It could happen to you, as the song goes. Yesterday evening just past 6:30, someone knocked at the door. Fresh from a shower, I was in my birthday suit. "Just a minute," I said, slipping into shorts, not bothering to don a shirt, certain it was someone selling something. It was a young woman who lives on the ground floor, in the company of an older one I did not recognize. I wish this was going to be a story about a threesome, but no such luck. I had the feeling I was too intimidating to approach alone. The former asked if I was the guy who sold books on the corner - even though she's passed me countless times. She said there was a cat under the hood of my car. I got dressed immediately, wondering if I should take my camera, deciding it would be dorky to do so. There was a small crowd around the old Hyundai. The cat was crying loudly. I sat at the wheel and had a senior moment. It had been so long since I popped the hood, I couldn't remember where the latch was. I felt like a fool. Fortunately, a young man spotted the doohickey. And there was the tiny kitten in the bowels of the engine. A couple of us tried to reach for it, but the tiny thing shrunk back. I suggested we leave it alone, and it soon climbed to the top, where that same young man grabbed it and handled it lovingly. People were thanking me as if I'd done something noble, which I thought was silly. Why wouldn't I have done it? Maybe because they suspect someone who sells books on the street is nuts. The young woman who had called on me took a couple of pictures with her phone. I regretted not having brought my camera. I hoped I'd see her today so I could ask her to email me a pic, but she didn't show. I ran a search at several sites hoping to get lucky but came up empty. I'm curious if she and her girlfriend will now say hello to me after years of passing without a word. Of course, this wasn't the first time an animal got stuck under a hood. Here's one of many pictures from google:
Here's something fishy from
Yahoo's Odd News: a couple of guys stole a fish tank from a PetSmart in Ohio and made a getaway on a motorcycle. Cops nailed them easily. Here's a pic:
Fortune was with the floating book shop today. This morning I snared the most favorable parking spot, which lessened the hauling considerably. And the scaffold sheltered the wares during a period of moderate rain. My thanks to the gentleman who purchased pictorials on Alexander the Great and on photography; and to the nervous woman who bought a book on self help; and to the kindly elderly woman who selected a book in Russian even though it was apparent she wasn't thrilled with it. Sometimes you just need something - anything - to read. I felt as if I got away with something.
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