Angels of Mercy!

First off, let me say that it is definitely, really, really (Kurtis would want to throw in a few more "really"s there) hot tonight. Kurt and I just got home from taking Sammy for a little walk and this evening's stroll was very interesting -to say the least!

Initially, he had told me he expected we should take "a walk around the block" but by the time we were ready to roll, the sky had gotten fairly dark and I thought not only did it look like it was brewing to storm but I thought I heard the distant rumble of thunder too. So I said I thought it would be best if we walked down the road instead of trekking around the town -a round trip distance of almost 2 miles as compared to a walk down the road and back which is a much more doable distance of a little better than a mile.

In this heat, I really wasn't all that keen on walking next door, much less almost a mile but Sam was pulling hard on his leash, raring to roll, ya know. (And water every blade of grass along the way too!)

But anyway, off we went -heading east and Kurtis doing lots and lots of chit chat with me along the route.

We got down the street in front of our neighbors' (Daryl and June's) and they were both sitting out on their big front porch, fanning themselves, trying to cool down. Their granddaughter, Megan (who is about 6 months older than Maya) was parading around in her swimsuit -obviously letting her swimsuit do a quick-dry with her wearing it and as usually happens then, June called out a cherry "Hello" to us and followed that up with as question whether or not I'd heard the rumblings from above.

I stopped to chat briefly about the storm last night -which was actually one of the most ferocious I'd seen in a long, long time with respect to the way the lightning was not just flashing but staying on, totally lighting the sky in a really spectacular display.

Kurtis, as he often does, broke into the conversation between June and I by asking her and Daryl "Do you guys have kids?"

Before June realized what he'd said, he followed that question with a comment that it looks like you do. (I am assuming he was referring to their granddaughter, Megan, being there.)

And right on top of that he stated, "We do. We have two kids!"

Curious as to exactly who he meant I asked him who the two kids were that we have and he announced to us that it was "Me and Maya."

Mark my words though, as friendly and talkative as he was tonight to them, you can bet your bottom dollar come Sunday morning at church, he won't even consider acknowledging Daryl and June or any of their family or any other members of our church who also live on our street too. He and Maya both generally refrain from extending a hand in friendship and sharing the peace, even with my closest friends, Shirley and Kate!

So we continued on down to where the road turns to dirt and as we did, I saw a vehicle down a little piece, getting ready to pull out on the road and come towards us. It was a couple on a really snazzy little four-wheeler and they weren't whizzing up the road but rather just putt-putting along, keeping the noise level then way down.

As they got near to us, I could see who it was in the vehicle and here it was the young lady who just so happens to be the Behavior Specialist for both Maya and Kurt and her boyfriend.

They pulled up beside us and stopped and I asked Kurtis if he knew who that was in the dune buggy. He looked, kind of strained a bit at first, then proclaimed "YES! It's Miss Renee!"

Renee introduced us to Ron, her boyfriend and we shared a little conversation then and then, Ron and Renee each jumped out of the cart and moving to the rear, pulled open a cooler, and offered me a "Cold one!"

They sure didn't have to repeat that for me as my old ears picked up on that immediately!

Sure is nice to take a hot, late evening walk with the only thing in your hand as you start out being a dog on a leash and return home with a nice chilled bottle of Bud LIght in the other hand as you make your way back to the house.

Now, that empty is sitting in the middle of the dining room table to pique Mandy's curiosity when she gets home from grocery shopping as to where the heck the empty beer bottle came from.

I'll just tell her I encountered an "angel of mercy" tonight on the road down towards Peale and see if she can guess who my generous benefactor was.

By the way, Renee and Ron, that cold brew really tasted great going down. Hope I run into you again some evening along that road too.