LIFE IN A SMALL COUNTRY TOWN...

I have gone to 3 funerals within a week and a half. I just got home from the third one not too long ago. I had gone to the Rosary last night, and then today, I took food to the parish hall, and waited for the family and others to come for the meal, after the burial. I served and then washed all the dishes. I think I have found the perfect dish to take to funeral dinners. Yesterday I bought a gallon can of sweet potatoes and a bag of marshmallows, and so I made candied sweet potatoes, which disappeared rather quickly once the serving began. And it was extremely hassle-free to make, for a non-kitchen person like me.

After getting home from the Rosary last night, I changed to my nightgown - ha! - and drove over to Reagan and Amy's to watch American Idol, that she had recorded for me. All of the remaining three contestants are good, of course, but I thought Katharine was better than previously, last night. But you all know Taylor is my favorite. ;) He doesn't have Katharine's amazing voice, but she doesn't have his charisma and entertainment value. I love 'odd' people - to a point, anyway. Elliot's songs were good, and he has a good voice, but to me, he just doesn't ever stand out.

And last night, a weird thing happened... It was late - almost midnight, and I was at the computer (naturally) and Coconut wanted out. I picked her up and carried her through the kitchen door to the laundry room (screened in porch)... I have to give her a safe escort past the volatile mama cat who is enscounced 'en famile' in the
laundry room. The back door is past the laundry room and leads onto the covered 'porch' (cement slab). Anyway, as I opened the door from the kitchen to the laundry room , I could hear major yelling out there. The people in the house behind us...? Maybe... Garrett in his backyard kitty-cornered from us...? No... No other voices, just the one man going on and on with filthy ear-scortching language and
something about a dog. I think he was out in the road beside my back fence, in the dark. I couldn't see a thing without actually getting out there. Needless to say, Coconut didn't get to go potty. Patti-Jo (who stays in the fenced back yard) was barking, but staying well back from the fence, sort of running back to the porch area. Carl was inside sleeping by my desk. I am thinking maybe it was the 'sometimes neighbor' from across the street from the front of my house. Carl absolutely hates him, and barks at him anytime he catches sight of him. But Carl is a big chicken and will not go close to him, staying in our open front yard to bark. But he does throw a fit with the barking anytime he sees this guy. I get him inside whenever I do hear him barking, and he is more than happy to RUN inside. And we keep him inside any time we are gone.
But this person was going on and on about 'why you let your dog do that to me...etc.' Punctuated by hideous profanity and filthy talk, on and on and on. Maybe he thought Patti-Jo was Carl barking. But Patti-Jo is light brown and inside the fence. Carl is black and can be inside the back fence or loose in the front yard...but was sound asleep inside the house then... There is another dog in the neighborhood who is the same color/markings as Carl, but is not as...um...bulky as Carl is. Maybe that dog didn't like this guy swaying and bobbing down the street at midnight either. Who knows?! Anyway, maybe it wasn't even this guy. Maybe it wasn't directed toward us or our dog(s). I just have no idea. Weird.Anyway, that's a slice of life in 'Skidville'... the good, the bad and the stupid.