Library Notes
March 19, 2004
By Pansy Hundley, Librarian.
I fear that the mowing season is upon us, as attested by all the purple-topped, blooming weeds in my yards. I'm trying to get the jump on them this year.
Wal-Mart made the mistake of running a push mower in their sale paper the other day. I'm always helping Wal-Mart out -- keeping them in business, you know.
I went to that store, plunked my money down and that silly mower came INA BOX! Now, everybody knows lawnmowers come ready to just put in gas and oil and go, go, go.. Wrong! Some don't. Now, wouldn't you know that I'd get one that didn't. I had the same sinking sensation that I usually get, when confronted with a large box, and "some assembly required."
I repeat an often stated declaration here: I did not start out in this life to be a mechanic.
The older gentleman at the store who put that big box in my trunk, when asked, did state upon questioning, all that thing would need was handles put on and oil and gas put in. Wrong!
That box just sat in the floor and reminded me every time I walked by "assembly required."
I did not have time to attack it yet, and it continued to set and weeds continued to grow. I did finally open the box one day, just to peep inside and get an idea of what would be involved. Well, Honey, I peeped in that box and there were wheels, cables, all sorts of nasty things everywhere, in their own little compartment, with a sack of nuts, bolts and screws in the bottom. My sinking sensation sunk further. I just politely slammed that lid down and walked off. Some things you have to take in small doses.
I thought a couple of times that if I could not figure that contraption out, surely I knew enough men in this town to help me.
I mentioned putting that mower together one day to a man here in the library and even offered to let him do that little project. To which he replied that he couldn't do that. He wanted to read about it in the newspaper! So, Mr. Taylor, Sir, this is for you. If that mower runs higher on one side than the other. If that mower runs backwards. If that mower won't mow down one blade of grass when I get through with it, it will be all your fault and I really want you to feel bad about it. On the other hand, if everything works fine, then I know you will say "I knew you could do it." In which case, the "Pansy's Lawnmower Mechanic" sign can go up in the front yard. But -- don't hold your breath!
So, Mr. Taylor, you'll have to read next week to hear "The rest of the story", and about when I finally got a small amount of time, and the nerve, to figure out how to get that contraption out of the box and the mechanicing begun. So, ya'll just hold your taters and we'll read about a book right now and we'll hear more about "Pansy's Lawnmower Lamentations" next time. Does everybody have as much trouble with their lawnmowers as I do, I keep wondering?
"How much is too much to ask of friendship? How long will the bonds of family endure when confronted with swift, unexpected change?" Well, just let us read on and see.
"Joanne Timbro and Darla Stevens have grown up in a small Texas town, their childhood homes separated only by adjoining backyards. Although the families inside these houses have little in common, the two girls find in each other a rare friendship that will take them into their adult lives; a friendship that makes them stronger together than either could be alone.
Then as young women, Darla and Jo enter into an agreement that will startle everyone who cares for them. After years of watching Darla's heart-breaking failure to have a baby with her husband, Cal, Joanne agrees to give birth to the child that Darla cannot have on her own.
But in the early morning hours of a warm July morning, everything changes, Joanne, now four months pregnant, is driving a car that veers off the road near the home that Darla shares with Cal. In the days and months that follow, Darla must face, for the first time in her memory, the possibility of life without Jo. As Darla tries to uncover the secrets that brought her friend out onto the highway in those dark morning hours, she discovers that she must also fight to keep the baby that was intended to be her child.
With the child's fate hanging in the balance, Darla searches for clues to Jo's strange behavior leading up to the crash. In the process, she discovers truths that hide in her own life: in her marriage, in her closest friendships, and in a past that has suddenly reemerged, full of unfolding secrets."