I realize that it has been a while since my last Blog.  Actually this sounds like when Pat goes to confession at church where she has to admit to the priest that she occasionally (in truth more than occasionally) yells at me.  Anyway that has nothing to do with this blog.

First all I have to admit that I have a pet peeve for people that take shopping carts back to the car and are so lazy they just push it to the next stall and head off.  Why I love the Superstore where you deposit a dollar and then return the cart to a central area and keep the parking stalls open.

Unfortunately our local Costco is filled with lazy people that cannot take their cart 50 metres to the store or a gathering area.  Pat will tell you that I might occasionally mention my opinion to people I see doing this as we walk to the store.  Mildly I might add.

A couple of days ago I went early to Costco to pick up some essentials.  Early enough that I thought I could get a prime spot in the close parking.  I come across a stall that was open but some lazy person who had just left pushed their cart into the middle of the stall and took off.  It was such a good spot that I stopped and moved the cart over so I could park.    The cart was filled with plastic wrapping that they left and as I pushed it to the store I realized they had missed something in their haste.  A big bag of Tamari almonds.  Easily $25.

I went back and hid the almonds in the trunk and took the cart back to the store after depositing the wrapping in a trash bin.  Came home and bragged to Pat about my prize.

Pat had a dream last night that reminded her of the story I have often told about when I was 17 and told my father that Percival Motors had undercharged me for service on my 56 Ford.  Dad made me go back and tell the millionaire dealer that I owed them more money.  (TRUE STORY).

Anyway last night Pat had a dream where my father made me take the almonds back to give to the rightful owners.  (at least that was her interpretation)

I justify my keeping the almonds because they deserved to be punished as they did not recycle their packaging material and abandoned their cart in the stall without taking it back to the store or cart area.   I think I am correct but Pat has loaded this guilt trip on me.  Granted the almonds are so delicious, my guilt is minimal.

What a fabulous evening we are having here in Paradise.

I spent the morning busting Broom (a horrible invasive weed), which normally renders me weak for the rest of the day.  So my meal preparation tonight was hamburgers.  Pat was off to church as we are doing a Little Red Run tomorrow.

It is a lovely evening and we were sitting on the patio enjoying our burgers with a small side dish of Hardbite chips (the best potato chips ever made), drinking a few glasses of wine.

Lois had sent us a couple of CDs of classical music from a string quartet in Saskatoon for our anniversary.  I had ripped them onto the computer, so we were enjoying them on our Sonos out on the patio.

No big rush to finish … again… not to be boring, a lovely evening looking out over the golf course listening to nice music.  Finally I selected a piece that would get us going to clean up and move inside.

Wagner’s Ride of the Valkyries.   Of course, those of our generation remember this from our youth from the cartoon where Elmer Fudd is trying (again) to kill Bugs Bunny.  Killa Da Wabbit.

However, this had a different reflection tonight.

Over the previous 3 years we have been infested with rabbits.  Apparently parents would buy a little bunny for their kids, and when the pets became the size of a dog, the family would take the kid for a drive and release the rabbit on the golf course where they could live happy lives ever after (actually documented in letters to the local paper by people that did this).  They did not care what this meant to those who lived beside the golf course.

Our flowers and small plants were devastated.  This time last year I could look out on an evening like this and see at least 3 rabbits in the yard.  So I started trapping them and was catching at least 1 – 2 rabbits a week last summer.  But apparently,  a rabbit virus came to the Island, starting in Victoria in March.  It has killed thousands of the varmints, including all the bunnies in our area.

So, as we were listening to Killa Da Wabbit, I reflected that I may not have to set out the traps this year.  (I know, a long story, but it did have a point).

I took the wife out for dinner to celebrate her birthday at Locals.  Despite its name, this is one of the two best restaurants in the Valley.

It is Sunday night at a fancy restaurant where all the servers are dressed in black below the knee dresses.  A restaurant where they serve an amuse bouche before the 3 – 4 courses (you can imagine the cost of a meal)

Anyway I was dressed in what I consider Valley casual.  Black suit jacket, black pants and a shirt with no tie.  To me appropriate for a Sunday evening meal at a good restaurant.

But I am watching multiple guys come in with their wives and they are in shorts and sandals and sloppy tee shirts.  The kind of outfit you wear to a pizza parlor on a Friday night.  Just not right.

Maybe I am getting old.

I cannot believe it.  I am still young of mind but the body is not keeping up.  Shoveling mulch this morning onto the beds did not help.

Still there was a big shock today… I find myself married to a 70 YEAR OLD WOMAN!!!  How could that happen?

Could be worse.  I could have a 50 year old as a son.  Fortunately that is a long way in the future.

I think I need a nap.