TheBanyanTree: The Quest for the Holy Grail

[Margaret R. Kramer]

What better way to celebrate Groundhog Day than look for a new old car?  Ray
got the check from the insurance adjuster this week.  And it’s much larger
than it should ever be because Ray insisted on them reimbursing him for lost
time at work.  He’s been on vacation all this week, but it’s because he wasn
’t able to get to work.  Well, he could, he just didn’t want to deal with
driving me to work hours before the sun comes up.  He likes sleeping.  They’
re also paying him five days for a rental car, but we haven’t picked it up,
maybe Sunday if we haven’t found a car.

So we’re rolling in cash after so many weeks of scrimping and saving every
cent.  Well, we’ll keep scrimping and saving because things aren’t going to
get any better, that’s for sure.  We’re planning to buy a car for under
$1,000.  That’s a trick, a real quest, and we’ll see if we’re able to
capture the Grail.

We’ve been using craigslist.  I find a lot of cars for our price range, but
sometimes the cars are falling apart or the seller doesn’t have a title or
the car has been in an accident.  Or people just don’t answer calls or
emails.  Gosh, if I was selling something, I’d be online or by my phone
every minute.  I know that’s a problem, people don’t show up when they’re
supposed to, but if I really want to get rid of something, I’d be at my ad’s
beck and call.  And why would you sell a car without a title?  Some people .
. .

Anyway, I printed out a few cars from craigslist this morning and in a
little while, I’ll get on the phone and start calling and set up some
appointments.  I got an email from one guy who has a nice 1990 Honda Civic
available for $850.  The pictures look good.  We’ll see if this is our Grail
or not.

It was kind of a weird week.  My company had its holiday party on Monday.
Our receptionist had made arrangements with the wrong date, Monday, January
29 and the place thought it was Tuesday without checking back with her to
make sure the date was right, so our event had to be moved in the last
minute, and we ended up at an Italian restaurant, which was OK.  But we were
smushed into a small room.

Shadow slipped on our kitchen floor and got scared, so he wouldn’t walk into
the kitchen to get to the back door to go outside.  We had to drag him in
and out of the house.  I laid a tarp down on the floor and now he walks
across it without any problems.  What a neurotic dog!

We went into the deep freeze again.  We were in a dangerous wind chill
advisory for a couple of days.  Ray and I along with our motley crew of
animals huddled together in the warm house. It broke my heart to see several
cardinals, the bright red males and the duller colored females, cluster in
the bushes outside our kitchen door, bracing against the raw wind while
trying to grab seeds from our bird feeders.

The artic air is now gone and we’re going to have a pleasant winter weekend
with highs in the 20s.  It’s the Super Bowl and Groundhog Day and a Quest
all in one.  And it’s time to start embarking on that quest.

Margaret R. Kramer
margaretkramer at comcast.net
margaret.kramer at polarispublications.com

www.polarispublications.com

My heart to you is given:
Oh, do give yours to me;
We'll lock them up together,
And throw away the key..
~Frederick Saunders
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