That Was the Week That Was - August 23rd-29th

Blog for week of August 23rd-29th

Good Samaratan

Wednesday I stopped at my local Winco to pick up a couple of pizzas and some ice cream for dinner that night. This was all I had in my cart, and I am often irratated that several years ago Winco took out the "10 items or less" lines that should have speeded me on my way. So I was stuck in a line behind several very full carts. Right in front of me was a woman in one of those motorized carts that Winco provides for their customers. She paid for one little item, but she had a bunch of other things on the conveyor belt, too. She proceeded to explain to the checker that she would have to stop at $30, as these other items were for a handicapped friend, and this person had only given her $30. When the magic number was arrived at, the checker picked up the phone to ask someone to return the other items to their rightful places.

Behind me was a man with a small child. This gentleman walked past me, and offered to pay for the addtional items that this woman didn't have the money to cover. The additional groceries came to about $18, which would have been more than I had in my wallet after buying my groceries, had I even thought of being so nice. This man was profusely thanked by the lady in the motorized cart, he took his place behind me again as my purchases were rung up and bought.

I don't know who this man was, but he was a wonderful example to me of service to strangers. I hadn't even considered doing something like this, even if I had had the extra money to do it.

Although in the past I have ponyed up a dollar or two if someone was short, this time I didn't even consider helping out. I have a long ways to grow!

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SSAG

Just a new moniker I coined after my son, Josefus Awrightus, described himself as a "Single Socially Awkward Guy." Would fit for those females that consider themselves "Singly Socially Awkward Gal," too. Think it will take?

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Diary of a Spinster in Lenawee Co., Michigan

While this really belongs on my genealogy blog, thought I'd drop a line here about my latest genealogical discovery. Friday night I was looking at the USGenWeb site for Lenawee County Michigan, and something told me to take a look at a diary kept by a woman in the county from 1835 to 1873. Needless to say, some of my relatives were mentioned in it, and I have a few more clues to look into. More information will be available soon on my genealogy blog.

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Splish Splash

We spent Saturday at Lacamas Lake on a picnic with my brother & his wife. The entertainment provided for us was unbelievable, it sure made our day. We picnicked on the larger lake, rather than the round lake, arriving about noon and setting up camp at a picnic table overlooking the dock and boat launch. When we first got there, a large group of teen-agers stood on the dock, attired in swimming suits. There were so many of them, that the dock was in danger of sinking into the lake. They provided our first entertainment, by jumping in the lake over and over, and in general horsing around. They left in a bit, to be replaced by three young men who were fishing from the dock. Next was the capsized canoe. We didn't see it capsize, but did notice two people in the water, hanging on to the side. They managed to eventaully drag it across the lake and got to a private dock. We couldn't see all that was going on, but next thing we know, they were back in it and paddling across the lake again. Lots of boats, kayaks, canoes, went out of the boat launch. Including a boat owned by the Camas Police Department. We saw fishermen, although I can honestly say I've never seen anyone catch a fish in Lacamas Lake. Except for the bald eagle today, who swept down onto the lake and picked up what appeared to be a fish. Maybe the fishermen were using the wrong bait.

But the most interesting entertainment was provided by a group of young men, about 4 or 5 of them, who brought with them a ramp and bicycle. "This is going to be good," we all thought as we settled in for a good hour or more of fun. These young men took turns riding down the hill on the bike, hitting the ramp--and into the water. These were fairly cautious young men, they had a life jacket which they used when it was their turn, and the bike also had water wings attached to the handlebars so it wouldn't sink. One kid was probably a little more timid, and we kept expecting him to hurt himself as he refused to let go of the bike. Another one dumped the bike shortly after take-off and managed to get quite aways ahead of the bike. They began to get trickier with each jump--doing mid-air spins before hitting the water. Nice climax to a fun day!