Manners?

See the bee busy at work? They will usually tolerate my presence and go on about their business. Wasps aren't as cooperative ............ bad manners!

The mums are beginning to bloom.

Looks like I missed some of those wildflowers when I pulled them out of the front garden. A happy accident?

I was so very tired last night. I was at that level of fatigue where you think you can no longer exert the energy to breathe. It was 9:15 and I was preparing our supper after weeding my strawberry patch. I worked in the great outdoors until I could no longer see. I had a book on audio and was unwinding while washing dishes and trying to come up with something quick and delectable to eat. I had just decided on a fritata using the fresh eggs that were given to us by kamper #35. I had some ham and cheese and a handful of leftover green beans, along with a vidalia onion. So, as my mouth was watering, the phone rang. A lady wanting to camp. Would I keep the office open for her? I explain that there is a night registration procedure and instructions on the front of the building. She has no cash and is only 8 miles away. He who mows was putting chemicals in the pool and finishing with the closing down for the night chores, so I agreed to wait. At 9:40 she still had not arrived and I was tired and hungry, so I locked up and cooked our feast. We both felt better after eating. We listened to the news and went to bed.

I awoke at my usual 7 am and made coffee and was happily sipping away and catching up on blogs and e-mail ......... in my favorite threadbare nightshirt, when there came a knock at the door. I had told the lady from the previous evening that I would be around in the morning and she said she would find me to run her credit card if she missed me upon arrival and that she would be leaving LATE. I took care of her in my nightshirt and this was how my day started. Perhaps it was bad manners for me to subject the woman to the sight of me in my nightshirt and ungroomed?

I went out after that to rake up all the weeds I unceremoniously slung into the yard. I dug up some grass around a new garden and mulched the beds I weeded the evening before. Washed two loads of laundry and hung them out before I jumped into the shower. I opened the door to the store two minutes early! My hair was still wet, but I was dressed and smelling much better. A woman came in with three young girls and a little boy of about 4 or 5. The girls paid and signed in, then headed to the pool. The little boy was busy banging a plastic truck on my glass display case. After I determined that the mother was oblivious to the danger of broken glass (not to mention the wrath of a crazed storekeeper), I told the little darling to stop hitting the glass before he broke it. That is when he looked me in the eye and demanded a toy. I assume he was referring to the sock monkeys on display. I told him that he could purchase a toy, but that I would not be giving him one. The mother was on her phone and not paying any attention to this exchange. She finally paid and signed in and as they were walking towards the door, the child looked back at me and said, "Thanks for nothing, butt head." Nice. The mother looked at him and said, "That wasn't nice, now let's go swim." Manners? You have to teach them manners.