Friday, May 16, 2008

Petitions and a haircut, perhaps

This Friday dawned beautifully, but cool. We have crossed into the sixties in my little spot in Maine, but the light breeze says it’s still cool. This week certainly passed just as quickly as the previous one, but I’ll refrain from my usual Friday comment about the zooming weeks.

I’m glad, even though the day is sunny, that I got my mowing done yesterday. Along with all the other activity we had yesterday, I was a tired pup when I went to bed last night. Today for me can be almost a day of rest, except for some usual Friday chores I perform for my wife. It isn’t a day of rest for her as she has gone to her part time job this morning.

The petition drive to have the possible repeal of the last legislature’s last minute, late night massive tax increase is a step closer today. I understand the Maine Taxpayers’ United, one of the groups that have committed to circulate the petitions, has received the first step in the process and may have the actual petitions in hand before the day is out.

That group is holding a meeting in Westbrook tomorrow, and soon in many other Maine communities, to teach petition people the correct way to gather the signatures. I guess there is an exact protocol to follow to be sure one bad signature on a petition doesn’t get all the signatures on that petition thrown out. Apparently that happened in attempts to gather signatures on previous petitions for various causes.

I’m not sure when the drive will begin in earnest, but I’d guess if not this weekend then Monday. This particular group is looking for folk to have the petitions available primarily in town dumps/recycle centers/transfer stations. They also hope to set up in food stores and the like and to have tables at polling places during the June primaries.

I’m thinking of going to the barber shop I visit about once a month. I’ve been thinking of it each day all week. All that prevents me from going is that I have two types of clothing…my ‘stay at home’ clothes and my ‘going somewhere’ clothes. Right now I’m in my ‘stay at home’ ones. They include pants I wouldn’t be seen outside the corners of my home in. Why do I wear them? It’s simple. They’re comfortable.

My dog instantly knows my plans when I dress each morning. She comes to me and sniffs the pants. With one set, she races to find her soft toy and then parades back and forth in front of me expressing her approval. Touching her during this mood puts her in an even happier mood. When she detects the other type, she just droops her head and very slowly slinks out to the breezeway and lies down in total disappointment.

I’d have to change my clothes to go to the barber shop. I’d hate to disappoint my dog. That seems like as good of an excuse as any to put it off until next week. It’s not like my hair is down to my collar or anything like that. It’s just been a month since the last cut. When I retired, I had decided that my days of the “comb over” to hide my balding head were over. Comb overs don’t work anyway. They just put folks like me into a state of delusion. Mine ended a dozen years ago when I told my barber to just get as much off as could be taken off.

I’ve kept it that way ever since and I like it. I may be the only one who likes it, but I’m not delusional about my hair anymore. And so now it needs some attention. Maybe today, maybe next week. Maybe …

GiM

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