Senior Daze

by Katie Bourg

About Katie: Having arrived in time for the Great (?) Depression, WWII, and all other 20th century problems, I am endowed with long and varied memories. Writing classes have long been my home away from home. Other people's stories are fascinating, and sharing is growth at its best. Hope you seniors will join me with your stories. Try it. You'll like it.

We will be past Thanksgiving by the time you see this. I hope we will also be past the wild storms of the week.

It seems, looking back, the weather times itself to make travel more messy just at this holiday. I remember crossing Stevens Pass on Hiway 2 in one of our early holidays. Just short of the summit, I blinked my eyes and the car in front of us disappeared. I found it, to the right of the pavement and upside down in a snowbank. The local work crews were quick to respond, and there were no bad injuries. I stood with the wife of the driver as they up righted the car. She said she had no sensation of trouble, until she felt her head touch the car roof. We never traveled the passes in winter again.

Another year I used my husband's truck to help victims of the annual pre-Christmas flooding in Snohomish County, gathering all the used clothing and bedding neighbors could collect. That was probably fifty years ago. I now live near the Stillaguamish and find the same problems exist. You just can't stop water when it needs a place to go. And warm temperature after a cold snap with snow makes the problem worse every time.

Black Friday is behind us. I never partake in the awful rush of holiday sales. If I want to give something to someone, why wait for a holiday? I can always give to the right person on May Day. Or the 4th of July. Or maybe forget it altogether, for a year or two. I'm old and inconsistent, and happy that way.

Life is better without so many requirements on my time. That doesn't mean I never get crotchety because I do. Like this week, when my e-mail service failed, and I can't remember ever having a password the family nerds tell me I had. Guess they'll just have to put up with me. I rather enjoy watching them shake their heads. But only after they have my e-mail working for me again.

I just finished reading a book about a cat named Oscar. He lives in a nursing home, and he does a good job looking after the patients. Did a pretty good job of training one doctor, too. It should be recommended reading for both patients and medical staffs. Smart cat. Smarter than some humans. It's worth anybody's read.

And I'm wondering about one local election. Now that the state is out of the business of selling liquor, we will supposedly save money, even though the state won't be gaining any revenue from sales. Doesn't bother me, as I don't ever buy spirits anyway. But I'm thinking of another problem, and remembering way back.

Time was when our Postal Service was run by the government. We had a Postmaster General for years named Jim Farley. Must have been doing something right. When I was a kid, the mail box hung on the outside wall, right next to the front door. We used to get mail delivered twice a day, right into the box. And the service was always in the black. Then some bright fellow decided we shouldn't be in the mail business, and pushed to make it private. Now we keep hearing how the postal service is going/gone broke, and getting desperate. Is the booze business going to go the way of the penny postcard? Just asking.

And in my house we had one interesting accident the other night. Charlie the Cat was in his Superman mood, attempting to leap tall buildings. He picked the wrong location, lost his grip on the shiny white tank, and dropped tail first into the toilet. The expression on his feline face was something to remember. I was laughing too hard to be much help. He finally managed to pull himself out of the bowl and into the bathtub, where he remained subdued for sometime. Life with Charlie is always interesting. Don't know what I'd do without him.