This post is bananas!

... and so is my morning.

I was on my way to school this morning on Rt. 119 halfway between Spencer and Walton when I saw a guy pulled off on the right side of the road, in a really narrow place. One of my worst fears is of hitting someone who's having car trouble (especially after reading Evil Twin's Wife's story yesterday) so my attention was on that side of the road, especially since there was really no room for him to park on the shoulder there.

In the oncoming lane, a guy was traveling at a pretty good click when all of a sudden, he decided to swerve into my lane to pull up behind the broken-down vehicle. He was going so fast that I really didn't expect him to suddenly decide to drive the wrong way in my lane, and I was looking around the stopped vehicle, so we came thisclose to smacking head-on.

It would have been ugly. My 1998 Maxima -vs- his old-school Ford Bronco (made back when cars were heavy and everything was made of metal.)

I swear, the guy swerved so close, I think I felt our bumpers touch. I couldn't find a mark on my car, so maybe it was my imagination, but it had to have been really close. I saw the accident start to occur and had come to the conclusion in my mind that I was going to die in a head-on collision today, listening to Grunt the Pig on the Bob & Sheri morning show, and having an especially good-hair-day. (At least I would have died laughing and happy.) I didn't even have time to come up with a really good string of expletives, or to slam on my brakes. That's good, about the brakes, because I probably would have hit the other guy or the rock wall to my left to avoid a head-on with Mr. SUV. I really don't know how I avoided hitting anything, other than to assume divine intervention or some other unexplainable suspension of the laws of physics.

I swear, idiots should have to have a large insignia on their vehicles, sort of like slow-moving vehicles have those big, orange triangles. "Warning: This person has poor decision-making skills. Keep clear."

Sheesh. And now to move on to the slightly less-nervewracking task of teaching teenagers.

Embrace

Mango

We go through a lot of mangoes at Casa de Chaos. My family usually won't eat anything "weird" but I have gotten them to try and like my mango salsa.

A is for Apple

Thanks to everyone who posted supportive comments over the weekend. My Grandma had a couple good days and we had a really nice visit yesterday.

Apple

Renegade Apple Tree

We have this apple tree in the back yard, about eye-level with my favorite reading spot on the back porch. I love this tree. It's gorgeous in the spring, when the tree is covered in fragile blooms, and in the fall when the apples set on.

The tree is a survivor. It got hit by lightning years ago, splitting it in half. My husband cinched it together with a tow strap until we could see if the tree would live or die, and it surprised us all by hanging in there. It's been about 5 years, and the tree is still surprising us by flourishing every season.

Unfortunately, half the tree died last year. Mike let go the tow strap, expecting the entire tree to fall over, but the dead half is all that came down, despite the fact that the rest of the tree is leaning precariously. He wanted to cut the tree down, but I couldn't bear to see that happen after the tree has fought so hard to stay alive through all of this. He met me halfway by saying he would wait to see if the tree fell over with the weight of the apples, and it hasn't. The bottom of the trunk is horribly scarred and splintered from the lightning, but it appears to be just as tough as a tree can be. Every time I think it's the end for apple blossoms and ripe red fruit, it surprises me just by being alive.

Mango

This one became Mango Salsa for a tailgate party. It was quite good, actually.