  Sitting at a red light, I look over and see a window open at what I later figure out to be a surgical outpatient clinic.  The rest of the windows were all shaded, but this one was open and for some reason I think it’s odd, so I look at it.  

Then I see people flitting around inside in full surgical scrub gear, masks, hats, gloves – etc.

At first I think, this is a dental office.  Then as I look at the three people in full gear, I think – this looks more like a surgery.   I look harder, there is a machine that someone is standing by on the left side of the window (can’t see in these pics, but from the other direction on the road you could) and the other two are next to a gurney.  A GURNEY!  

There is someone laying on the gurney, you can see them in the second pane up from the bottom on the right – OMG – someone IS having surgery.  Two panes up you can see a surgical persons hat/head.  Then I figure the person by the machine is an anesthesiologist.

The light changes, I need a picture, why didn’t I take a picture?  Because it took me the whole time at the light to figure out what I was looking at.  I turn around, but I can’t catch the light again to get a good shot.

That is why these pictures are hard to see, I was in a moving car trying to get the shot.  One handed, arm out the window, randomly clicking – must focus on the road, couldn’t really focus on the shot, there was no way I was going to park and get out of the car, but I think I did ok, considering.  

Therefore I now (and I feel you should too), have new questions to ask ask the surgeon if you ever find yourself in a position of needing outpatient work outside of a hospital.  Do you do surgery in public?  Were you once a field medic or in a mobile unit like those in MASH?  Do you prefer to do your surgeries in the natural daylight or under a medical association approved lamp?  

I remember my dad telling me that the surgical units used to be on top floors of hospitals, under roofs of windows, to allow natural daylight in to help with the lighting.  But that was a very long time ago – anyone doing surgeries today cannot possible still be an active surgeon – can they?  My, they would be very old...

Therefore – this is my gift to you – please write down the above questions and then ask your surgeon - Have you ever done an operation in a clinic on Mack Avenue? 

Surrounded!

Is this a sign?

I’m surrounded, literally, by red cars. 

I was in a parking lot and look – they are everywhere.  In front of me in multiples, next to me and even behind me – look in my rear view mirror!!!

Is there some sort of color lottery I can play?  Because I have to say – if there was, I’d have to play RED!  

Oh, isn’t that a Roulette color?  If only I had a clue how to play Roulette.  What do you think, should I head down to the MGM Detroit and play Red Five or is it Five Red?  You know, because there are five red cars surrounding me….

It is rather ominous.  Maybe I should be concerned.  Now, I do like red, but isn’t it a warning/bad/don’t go here kind of color.  Would it be better if they were all green?  Like – yeah – Advance to Go, collect $200 bucks!  Sure do what you want today!  Not like red, proceed with caution; look in all directions before moving forward.

Huh, not sure where to go with this.  I’m going to go with – I like red, it looks good on me! Maybe I can’t "advance to go and collect $200" in play money, but maybe I will go see if there is a scratch off ticket that is predominately red in color and give that whirl.  

Hmmm, maybe I should buy five of them??  What do you think??  

Maybe one of them will be giving away a Little Red Corvette?  They did change the body style this year.  Sure that’s it – go win myself a new red car today!  Ok, I think I will.  Grabbing my red pea coat and heading out the door right now….

Special Delivery

Ding Dong, Ding Dong, Ding Dong, PZZZTT, Ding Dong, Ding Dong, Ding Dong, PZZTTT, Ding Dong!

This is our doorbell, ringing, A LOT at 7:50 in the morning.  So much so it can’t keep up and fizzles sometimes with a PZZZTT.

I am comfortable in my bed.  Not being a morning person and not having to fake being one because I do not have an early rising job, I’m snug as a bug in a rug.

Ding Dong, Ding Dong, Ding Dong, PZZZTT, Ding Dong, Ding Dong, Ding Dong, PZZTTT, Ding Dong!

I actually am thankful that it is ringing like crazy, because I know who it is, this is a signature ring.  

If it were just one Ding Dong, then a minute wait and then a knock – it would be certain that it is a complete stranger and there is no chance that I would get up to answer it.  That would also leave me getting up anyway, to peek out the window to see who it is I don’t know on my front porch and hoping it’s the Edison man or something simple and really not a complete stranger pounding on my door at 7:50am.

Ding Dong, Ding Dong, Ding Dong, PZZZTT, Ding Dong, Ding Dong, Ding Dong, PZZTTT, Ding Dong!

Alright, alright – attention received, I’m moving as fast as my groggy self can- now where are my sweat pants?

Ding Dong, Ding Dong, Ding Dong, PZZZTT, Ding Dong, Ding Dong, Ding Dong, PZZTTT, Ding Dong!

I don’t mind answering the door when it is ringing like crazy.  You see, I know when I open the door I am going to be greeted by someone who really wants to see me.  I am going to get some sort of present and it is possible the other members of the household will get one too. 

Sometimes they are drawings, coloring book pictures or home-made confetti.  Sometimes they are sticks – for the dog or greeting cards and once we even got a gift of a very large black ant.  

Ding Dong, Ding Dong, Ding Dong, PZZZTT, Ding Dong, Ding Dong, Ding Dong, PZZTTT, Ding Dong!

Oh Good Morning!  It’s my beautiful little neighbor girl, who doesn’t care that I just crawled out of bed and am not really functional yet.  She is just happy to see me, because of course – that is why she is here!  She doesn’t have school today – snow day?  Yes, that is great!  

What is wonderful about her is she will just pop into the house, plop on the couch – on her back looking up at the ceiling and start to tell you things.  All very interesting things and usually the same things, which is good, because there is always a quiz:

Do I know what the favorite color of her dog is – yes I do, green.  Do I know her nephews birthday (she has a much older sister) yes I do, February.  Do I know who her mother babysits- yes I do Liam (not his name).  And on it goes – I’m happy to know these things, because it makes her happy I know them.

Then she produces our mail, her mother wanted her to run it over, they were away yesterday and got our mail.   Thank you.  Does your mother know you are here now?  No?  She told you to run it over after breakfast – Wait, where are your shoes?  

Ok, give me a minute to get my coat and boots on, this time I will deliver you – back home to your mom, who I am sure at this very moment is putting on her coat and boots to come over here and get you….

Crossword Clueless

Husband and I do crosswords together, passing it back and forth, taking turns filling in where the other has left a blank, sometimes joyously correcting each others misspelling or poor word selections.  

We live in Michigan.  For much of the year the nights are long and cold and a crossword puzzle is a great way to pass the time bundled up, sitting on the couch, whiteout reel in hand - ready for the kill, I mean correction.   

It’s slightly competitive, we write in different colored pens – so you know who filled out what…

I’ve always done crosswords, but usually they were the ones in the TV Guide and had to do with television and movie personalities – a quick easy finish and a pat on the back to myself for how fast I could complete them.    

Then I got married and my husband was doing the ones in the local newspaper, real crosswords, from the Boston Globe or Newsday, with the occasional Sunday New York Times thrown in for good measure.  You know, smart people crosswords.

What’s great about my husband is - he’s European, so anything that happened in this country before he arrived, I am an automatic expert on and if it’s old American television, he’s totally clueless – really quite fabulous for me.  But that’s not where this story is going.

One night I’m sitting there doing a puzzle and I start laughing, a bit loud and a bit too much for a joke that is only known to me.  The clue was “Pincushion”, nothing wrong with that clue, unless you were born in an era where “Pincushion” was used as a reference for something else.  

Then I look at the amount of boxes it gave me for the clue and it was four.  Four - exactly the right amount for this slightly off color reference that was running through my head.  

I continue with my puzzle.  After I do all the Across and Down clues once, I work my way back through the puzzle and to my horror of horrors (or humor of humors), in this little four letter answer for “Pincushion” the third letter is a “U”.  That’s it, the little four letter answer in my head cannot possibly be right, but somehow, this suggests that it will fit.  The third letter in my word is also a “U”.

I pass the puzzle on to my hubby and tell him about the clue and my answer and how it amazingly looks like it will fit.  Now, even though we were born and raised in different countries, we are the same age and apparently this little joke was around in his country when he was in his 20’s too.  So he looks at me with a straight face and says, I think we should try it, see if it works.

I know he’s joking, but here’s the thing, it’s NEVER going to work.  Never in the history of past or future crosswords will this word be the answer to a clue.  Any clue.  Ever.  Really.  I’m quite sure of it.  

It turns out the actual four letter answer for “Pincushion” is “Etui”.  Personally, I’ve never heard of that word, but it fits and a check on the dictionary confirms it.  If you were to check the dictionary for our word, the definition would not confirm the word in my head as another word for “Pincushion”, no it would be quite another definition altogether.  

Stop reading now if you are easily offended – continue reading if you want to check what your dirty little mind also thought the clue was with the third letter of U.  

If your guess was “Slut” than you are absolutely correct, you may join us on the couch!  What color pen would you like as your prize?  Pink and green are already taken….