For a few years, it became our habit to walk downtown for a Saturday lunch, then walk home and maybe (usually) hit up the Plum Market on the way back. It is a little more than two miles downtown, no big deal. But then once we had reason to take the bus and I was AMAZED at how easy and FAST that beast was! So now I have morphed a bit. I still like walking downtown but I have decided that it is a better use of my time to grab the bus back, get off near the Plum and walk home from there. I don’t neeeeeed to get 30K steps every Saturday (I have 21K today as it is and it is only 4:30) and it leaves me enough energy to get through whatever afternoon chores I have in mind, which today was making a couple batches of lasagna sauce. Also, it gives me a little time to chill out in the back yard — or wherever, in a matter of weeks chilling out in the backyard will likely take on a whole new meaning here in SE Trollandia.

I love the *people* on the bus too. It is a wide variety of folks, today including the guy with the bag of bottles (Him: are you stopping at Kroger? Driver: Yes) and our neighborhood friend/fellow bus-rider Kathy who is carless by choice (I think) and was probably tired of carrying the three HEAVY brass candlesticks she bought at Kiwanis. She laughed when she saw us and said we cracked her up. I’m not sure why but I think because we were on the bus, which cracks *me* up 🐸.

I am intrigued by people who are diligent about picking up returnable bottles to earn income. I’m not sure what this Bottle Guy’s modus operandi is except that it involves the Westgate Kroger but let me tell you about the woman I talked to earlier this week. This woman WORKS WITH ME, that is, she is a professional *salaried* employee of a big high-tech company. We were at a work party and she offered to take the returnables back and, since she has been known to collect them for bottle drives at her teenager’s school, I asked, “Oh you mean for fundraisers?” I suspect if she wasn’t an over-the-top extrovert, she might’ve clocked me but she cheerfully replied, “Yes, a single mom fundraiser.” Oops. She went on to explain how she occasionally texts Retired Building Mom to say, “I’m out of grocery money, do you have any bottles?” And RBM replies something like, “I’ve got four bags.” That’s one way to feed a family, albeit a small one and I admire her resourcefulness. Maybe I’ll start giving her my returnables. For a while I thought maybe The Pensioner would take on that chore but it didn’t seem to “stick” 🐽

So, thinking our gal Jenel is out of town this weekend (vacationing in the northwest lower, what a GORGEOUS weekend for that), we went to the Blue Tractor instead of the Griz. I have to admit that, as we walked by the Griz I kind of ducked my head in case I was wrong and she was in there wondering which bartender we were seeing on the side. I’ve been getting the shrimp risotto side dish at the Griz lately but I also love getting a couple sliders at the Blue Tractor – today I got the black bean and the blue buffalo.

Umich football on TV and hanger steaks and corn on the cob on the grill tonight courtesy of The Pensioner!

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