Leigh's Views

I know someone who always wanted the cute little cottage with the white picket fence.   However, being in the military, she decided to wait until she retired to make the purchase.   The home she found didn’t have the fence.   However, because of the current political and cultural climate in this country, she was having second thoughts about having a fence to keep herself separated from her new neighbors.   But it turned out the lot next to hers was an easement for the utilities.   And somehow over the years, everyone had decided to use that lot as a private drive to their backyards.   Problem was, this had turned into people cutting a corner, literally, by driving through my friend’s front yard.   Yup, the ‘good fences makes for good neighbors’ thing was sounding pretty good to her after a few months.   So, she hired a contractor.   On the day the fence was being put in, one of her neighbors made the turn into her yard as usual.   And hit a newly installed 4x4 post.   Instead of ad

I went to coffee with a friend yesterday.   Well, we don’t usually have coffee – we meet up at a coffeeshop and have tea.   But yesterday, she plunked down with the biggest cup of coffee the place offers.   And not a latte type coffee either, no a strong black coffee.   She was looking haggard – like she hadn’t slept in a week.   Being the polite person I am, I didn’t say a word.   Merely raised an eyebrow as I watched her settle in.   Knowing her daughter is past the ‘baby don’t sleep all night’ phase and not yet in the ‘teen's out all night panicking parents around the world’ stage, I couldn’t figure out why she looked so bad.   “All I have to say is ‘No monkeys’.”   She announced after she had gulped down half of her drink.   Uhm, what?   Now I’ve heard the expression, ‘Not my monkey, not my circus.’   However, I’m not sure this was what she was referring to.   We talked for a bit before she was ready to fill me in on what was up with her.   Turns out her husband had woken her

I was in another town and at a pub the other day, chatting with a few other patrons.   Yes, they were a bit on the tipsy side – I was the only one having a lemonade (non-spiked of course).   Then this one couple comes in.   She informs her husband he has to order something other than his usual since they were on vacation and the area was known for their local brews.   You should’ve seen the look on his face, he clearly didn’t want to wade into the waters of strange IPAs.   He turns to me, I guess because I have what looks like a sympathetic face.   “Can you believe this?   This one's  Pumpkinlicious .   This one's Taterale.   And don’t even get me started on the one called Yoga pants – is that supposed to mean it’s a light beer to keep you fitting in your yoga pants or it’s been strained through yoga pants and tastes like sweat?”   Uhm, I really didn’t know how to answer the poor man.   This seemed like it was something he needed to work out (pun intended) with his wife.   Yu

Okay, I’ve lived through my second hurricane now.   Yes, I live in the south but it’s not like I live right on the coast or anything.   There are always those who are very helpful after a storm like this.   They pitch in and help neighbors clean up.   They give sandwiches and more to those who are working so hard.   Then there are those who squabble about who should pay for the damage when their dead tree fell on the neighbor’s fence and yard.   Mind you this tree had been dead for years.   And of course, there are those who feel the need to complain about the little things.   Yup, the cable and internet went out for a few hours so it was apparently the end of the world for a few people.   Cell service wasn’t great for a few days.   Hey, at least texting still worked.   The grocery store didn’t have bread, or veggies or milk.   Well at least they had steak.   I know, I know, I’m one of those who always look at what’s good about a situation, not what’s bad.   I try to help whenever I

I’ve heard it said that to really mess things up you need a computer.   Apparently, a smartphone will work just as well.   Okay, so here’s the thing, I went to my dentist appointment yesterday.   I was a few minutes early, I thought.   I signed in and the receptionist looked at my name and said I was 2 hours early.   Wait, what?!   She then goes on to explain that they had sent me a text, which I had read, telling me my appointment time had been changed.   Uhm, I never saw this text, never even knew I had received it.   Now, this isn’t the first time this has happened.   I fact it happens all the time.   I don’t know how others can tell if I’ve read their texts or not.   That’s some type of wizardry I’ve never tried to figure out, really texting is all I’m capable of.   Even that’s an iffy proposition half the time.   Fine, I go shopping for a while and come back.   However, I’m done with getting texts I don’t know I’ve gotten – time to seek expert advice.   I go ask my next door nei

Now I don’t view myself as a princess or one of those girly girls who’s afraid of a speck of dirt.   I have no problem using a porta-potty or even a hole in the ground when it comes right down to it.   However, if you point me to a bathroom, I have certain expectations as to what I’m going to find.   So, I traveled to Spain recently.   This isn’t a third world country, it’s a first world county, thus I had the silly idea that things wouldn’t be too different from what I’m used to.   Wrong, so very wrong.   There I was out sightseeing all day long.   It was hot, I was drinking a lot.   Okay, okay, I must admit I wasn’t drinking much water since water was 2 or 3 times the price of sangria or vino de Verano.   No, I wasn’t getting drunk since those drinks are fairly watered down.   Thus, I needed to find places to do my private business often.   First problem was many establishments felt the need to hide the bathroom in the oddest of places.   And I do mean hide – no signage to lead t

For the last several weeks I’ve been traveling and haven’t had access to my computer.   Before I left, I had set my blog to automatically display a new post once a week and have been ignoring my email even though I do have my tablet.   My phone was left back in the states – it’s been bliss.   However, today I was talking to someone and ended up getting invited to use her computer for an hour or two.   Okay fine, I’m going to post a new blog while I can.   Let me tell you about my 2 favorite things thus far on this trip.   #1 – Guaguas (pronounced wawa).   I’ve been in Spain and on this Spanish island I visited they have this great bus system called the Guagua.   Anywhere on the island you wanted to go, well the Guagua would get you there for a relatively small fee.   And I do mean anywhere.   I was told about a rastro in a small town in the mountains.   Great, hop on a Guagua and go.   However, in this case, the ride was a bit on the scary side. The road was only slightly wider tha

I love to sit and watch the rain.   Sometimes the drops are big and fat.   Sometimes they come so fast you can’t really see them.   Sometimes rain spoils everything.   You can’t work outside.   You can’t take that long walk unless you want to get soaked.   Sometimes rain is exactly what you need.   You just planted grass seed and need to rain to make it grow.   You want a reason to have a day off to rest and relax and the rain is a perfect excuse for that.   Have you ever just stopped to really think about rain?   What it is, what it means?   Rain is never the same twice, no two drops are ever the same.   It makes art out of plain old dirt.   In the desert, you can smell it.   It almost seems like it has a life of it’s own.   Rain takes life as well as gives it, I know this is why it’s not always viewed as a good thing.   But there’s such beauty and grace as it dances from the sky.   Finally when the rain passes, everything is shiny, new.   The last few drops fall from the trees, h