Saturday, March 18, 2006
St. Patrick's Day Adventure
In the last four years I've been having a lot of "firsts," beginning with losing my first hubby. Friday was not only my first time to have corned beef and cabbage, but I had it twice in the same day! Friend Charlie and I met a mutual friend for a delicious lunch at a senior center where two bagpipers were entertaining, and wouldn't you know the only table with room for our group was directly in front of the loud, loud music. We tried to stop up our ears, but couldn't quite manage to eat with our elbows.
Not much conversation was possible until we finished the meal and retired to the sitting room to catch up on the news of our lives. Then our trio was joined by a retired veteran of the US Air Force (U-2 pilot, prisoner of war) who now works as a clown, raising money for the Shriners. He showed us pictures of his cars and art work and jewelry he makes to sell on cruise ships. Very interesting, but we never did get in our planned visiting.
Charlie and I now dash across town to a nursing home where we join others of the Highland Harmonizers to spend an hour entertaining the residents. There I help with setting up, then stand like a bump on a log while personable Charlie mingles with the old folks and splashes rays of cheer everywhere. My favorite fiddler, 81-year-old Shirley, is the highlight of the day with her cute rendition of "I Just Don't Look Good Naked Anymore".
No time to help carry out the equipment, as Charlie has an appointment at the VA hospital. I listen to music and read in the car while Charlie is inside making arrangements for radiated seed implants for his prostate cancer. Then after a short rest, we head out to locate the Solo Club where Charlie was invited for a St. Patrick's Day Dinner/Dance.
The Solo Club is run by its members, a bunch of very nice people who are all single. Although there were two bars, there were no drunks and no fights, quite unlike the VFW dances of my youth. Since my dancing experience has been almost nil for the last 50 years, and having neuropathy in my feet, I was a bit nervous about my first club experience, but all went well. The menu was almost exactly the same as at the senior center, very tasty. I must have lived a more sheltered life than I realized, missing out on such a treat all these years.
Charlie had met Sheri on the movie set, and they discovered that they were from the same area in Minnesota. She told him about Solo and invited him as a guest. She is beautiful and very sweet, a member of the line dancing team that entertained us. Also at our table was her boyfriend, a handsome and likeable Cherokee Indian, a retired school teacher who looks much younger than his 65 years. He is a nominee for president of the club for next year. Sitting next to me was a man named Tex. I asked what part of Texas he was from and he said Virginia. His dad named him after Tex Ritter. Another guy, a friend of Sheri's, is also from Minnesota, but she had never known it until Charlie mentioned it. Old home week.
And who should we discover on the dance floor but our new acquaintance, the clown from the senior center! One of the onlookers was a man in a wheelchair who had been the victim of muggers in the WalMart parking lot, left brain damaged and helpless for the sum of $2.
So ends the latest adventure of the Merry Widow of Sandia Knolls.
Cora Gail Trent
www.cgtrent.com
Not much conversation was possible until we finished the meal and retired to the sitting room to catch up on the news of our lives. Then our trio was joined by a retired veteran of the US Air Force (U-2 pilot, prisoner of war) who now works as a clown, raising money for the Shriners. He showed us pictures of his cars and art work and jewelry he makes to sell on cruise ships. Very interesting, but we never did get in our planned visiting.
Charlie and I now dash across town to a nursing home where we join others of the Highland Harmonizers to spend an hour entertaining the residents. There I help with setting up, then stand like a bump on a log while personable Charlie mingles with the old folks and splashes rays of cheer everywhere. My favorite fiddler, 81-year-old Shirley, is the highlight of the day with her cute rendition of "I Just Don't Look Good Naked Anymore".
No time to help carry out the equipment, as Charlie has an appointment at the VA hospital. I listen to music and read in the car while Charlie is inside making arrangements for radiated seed implants for his prostate cancer. Then after a short rest, we head out to locate the Solo Club where Charlie was invited for a St. Patrick's Day Dinner/Dance.
The Solo Club is run by its members, a bunch of very nice people who are all single. Although there were two bars, there were no drunks and no fights, quite unlike the VFW dances of my youth. Since my dancing experience has been almost nil for the last 50 years, and having neuropathy in my feet, I was a bit nervous about my first club experience, but all went well. The menu was almost exactly the same as at the senior center, very tasty. I must have lived a more sheltered life than I realized, missing out on such a treat all these years.
Charlie had met Sheri on the movie set, and they discovered that they were from the same area in Minnesota. She told him about Solo and invited him as a guest. She is beautiful and very sweet, a member of the line dancing team that entertained us. Also at our table was her boyfriend, a handsome and likeable Cherokee Indian, a retired school teacher who looks much younger than his 65 years. He is a nominee for president of the club for next year. Sitting next to me was a man named Tex. I asked what part of Texas he was from and he said Virginia. His dad named him after Tex Ritter. Another guy, a friend of Sheri's, is also from Minnesota, but she had never known it until Charlie mentioned it. Old home week.
And who should we discover on the dance floor but our new acquaintance, the clown from the senior center! One of the onlookers was a man in a wheelchair who had been the victim of muggers in the WalMart parking lot, left brain damaged and helpless for the sum of $2.
So ends the latest adventure of the Merry Widow of Sandia Knolls.
Cora Gail Trent
www.cgtrent.com
