On a warm Tuesday in July—Cassandra and I had a fun time together. First, I picked her up and took her to the Danville Aldi where I exclusively buy many items and needed to restock our supply. Butter was $3.19 per pound! I don’t think the price has been that low since pre-COVID! So, I bought 12 of them. I had a very good shopping/stocking-up spree. There were lots of good buys! Like boneless, skinless chicken breast for $2.28 per pound. It’s been $2.99 for “84 years” (Titanic movie flashback). We finished our shopping and it was time to take her home so I could go to my dentist appointment.
But, then, as I was about to turn on the bypass to take her home, I asked, “Wanna go to the dentist with me?” “Sure!” she said. Surprised me, but I kept driving straight and off to the dentist we went. The hygienist, Jennifer, is so very gentle and a very good conversationalist. We talked about Cassandra receiving a free trip to Europe (it’s next month) and Jennifer shared her knowledge of traveling abroad. Lots of good tips, stories, and conversation. Every trip to the dentist should be like that. She also mentioned the locals in other countries being very helpful and friendly to Americans, sharing where is best to eat, what to eat, etc. Then, she told us of a “local” restaurant in Harrodsburg which she and her co-worker frequent for lunch. Well, when we left the dentist we had to go there for lunch. It’s called “The Local.” A very quaint lil ice cream parlor that also serves wraps, chili dogs, nachos, and such. We both had the bacon chicken wrap and it was delicious. Also, got a lil ice cream for dessert. And, guess what?! Jennifer and her co-worker showed up there for lunch, too.
After that, I needed to go do my Rover job and asked Cassandra if she wanted to come along. “Sure!” she said. We drove to her apartment so she could get her car and leave it at the Anderson Dean Park. That way, I wouldn’t have to take her all the way back home afterwards. Off we went to the Rover job!
On the way, we passed a very large corn field and Cassandra said she’d really been wanting some corn. I said, “Well, go up there and tear some off!” She almost didn’t take me seriously—until—I stopped the car in the middle of the road. Surprised, but willing (she’s so adventurous), she darted out of the car and trekked up a steep bank, dropping her phone twice as she climbed. LOL! Such grace—no idea where she gets that! As quickly as she could manage, she broke off a couple ears of corn and made her way back to the car where she exclaimed, “I swear I get the stealing from you and Grandpa.” I recently confessed to my girls that I “lifted” a few items during my rebellious teens and, if you’ve read my first book, you know that my parents were office supply hoarders (via theft) during their teaching careers.
I had told Cassandra that her corn booty may be “field corn” which is used for feeding cattle. Though, based on the look of the ears, it would surely be ripe and ready to eat if meant for human consumption and that the kernels would be somewhat soft/squishy. After inspecting the cobs, she found that the kernels were hard, not squishy at all. “It’s field corn.” Oh, well.
The country road is several miles deep, keeps getting more narrow, and the Rover cats’ home has a long gravel driveway. Many parts of the drive resemble “The Farm” my parents had in Brookville, Indiana. We have such wonderful memories of spending time there. The likeness is very uncanny, and comforting at the same time.
We make our way through the very rough, rocky and curvy driveway and pull up to the house where we see all four of the barn cats. Up to this point, I’d only seen two of them. Cassandra looks around outside and spotted the big barn and said, “I wanna go look through it.” I said, “Go ahead! She said I could bring the family out here.” Off she went to explore the barn while I tended to the kitties. She was back to the house by the time I was done and wanted to show me the barn. Off we went! She convinced me to climb the straight-up ladder into the loft—which she scaled like Spiderman. It made me quite nervous—you know, being a senior citizen who’s none too coordinated or graceful—but I did it—with vice-grip holds on each rung as I climbed. Thankfully, I made it back down the same way. It’s an amazing place to take portrait photos and I took several of Cassandra. It was nearing time for the kids to get out of school, so we piled back into the car and headed out.
On that gravel lane, there is a round house that’s picturesque and looks like something from England. Cassandra loves that kind of thing, so she wanted to get out of the car and take a picture. Just as she was getting back in the car, a very large, seemingly “stinging” type of bug was in the car between the windshield and steering wheel. She flipped out, opened the car door and fell out onto the ground. As I’m laughing hysterically, while trying to swat the vermin bug out of my car, Cassandra said, “That’s a dangerous stinging thing—IT KILLS!!!” And, I’m still laughing! “I can’t believe you’re that close to it!!” I opened all the windows of and exited the car, but by the time I did, the bug had made its escape to freedom. My laughter continued as we drove out of there and headed back to the park. But, not before we stopped at the Bread Basket to check out their deals. I found another bag of chocolate-flavored coffee for my hubby for $3.99. Score!
Cassandra told me she’d been looking for the blackberry jam from Cracker Barrel. Well, if it’s Cracker Barrel’s brand, you won’t likely find that in any store but Cracker Barrel. Nevertheless, I was determined that we’d find her some blackberry jam.
The Bread Basket had nothing to offer in the jam department, so we got back in the car and headed toward the park. But, wait. “You wanna look for jam at Kountry Kupboard?” “Sure!” she said. They had two brands of blackberry jam! One was a “Grandma” somebody’s and the other had the word “Amish” in the brand name. Cassandra was indecisive if she wanted to try either one, afraid she’d be disappointed if it wasn’t as good as Cracker Barrel’s jam. So, I just grabbed a jar of the Amish one and bought it for her. I mean, you cannot go wrong with anything made by the Amish. They really know what they’re doing! On the way back to the car, she said determinedly, “I’m going to make biscuits for it!”
After having dropped her back at her car, and gotten myself home, and all my Aldi goods put away, I see a text in our group chat from Cassandra that read:
“There was a hornet I almost died and I climbed up a barn and I have blackberry jam!!!!”
I responded, “Our day in a nutshell!!”
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