Filling the Space

OK, enough is enough. I am making a formal request to whatever higher power is appropriate - God, Buddha, Oprah - to cease the frozen precipitation for the season. I'm tired of shoveling and out of deicer. I guess I should be happy we didn't get nailed as badly as some - my Mom said they got 16 inches of snow there - but it is now April and time for the road-closing blizzards to end.

During the latest unpleasantness my stepdaughter took a Chaplinesque fall while carrying Grandbaby into their house. Grandbaby was undamaged and rather entertained by it, but Mom suffered various injuries, one of which was serious enough to justify a trip to the doctor. She asked my wife to come along, and we took my car rather than risk exposing the loaner she still has to some sort of ice-related mishap.

One small upside to sitting in the waiting room is the chance to peruse the various magazines. I know most people don't consider this a positive thing, but to me it's a chance to glance through publications I would otherwise never see since they're not of sufficient interest to purchase. During a prior visit, for example, I looked through a magazine the exact title I don't recall but the basic theme of which was "Ways To Spend the Mountains of Excess Cash You Have Piled Up". I certainly have no use for such information, but it was interesting to glimpse the mindset of people who do, while trying not to think about the fact that my medical bills were funding it. I have also looked through various women's magazines which, given the number of females in my life, I consider self-help research.

Today it was Field and Stream. I'm not an outdoors man; I have no objection to hunting, fishing and the other pursuits that magazine covers, but I have no desire to do such things. It did offer some entertainment nonetheless. The highlight was an article on dealing with a child seeing a deer shot and field-dressed for the first time (basic summary: stay low-key and don't force the kid to do more than he can handle). There was also an amusing piece by a hardcore fisherman who finally hit his boredom threshold on a trip.

I think I can guess the consensus on this; what is the point? Well, besides the above-mentioned idle curiosity, I now have a specific excuse; blog material! Which as we all know can be just about anything.