Aimless and Amish

It was an odd day. Tom was scheduled to fill in for one of the conductors at the railroad, and I had planned to piddle around the house.

Then after dinner last night Tom got a call that he would not be needed after all. So we made plans to visit some Amish places in Columbia Country.

Just before nine last night, another call alerted Tom to a potential major problem at the railroad -- what appeared to be a sinkhole near the tracks at milepost 10. So maybe the Amish trip would have to be cancelled.

He went over to check on it before it got dark and came back to say that he did not think it was serious, but he would have to take care of it this morning. And that he would probably hang around for a while because a friend was coming with his kids to ride the train using a family pass Tom had given them We could still do the Amish trip but we would have to leave late morning.

So I adjusted my plans, such as they were, cleaned floors and then went for a long walk and pondered the possibility of turning a series of short stories I have written about a monastery cat into a small book. In the midst of which walk, Tom drove back up in his truck. The sinkhole -- most likely just a burrow and bit of tunnel dug by a groundhog -- had been filled in. And because he did not know when the friend was bringing the kids, Tom decided not to just hang around with no purpose and instead came back so we could do what we had planned.

It was a beautiful day for such a trip, sunny and warm, and we saw some lovely furniture, birdhouses, greenhouses, farms and people. The big disappointment was that Tom was not able to get a pie, which was the main reason he had agreed to go. We were unable to find the bakery that was listed on the map, which was not a very helpful map anyway.

Bouncing along in the truck on the country roads was hard on Tom's back and he promptly went to take a long nap after we got back.

Tomorrow there will be NASCAR for Tom and, since there are thunderstorms in the forecast for the Dells, I will probably devote time to writing on Wacky or maybe giving more thought to the short story project. And I may get over to the health club if I can make it in the morning before the weekend crowd arrives.

So what is the point of the Tarot card of The Fool? Despite the obvious appearance of the Fool in the image -- you notice he looks like he is about to step off the edge of a cliff -- the card is often interpreted more positively as a sign of new things beginning, a fresh start. Maybe it's the short story project. Maybe it's the health club. I notice that in financial matters, it is considered a very good sign, but also an encouragement to work hard.

Anyway, maybe things today are not as aimless as I thought.