October 23, 2025: Living Dangerously
I live dangerously and, no, this is nothing to be proud of. In fact, I deliberated for a while, that is the better part of the day, about writing about this. But I am going to do this because I am my only audience – and so I am giving myself permission to figure out some things as I’m going along. Living dangerously. I had enough gas last night to get home. I thought I had enough gas to make it this morning to town where I’d go to the gas station on the outskirts of town, and fill up. I started the engine and saw that the needle was a hare’s breadth from the E. I figured I’d get gas, and then after checking my wallet, I realized that I was missing my credit card. |
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I considered partially filling the tank with the gas in the generator shack but feared that I might inadvertently fill the tank with diesel fuel. This would be a major oh no. I may be dumb, but I’m not stupid. I figured that if I drove very conservatively that I would make it to the former banquet room of the historic Eagle Hotel, and I did. I then made it to the Palmer Senior Center. I then made it to back to the hotel and parked the car parallel to the building. I called Pete and left him a message and told him to come and pick me up after work. I did not get any distributing done, and I did not make it to the Palmer Pool. I instead worked with volunteers and got the place ready for tomorrow’s Trick or Street event. The hard working volunteers got on well with one another – you just never know. Then at 4:00 p.m. a mother and her teenager and young son came in, and I put them to work setting up a display of Halloween books for tomorrow. They did a wonderful job – I played with the son. Cathy Stone, the artist in residence, showed up, and together the three of us made a poster display for the front bookcase. After, I waited and waited and waited for Pete who did not show up. I called home thinking that perhaps he didn’t get my message about needing a ride home. I was right. We got home at 9:30 p.m. I ate ravioli that I picked up at Palmer Senior Center commodities. I have to say Pete remained very non-judgmental about the fact that I allowed the gas tank to run low and also didn’t have my credit card. I am not sure that if the situation was reversed that I would have been so gracious. This was another one of those times in which I thought he could do way better than me. Most women do not live dangerously. Living dangerously has deleterious effects, one of which is that it inconveniences others. I might be putting off getting gas because of the element of unpredictability, I mean, so much can go wrong. But more can go wrong if you don’t keep your tank filled. Amen sister. |
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