Library Notes
March 21st, 2003
By Pansy Hundley, Librarian.
Those green things growing taller and taller in my front yard tried to convince me that they were flowers. They bloomed purple blooms all over the top. They lined my front walk on both sides, blooming purple like mad, growing taller by the day. But, I knew better.
I knew they were a bunch of stinkin’ weeds. I knew they were going to have to come down, else at the rate they were growing, I wouldn’t be able to get to the mail box before long, to get all the bills.
I put it off as long as I could, dreading to try and start the mower and begin the weekly, and weakly, task of mowing.
Brave soul that I am, however, I gathered up the WD-40, the small screwdriver,, the oil can, the gas can, and the mower key. Cassidy and I took off across the yard, to take the bull by the horns, so to speak, and convince that mower that it wanted to start, even if it had set all winter. Didn’t wanna hear any whining, either. I oiled it, I gassed it, I WD-40’ed it, put in that key and turned the starter over. I was half expecting a clicking, choking, coughing fit, as it told me it wasn’t up to running yet.
Wonder of wonders, that lil’ darlin’ fired right up. My mouth dropped open, I yelled "Alright!", but Cassidy did not dance a jig. I just wanted to jump off that mower and kiss it. But I was afraid it would die.
We sailed right through those WEEDS and whacked ‘em all down. I mowed those suckers down and did not pay any attention to their screaming. They couldn’t fool me. I usually know a flower when I see one.
They were hiding some surprises for me in a few places. You know what I found under those lying weeds? Fire ants. Yep! Fire ants, moving in, camouflaged under green weeds, masquerading as blooming flowers They were sneaking in to inundate the place and catch me unaware. Well, I’ll have them know I was aware, when I picked up my dog’s pan the other morning and ants were running in all directions, including on me. They must have built a hill overnight under that pan. Since they can work that fast, I need ‘em to come help me catch up on all of the reports I have due this month. However, I already know they would just eat the paper – and maybe my typewriter – and maybe me, if I stood still too long.
I neglected to tell you that all the tires were even up on that John Deere mower. New battery, new spark plug, tires all up. Folks, this looks to be the beginning of a good mowing season, if the spark plug doesn’t jump out again. I’m gonna go to a Home Depot or Lowe’s or somewhere and have those fellers point me to a spark plug wrench. Maybe then the spark plug problem will be solved. I can’t have that lil’ feller jumping out every time he feels like it.
Now this mowing is serious business and I don’t need to be stalled in the middle of the yard, half of it left to mow and the hot plug hanging out on the end of the spark plug wire between earth and Heaven.
Spring is springing forth, Daylight Savings time is coming in just a couple of weeks and mowing/weed-eating has begun. Let’s make it as painless as possible. Do you hear me, mower, as painless as possible?
Now that the yards are mowed, with a minimum of effort, and everything is weed-eated (Is there such a word? Well, there is now.) , with more effort, and all that stuff is swept up and picked up, with a maximum of effort, let’s read a book! We’ll look at Diane Chamberlain’s newest and ears will perk up, I know, at that name. Everyone who has read her books love them. This latest one is "Kiss River" and it’s here to enjoy.
"Gina Higgins has come to the Outer Banks in North Carolina – a stranger with a secret. But secrets are a fact of life for some of the residents of the close-knit community of Kiss River. Gina is about to earn that those secrets are tied to her own in ways she never could have imagined.
Kiss River’s historic 19th century lighthouse has all but fallen into the sea, taking with it the huge Fresnel lens that once served as its’ beacon. Gina is desperate to find a way to raise the lens from the sea. The glass holds the key to her future, her fortune and her only chance to save the one person who matters to her: a child who waits for her halfway around the world.
Lacey O’Neill, a talented stained-glass artist with a troubled past, lives in the old lightkeeper’s house, a home she shares with her brother, Clay, who is grieving the tragic death of his wife. When Lacey meets Gina, she invites her to stay with them, secretly hoping Gina will help pull Clay from his depression. Eagerly accepting the offer, Gina moves into the lightkeeper’s house and begins her quest to raise the lens.
Most of the locals believe the lens should remain at the bottom of the sea. Clay O’Neill, however, finds himself drawn into Gina’s struggle. Though he fights his attraction to this beautiful stranger, as he begins to understand her surprising connection to Kiss River, he, too, starts to see things through a different light, and slowly begins to heal.
As Gina’s story unfolds, so does the decades-old story of a courageous teenage girl swept away by love and plunged into the treacherous waters of espionage during World War II. The shocking legacy she left buried in the light reveals more than Gina expected…much more. And with it comes new hope for the future….and for love."