SEPTEMBER SONG!

The party was in full swing when I walked down to the pool.  I stopped to talk to a new neighbor and introduced myself.  She seemed surprised that I knew her name, and I made it all the worse by saying that 'everyone knows everyone here'.  What I meant to say was that someone had mentioned her name when asking me if I had met her.  I then tried to smooth over the troubled water by pouring on more oil.  "If you want to see people then it's a great place, but if you want to keep yourself to yourself, you can".  What does that even mean?  It was meant to be said in a 'your choice' sort of way, but came out, I feel, a little flippant and with no room to maneuver.  The very pleasant lady mentioned that there seemed to be a party going on, and I looked across the road to the pool area and saw some balloons on the railings.  " I shall go and investigate", I said, smiling like a storm trooper!  I then thought I should quit whilst I was ahead, or whilst I still had a head, and made perhaps the most inane comment of the whole conversation.  "I shall go and claim my chair while I still can!"  Although everything was meant in a friendly way, I imagined someone making the same comments to me and how I would have reacted.  I would have come back to Dana and said, "Oh my goodness, there is a woman out there who is like a policeman!"  I know I would, because I did.  Perhaps the woman whom I encountered when I first moved here was just being nice!  The fact that everyone now says "Ask Tracie, she will know", is a little peculiar.  Am I really the matriarch?  There is a sense, here, of camaraderie, and a neighbourhood familiarity which means you 'have each other's backs', rather than using what you know to go behind people's backs!  Much as I considered the new neighbour to perhaps think I was being 'overbearing', perhaps she did actually think I was just being neighbourly!  Everyone has an experience that makes them think one way or another.  However, I digress!

The party was in full swing when I walked down to the pool. My neighbour's nephew was seven, and her family and friends were celebrating.  As I knew his mother as a child, it was quite delightful to see this little boy enjoying himself with his pals, and having fun!  They had some traditional 'party games' and also a piñata which had been suspended from the tree.  I looked on and thought about the fact that I have lived here for long enough to remember today's parents when they were children!  

"You are a saint!" said my young neighbour!"  I asked why?  Apparently, sitting in the midst of a bunch of kids, screaming and shouting, without so much as batting an eyelid, qualified me for the most prestigious title!  I had enjoyed watching the 'action', especially the inability to break the piñata, regretting that I had not got up and asked to 'have a go'.  I was rewarded with a cup cake!  Sainthood obviously has its perks!  The kids had been most respectful when I was swimming and had let me complete my laps by keeping out of my way!  After that, they could do what they liked!  

After a while, the party ended, and all left.  Another couple of neighbours came poolside, and the two elders gave advice to the younger who was having some difficulty with a teenager!  I commented on the fact that we could not know what he was going through, as we were never, ever, teenage boys!  However, we knew, as we had been teenage girls, that their lives could be great or awful depending on how we were towards them.  The younger found this to be amusing, and by the time the counseling session was over, she had enough food for thought to feed her until he turned twenty!  

"Did you have a good afternoon?" asked my husband when I returned home.  "Between the interrogation and social work case conference, I went to a rave!" I announced, and then proceeded to fill him in on the details.  What an interesting life I lead!

It rained on and off during the week, despite the forecast saying that we would have rain until the end of the month, and then some!  I did not want rain on Wednesday.  My car was expected at the shop for its annual inspection.  I wanted it to be dry, so I could keep her clean for another week!  She looks so pretty when she is clean!  (Oh my, did I really say that!  Americanised!  Yes, I used an 's' just to keep me Anglicised for a bit longer!)  I hurtled down the highway and downtown, before turning right on to another the bridge to take me south.  Apparently, it was going to be three hours before I could collect her as they were quite busy.  I had come prepared, with my book and was willing to sit for a while, but three hours would be a little too long.  I called Dana, who suggested I go to a cafe and wait with a cup of coffee.  "Three hours?" I asked.  I started to walk, and received a call from my daughter, who said she was on her way, and as I was walking towards downtown, could I get her a hot chocolate from the now famous coffee stall, 'Joe's'.  It is not our 'Joe's', but one that has obtained notoriety (perhaps not only) through a work of graffiti that is on the side of their shack.  'I love you so much', is painted, in ordinary script on the wall, and has been the backdrop to many a photo!  

The hot chocolate was duly delivered as I was picked up half way down the long road leading to the capitol building!  My 'old lady' needed a couple of tweaks before she could be deemed perfect again, and this would take a little longer than expected.  I gave the go ahead for the work.  The reason I still travel across town to have the work done is because I trust the mechanics, and they have looked after my 'old lady', since she was born! I knew she was in safe hands!  

Samantha took me back across town later in the afternoon, and I got my inspection certificate and a list of the other things completed.  She was ready to go for another twelve months!  

The rain poured later in the evening, with storms battering the area.  Lightening and thunder was abundant!  "Let me know when you are home", I asked my daughter, as I knew she was out for the evening.  She duly obliged.  I don't know that there was ever a time when she found this to be unnecessary, especially as she does the same to me!

The weekend came round very quickly, as it tends to do these days!  Rain was forecast for the foreseeable future, and then the little icons showing bolts of lightening disappeared from the 'app'.  The next ten days looked as if they would be very dry, as opposed to soaking as was predicted!  I put away my shopping and headed for a nice quiet afternoon.  After about an hour, the guy came to clean the pool and hovered around the pump house.  Rain started to tumble.  "Perhaps it will be a short shower", I said to him, as he sat with his feet dangling in the water.  "Nope, storm is on its way. Just spoke to my buddy in Leander, and he said it's bad there, and heading this way".  Suddenly, everyone is a weatherman!  He was 'backwashing' the system, so that if there was excessive rain, the pool would not overflow.  What a shame!  I told him that I had swam with it overflowing the other week, and it had been amazing, but I guessed that was not ideal.  "Contaminates the integrity of the pool", he said to me. "Huh?" I said in my head, as I nodded in agreement, and confusion!  Now everyone was an engineer!  

Rain poured for about an hour.  I came upstairs and went in search of a book I thought I had put away in the shed, and ended up sorting through the rubbish I have stored away.  After getting rid of some things that were 'contaminating the integrity' of my shed, I wandered back down to the water, and read for a while.  I hoped it would not rain again, as I did not have my umbrella, nor my bag in which I keep all my essentials such as bug spray and the like!  I was so engrossed in my book, I lost track of the time.

Football season has started, and I came back to find Dana flicking through the various channels to see the scores.  The Longhorns were playing a team that is perhaps not known for its winning streak, and there was anticipation that the Texas team would win!  They did!  It was a good start to the season! Not so successful was the other football (soccer) team, as they lost to Nashville 3-0!  At home!  

Once again, it is Sunday.  It is Labor Day weekend but we have decided to stay at home!  Actually, we did not so much decide as forget it was upon us.  Last year we were in Corpus Christi and by the sea!  Why didn't we think to do that again?  Perhaps next year?  

The temperatures have dropped to what I believe is seasonably normal.  Cooler starts, and much cooler days, despite it still hovering around the nineties.  I notice the coolness of the water earlier in the day, but it is still pleasant enough.  I wonder if I will finish my book this afternoon, or if I will be joined by another bunch of party goers! What will I do on my day off?  Time will tell in ........... another story!