great wall 7

 Made toast again yesterday, thick slabs carved out of a baguette.  Put them on a lower setting and had to make it even lower when I saw that tick tock thingy going slower than I thought it did.  But it turned out alright, except getting the toasties out of the jaws of hell without burning my fingers.  My sister suggested that I get some tongs.  Seems like a lot of effort, extracting from the gates of hell, reaching around the damn thing without touching it lest I get burned and unplugging it, and then it sits there still hot as hell for like five minutes, to get a few slices of toast.  Well I shall persevere, perhaps it will become so second nature that it won't bother me at all.

Illinois's rate continues to rise.  All those southwestern counties bordering Missouri are on fire.  I have friends in Kansas City and St Louis, and both those places have seemed just fine.  But when we drove from St Louis to Rolla in the middle of the state, you got that feeling that you weren't in Kansas anymore.

I get the feeling that I should be masking again, not outdoors, but inside in crowds.  But the mask only protects the wearer a little and is mainly to protect others, and the odds against me getting it after being vaxxed are slim, so what is the point?   Maybe just solidarity, if we all are wearing masks maybe the unvaxxed will be intimated into also wearing theirs and that would be a big help.

Beagles is sounding much more reasonable these days. You get the vaccine to save yourself.  If the doc suggests antibiotics, you don't google to see what Ted Cruz thinks about it.  When you buckle your seat belt, you don't feel like you are bowing your head to tyranny.  When you get drunk it is not considered your sacred personal choice to get behind the wheel.  What is it about vaxxes which have extended our life spans quite a bit?  And now there are anti vaxxers in Europe and the rest of the world.  Is it like blue jeans?

The blizzard had blown over and we were expecting a big weekend night.  To my disappointment Dawn was sent up to work the upstairs room which had its own little bar so that the waitress could make her own drinks so I wouldn’t be seeing much of her downstairs.

I got busy doing my side work, cutting up fruit and making juices.  I just came back from stocking the wine cooler and there was Sam at the bar, a fat cigar in his mouth, a big smile on his face and a buxom bookend on either side of him.  “Raven,” he introduced me to the brunette on his left, “Ruby,” was the name of the redhead on his right.  These were hot babes, fingers full of rings, rings of bracelets on their wrists, and necklaces dangling deep into their low-cut dresses. Where had Sam gotten these women?  He ordered a double scotch, and Raven and Ruby, they each quietly asked for a diet coke and then I understood, they were on the clock, they were hookers.

Which really, all my thoughts of the good life in the love cottage aside, was kind of exciting. 

Leon made his entrance in a white tuxedo, “My birthday suit,” he said laughing, passing by the bar, and when he saw Sam and the girls he stopped dead.  Sam, the city guy, with a puff and a laugh, introduced his country brother to Raven and Ruby.

Leon paused just a second, looked worriedly back over the restaurant past the cash register to the door.  Then he gave a little shrug and was all smiles and handshakes and hugs on the girls’ bare shoulders.  He announced The Special Great Wall Gourmet Dinner which I had never seen ordered by anyone before.  It was an item on the menu, in the back, with the price to be determined, and it had to be ordered at least a week in advance to give the restaurant enough time to acquire the Special Ingredients.

A table was set up in the center of the dining room.  The King of Scotland made another appearance, but the girls declined His Royal Highness in favor of dainty little orange screwdrivers.

The Special Appetizers hadn’t even hit the table when Sam slipped away to the bar and was waving to get my attention.  “Tell Leon I hope he enjoys my birthday present,” he smiled and winked.  “Got to catch a plane,” he added, and he headed out the back way through the kitchen.  I chased after him, but when I caught up to him he slipped me a five spot.  When a man has to catch a plane he has to catch a plane. 

With good company like Raven and Ruby and the King of Scotland it took awhile for Leon to notice that Sam had never come back.  He called me over to the table and asked if I knew where he had gone.

“Had to catch a plane,” I told him.

“Catch a plane?” he asked.

“Gone,” I told him.  Then I bent over and whispered that Sam hoped he enjoyed his birthday present.

“Birthday present?” Leon asked and then he saw Raven and Ruby smiling at him.

He emptied his scotch, glanced back at the door, then back to the girls and poured himself another one.