I didn’t see the tick coming

Thursday, May 11, 2023

Almost every night Keith has to remind me to write the POTD. You’d think I would remember it after this long, but no. I’m usually half asleep on the couch and he says he is going to practice his trumpet while I write the POTD, and I just squint at him and wonder why I never think to do it earlier.

I don’t do it earlier, because something might happen that I want to write about. I never know what it’s going to be about – often not even when I start typing. Or I think I know, and it just goes off the rails.

Anyway, sometimes during the day, it passes through my mind, and I wonder what is on the schedule that could be photographed. Today I remembered we were going to the Artistry Theater in Bloomington with EB and Kathy to see The Pajama Game, so we could find something to take a picture of. Artistry is a nice community theater that has suffered some financial issues post pandemic. I don’t know how any performing arts group survived pandemic – no shows means no money – and obviously that is a disaster. They had to cancel a couple shows and this was our first time back in a while. I am glad they have gotten things going again and hope they continue to be successful.

There is a Snuffy’s Malt shop on the corner when we take the exit off the highway on our way to the theater. We have often said we should get organized and come early to have dinner before the show, and this was the time. As we pulled into the parking lot, Kathy (EB’s mom) said, “What’s this? Where are we?” It seems EB told her mom to come early, but not why. Surprise! We are going to dinner. I recognized the folly of ordering a whole malt with dinner and ordered a half. It was still giant, and I had to surrender the end of my plaza burger to Keith in favor of finishing the ice cream. Priorities.

The musical cast was really good. The first character came out on stage and started to sing, and I thought, “WOW!” Everyone else was just as good. I noticed that EB wasn’t clapping much and had to have a little concern that she wasn’t enjoying the show because it was my idea to get tickets. I smashed that worry away and enjoyed the first half. As intermission started, EB stood up immediately. I was commenting on the strong singers to Keith, then turned my attention to my other side. EB was hopping around, pulling her pants leg up. Apparently, she found a bug (presumedly a tick) on her head right after the curtain went up. She pulled it off, threw it on the floor, and stomped on it. Partway through the first act, she felt something walking up her leg. She captured it and twisted it in the fabric of her pants right around her knee and was busy holding it, hence the reason she couldn’t clap. She dashed away to the restroom and returned tick free.

I thought I would write about the play, or maybe dinner, but I didn’t see the tick coming. You just never know what is going to happen in a day.