Here at Winterpast, we’ve scheduled weekly activities. Earlier in the summer, HHH decided to golf with the Senior men once a week. That’s opened up the day for all things domestic. Such things as weekly hot tub water care, houseplant inspections, and trash consolidation are on the list. This week, I added some reverse shopping.
The name “reverse shopping” was something I came up with a very long time ago. It sounds more fun than “returns” or “errands”. It’s easy to ignore unneeded items around the house until it’s too late. I wasn’t making that mistake this week. I had a few things that had to go back to their right owners while receiving refunds.
Last weekend, we decided the ground squirrel that’s been burrowing in our yard needed to go. We’ve given him plenty of chances to move along and he hasn’t taken the hint. Once at Lowe’s, we found two options. Make him uncomfortable or make him dead. Ground squirrels are not to be encouraged, full of disease and fleas. They can destroy a yard in very short time with destructive tunnels.
The first option was the kindest. It was a solar device that claimed to emit some type of vibrational sound that rodents detest. I’d heard these devices work well for mice would rather not have squirrel blood on my hands. We bought one.
Along with the sound device, we bought poisonous bait. Finally, the rodent specialist suggested one very big neck-snapping rat trap. We took our purchases home and deployed the bait and trap. Since then, it’s been all quiet in the gardens of Winterpast. I’ll just choose to believe he decided the next door neighbor had a nicer place.
With the Squirrel-Be-Gone device and receipt in hand, I hurried off to Lowe’s for my first return. Weaving in and out of early morning traffic, by the time I got to Lowe’s, I was a little distracted. A black Suburban was also in a huge hurry as it zipped in next to me. It seemed the driver was in a bigger hurry than me.
Grabbing my returns, we exited our cars at the same time.
“Well, Good Morning! Isn’t it a gorgeous day?” I asked in a cheerful voice with smile shining.
Not meaning to startle her, I did. After giving a surprised giggle, she said, “Well, it certainly is!” Caught off guard, it did both of us good to smile and acknowledge the beautiful fall morning and each other.
A simple “Hello” changed the outlook of two busy women stopping for a moment to smile.
A cheerful heart is good medicine;
But a broken spirit drieth up the bones. Proverbs 17:22
I’m not interested in having my bones drieth up any time soon. I can’t wait for the next time someone smiles because of a happy “Good Morning”. These days everyone needs to share smiles in a world that needs some HAPPINESS.
Whatever you do today, try it. Find some unsuspecting person and say “Good Morning” while smiling at them. Tell a stranger they look nice, (if they do). Smile at another driver. Just try to share some happiness and you’ll feel a little better yourself.
More tomorrow.