Batten down the hatches, it's gonna blow

As I bent over to reach the carton of olives from the corner of the cart, I heard from the register behind me, “They are saying 3-6”. I reared up and whirled around to look wildly at the man calmly swiping his credit card. I glared, then quickly turned around. I looked askance at the girl scanning my groceries.

“3-6?”

“Oh,” she said, “I heard 6-10”

I gulped. And looked out the windows at the blue sky.

“When?”

“Sunday night into Monday.”

“6-10?”

“That’s what I heard.”

Isn’t it amazing that when someone mentions numbers, just plain numbers, everyone know exactly what they are referring to? It also makes us anxious. Or, at least it makes me anxious. 6-10 is is not 27 but it is worth talking about. Speaking of which, I gotta go call someone, and get gas, and go back to the store....

Overheard

The neighbors and I were lying on blankets on my front lawn watching the Perseids meteor shower. On the mountain, we have no streetlights so it is pitch black. We were pointing out constellations to each other and we could even see the Milky Way. These are snippets of overheard conversation in the darkness.

“If you see a falling star, you have to make a wish.”

“The best way to cook corn is to use the microware. You do not husk it or anything. Just pop it in the mic for 7 minutes and voila. It is the best ever. You know the silk is the life blood of the kernel.”

“Look at that one!”

“Edamame is the Japanese word for soybean.”

“You used a snow shovel to move the snapping turtle from the road?.”

“Ohhh, long tail on that one. Crap, I was looking the other way.”

“No, no Katydids are green and look like grasshoppers. They are not the same as cicadas."

"Look, look it's a satellite."

“I almost got poked in the eye by an angry hummingbird when I went to close to the feeder to water my flowers.”

“Has anyone see the new baby recently?”

“There goes one.”

“Honey, you have to look up at the stars to see anything.”

"Are you cold? Want me to get another blanket?"

“The dew point must have been early. The grass is sopping.”

"The Big Dipper is called that because years ago they used to dip water from a barrel with a long handled cup called a dipper. Can you see the long handle and the cup on the end?"

“Are you going to the farmer’s market tomorrow?”

"I made up the recipe. I stuffed the poblano peppers with a picadillo and made a chipotle sauce to bake them in."

“I have been all over Flickr looking for that photo. What did you call it again?”

I heard that if you rub a Bounce dryer sheet on you the mosquitoes won’t bite. Hmmm, I heard it was a Downy sheet. Or maybe that was for ticks."”

“Will this be happening again tomorrow?”

Yes, same time, same place.