FEATHERED REFUGE

“He will cover you with his feathers, and under his wings you will find refuge; his faithfulness will be your shield and bastion.' (Psalm 91:4).

I really should not have left the house today … BUT there is ONLY ME to get things done that need getting done.

First off, I got my hair trimmed, so it won’t be ratty edged when Bob’s celebration of Life takes place in Eden Valley next Friday afternoon – it needs trimmed, and by then, the {fresh haircut} will have grown out enough to look like a normal hair day.

BUT I KNEW that leaving the house would be risky this morning. However, I could not detach my head and ask someone else to drive it to the Hair Salon to have my ends/bangs trimmed – I had to go: so, I asked for prayer from my friends before I left the house.

Then, I went to Keenagers - Senior Meet, in Kelso. It gets me out of the house; and I have made friends there that look forward to seeing me – they are true friends, and they DO miss me when I don’t show: they know I have hard days sometimes, and they worry about me if I am not there – so I try to go as often as possible, basically just to ease their minds.

After I left there, I drove to Office Depot in the Triangle Center to ask if there was someone there that could possibly retrieve my pictures of Bob off my dead laptop for me: they couldn’t; BUT they knew who possibly COULD.

So, I turned around and went back into Kelso.

I was told it is possible my pictures can still be retrieved from my dead laptop here ... they didn’t quote me a price range, so I am thinking it is going to be pretty spendy: that’s okay. I WANT those pictures – I will cut something, somewhere, budget-wise to make that happen …

And, of course, the business is located right smack-dab in downtown Kelso clusterf*ck area – where ‘road management’ about a dozen years ago, completely messed up free flowing traffic in this section of Kelso. I swear, 'road management' and the local Police department are working in cahoots, together, to create dicey road conditions that will result in 'traffic violations' and local revenue opportunities - there is no other logical explanation for 'accident-waiting-to-happen clusterf*ck mess' that was created here, with the stupid and unnecessary round-abouts/1-way streets going nowhere/and aimless 'merge's that actually lead to 'road incidents' - add legitimizing marijuana to THAT ... and there is serious issues going on in this small section of West Kelso. You literally take your life in your hands when venturing out here.

And I will have to do business here, in West Kelso twice next month - both incidents are necessary, and there is no way out of it:

If I had known how ‘almost prophetic’ this sign would become a few minutes later, I would never have pulled away from the curb.

I pull away from the curb, and am driving along – minding my own business – looking left & right; trying to figure out where the hell I am, and how to get back to a recognizable street … when some moron lays on his horn. I whip my head around to the right and see flashing lights.

F.U.C.K.!J.U.S.T.W.H.A.T.T.H.E.H.E.L.L.I.N.E.E.D!

So, I pull off the road as soon as I can.

And wait.

For the inevitable.

I roll down my window and hear, “Hi, I’m so-n-so: you wanna tell me what just happened here? Where did you just come from – and where are you going”

My first instinct is to say in like-minded smartass tone: “Gee, Officer – I don’t know; YOU were there … YOU saw it all go down: do YOU wanna tell me what you are itching to TELL me ‘just happened here’?”

But I bite my tongue ‘til it bleeds and say, as calmly as I can, “I was just over by O’Rielly’s, in West Kelso; and I don’t know where I am. I am trying to find my way back to a recognizable street, so I can get home. I’ve never been in this part of Kelso before, and I don’t know where I am. Yes, I was looking around - I was trying to figure out where I am and how to get out of here.”

And he continues to list all the ‘traffic violations’ he noticed me doing.

I don’t even try to defend myself – if he said they happened, then they probably did: I admitted I was lost – and I WAS looking around. I was TRYING to SEE where the hell I was, hoping to see a clear way OUT OF THERE and back to a street I could recognize.

There was no point in stating my defense anymore that I already did.

He took my License, and walked back to his SUV to run it past dispatch:

I wait for the inevitable … and hope & pray I can afford to pay the ticket off in this lifetime.

It WILL BE in the thousands - according to what I was told happened.

Kelso must really need the $$$$$.

Sorry Babe, to embarrass you like this; but I AM LOST!

In more ways than 1.

While I am waiting, and praying; he comes back and taps on the window. He tells me that he won’t give me a ticket ‘this time’, but I ‘need to pay closer attention to the surrounding.’

Again, I bite my tongue.

I WAS PAYING ATTENTION TO MY SURROUNDINGS when he laid on his horn like a moron, turned on his lights, and pulled me to a stop! I was LOOKING AROUND IN MY SURROUNDINGS to get a handle on where the hell I was, and how the hell to escape and find my way home.

I want to snap that at him.

But I behaved. I meekly nod – take my License back from him – and fastened my seat belt.

Like a compliant, graying 62 year old woman is expected to DO.

I really did not want that BIG TICKET!

I knew I had been tucked into a feathered refuge: I was thankful.

And I hope, and will be praying, that when I am this way again, next month - things go a little smoother.

That’s how MY day went – how did yours go?