Hey Mr. Diary! Sorry I’ve been MIA for awhile, but what with closing the lake house and getting moved back to civilization, I’ve been kinda busy. Anyway, thought I’d do a quick “catch up” with you. It’s a wee bit weird, being back in the suburbs, after the summer at the lake, but, since I am a “boy from the burbs, I’m adapting quickly!

Caramel Corn anyone?

It’s that time of year when the Boy Scouts and Cub Scouts are purveying popcorn products and I can’t seem to avoid them! They must see me as an easy mark – cheeky little monkeys! Anyway, yesterday I dashed in to Kroger for a few necessities, coffee, cream, cat food, and they, the Scouts, were lined up by the entrance, waiting to strike! I managed to avoid them going in but wasn’t quite as fortunate coming out! There they were, ten prepubescent boys, in freshly pressed uniforms, making customers run the gauntlet of plaintive pleas to purchase popcorn! I was greeted by Ward, the obvious alpha male of the group, with a strong “Hello Sir! Would you like to buy some popcorn to help support our troop?” along with an honest to goodness handshake! Oh, he’s good, I thought to myself. I asked for a rundown of the products and as he proceeded down his list, I stopped him at the $10.00 bag of carmel corn. His mom was watching all this, slyly smiling. She’d trained him well. I told him I’d take the caramel corn and he tried to up-sell me on the bigger bag with nuts! The force was strong in this one! I asked him why I should upgrade and he suddenly went silent – the wheels were turning or he’d forgotten his talking points. Mom watched nervously. I smiled and told him to give me his best sales pitch, if he wanted me to upgrade my purchase. Mom chimed in, sounding like a shorter, more feminine Tony Robins, “Give him the benefits of the purchase”! He thought for a moment, came up with a couple of points and then I smiled and bought the smaller bag. It was fun watching him take the bait and rise to the occasion! A few more minutes of smalltalk regarding Scouting and I was out the door… $10.00 poorer but happy to have had some fun! This evening, the doorbell rings, and there stands a Cub Scout, probably about 9 years old, order form in hand! His sales pitch wasn’t up to Ward’s standard but was honest: “Hello, would you like to buy some popcorn to support the Cub Scouts, Thank you, Please”. I loved it! He was scared to death but he did it and I ordered more popcorn! I’m getting soft in my old age!

I took a lot of pictures of clouds while up at the lake. I like clouds. I’ve noticed that each part of the country has slight variations and while I love me some Michigan clouds, I admit to a nostalgic fondness for the Hoosier clouds.

That’s enough for tonight! I’ve probably bored you with all this but I think that’s what diaries are for. Am I right? I’ll start checking in more regularly from now on.

Take care!