Saturday, August 6, 2016

Three Beautiful Things 08/05/16: Sparkles Paper Towels Odyssey, Cribbage Memories, Lobster Debut

1. I volunteered this morning to go on a shopping spree for Mom and drove the old road out to Pinehurst where, at True Value, I was helped by the World's Friendliest and Most Outgoing and Solicitous (WFMOS) floor clerk. You see, Mom sent me to True Value with a coupon for a six pack of Sparkles paper towels at $4.99 and after I flubbed up and mindlessly grabbed an eight pack of Sparkles paper towels and was kindly patiently corrected by the checker, I took the eight pack back and asked the WFMOS for help and he scanned the shelves where I had grabbed the eight pack, surveyed a special display shelf area, searched the stock room in back, and came back to me with the grievous news that True Value did not have Sparkles paper towels in six packs. Moved by his crestfallen face, I tried to be gracious and said, "No problem" and quickly got on my pocket computer/cell phone and called Mom with the devastating news, telling her I could get an eight pack for $6.99. Our conversation ended abruptly when she laid down a simple mandate: "Get 'em."

2.  My marriage back in 1976 to Eileen ended badly about six years later, but playing a little more cribbage on my pocket computer/cell phone today triggered memories of our 1979 three month tour of Great Britain and Denmark and the way we often passed time on the Brit Rail playing cribbage when we took a break from reading Thomas Hardy novels on the train.  I have a lot of sweet memories attached to cribbage whether it was playing with Dad, good friends, a former girlfriend, or rumbling from town to town on trains in England, Wales, and Scotland.

3.  On Tuesday I redeemed a rain check at Yoke's by buying Mom and me a couple of lobster tails and after extensive research online, looking for help in how to cook them up, I  broiled the tails, successfully (!), and served Mom and me each a lobster tail, a baked potato, mushrooms sauteed in butter, and a fresh green salad, featuring lettuce and carrots from Mom's garden.

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