BY THE SKIN OF MY TEETH

This afternoon was a mess of {‘just barley’s}.

The games of pool were fun – even if they were won by the skin of the teeth by everyone who played, and won.

I deliberately went later than usual because I wanted to give a listen to the live music without spending all day there.

I played for 1 hour; sometimes with interested partners (Roy & Ted) – we all won our games by the skin of our teeth. And for the first time, ever, I met someone (Ted), who kinda shots like I do. I have never met anyone before who can put a spin on a play like I can; it was interesting/fun/challenging.

If Bob was watching, I bet he was sitting on the edge of his cloud watching that player, just like I was.

Between the sets, there was laughter and joking - but the wins were hard won; for everyone.

I gave a listen to the live music … for 10 minutes; then intended to book for home.

But I was thwarted in the parking lot: I was trapped, and couldn’t escape.

TRAPPED at the LV Senior Center.

I wanted to get out of there before karaoke started.

I did not want to be trapped in karaoke hell. 

I sat in the car for a while, until the rain started in earnest; pounding on the roof of the car and becoming quite chilly with the dismal cloud cover and rainfall.

Dodging wet bullets that were pelting the uncovered pavement all around me, I ran back inside and played a few more rounds of pool: for another hour and a half.

And listened to the country singer droning on, and on, and on: and prayed the caterwauling would mercifully end.

Between games, I checked outside to see if a path had been cleared yet for me to make my escape.

The parking lot did not clear until the country music/dancing stopped.

These seniors take their country music very seriously.

I do not. 

But I had been stuck with it for an hour and a half. 

I can tolerate some country music – but I can't bear karaoke.

I never prayed so hard in my life for a break!

Finally, around 2 PM, I peeked out the door and noticed that there was a clear path for me to back out of the parking space my Highlander had been pegged to … and cruise smoothly past the pickup with the trailer hitch that had effectively trapped me in place.

((((THANK YOU, Yeshua!))))

And as I gathered my backpack purse, my jacket, and my book … I breathed out a heartfelt ‘thank you’, too, to those seniors who immediately left after the country droning stopped assaulting my ears – and the dance floor cleared.

I am not a fan of karaoke.

The parking lot between the two buildings, is very tight – and parking on the street is limited to space and time, so street parking is not really feasible.

Neither was parking in the parking lot on live band days: I think I’ll go a little earlier on live band days, and hopefully I can leave without a ‘skin of my teeth’ snafu 😉

SRUNG an hour and a half later ... just in the nick of time.

When I got home, the rain had stopped.

I gathered some lettuce leaves for a supper salad.

And I saw that my tiger lilies had blossomed: both of them.

My new Tiger Lily plant blossoming; I planted it in the Fall of 2020. It's lighter than I had anticipated.

The Tiger Lily my granddaughter Alyna, gave me for Valentine's Day 21 years ago; the same day Bob gave me the Yellow Roses bush, also blooming in the moment.

While supper cooked, I settled in Bob’s recliner to start a new read.

Glancing out the window, I saw a dragon shaped cloud formation. 

It added some soft humor to the day 😊