September 18, 2020 – Michael Seidel, writer

He hadn’t planned a stake out. When had he ever? But usually he had coffee or water. Neither were present today.

Weather was good, though. Smoke was clearing, letting stray sunshine sneak in. No rain seemed likely.

Good. He hated rain on a stake out. Always ended up with steamy windows.

At least this car was decent for it, an accidental good choice. The Mazda CX-5 was his first SUV. The front seats were roomy and comfortable. Lots of space to relax, wait, and watch.

Not like most his cars. The Porsche was a joke on a stake out. The Mercedes and Audi were alright, the Bimmer a little tight. Still, it was better than the RX-7s — three of them– and the Camaro and Firebird. The last RX-7, though, the R1, was the worst. Pretty car but the interior was made for driving and not sitting and waiting.

Movement. He sat up, poised to move. Yes, there was his man.

Jumping out the car, he hurried forward and waved his hand. The tow truck driver slowed his vehicle. He pointed across the street the gray Ford Focus. “Over there.”

The tow truck diver nodded.

Ben walked to the Focus to wait. Funny, he’d never done a stake out in it.

It’d been three years since her husband had passed away.

Amanda decided it was time to put herself back out there. She rationalized (without hard thinking) that her husband’s slow demise (three years of fighting lymphoma and brain tumors before his death) had left her long enough without male companionship. (She didn’t define herself that way, but she liked having a masculine presence in her life.) As she’d heard good things about it, she decided to give Silver Singles a try.

In her early sixties and a successful business woman with two grown children, she thought she’d have no problems. She was right. Within days, she had a first date.

He was as described, six four, two hundred forty pounds, mostly muscle, not bad for sixty-five. Lunch was scheduled. They hit it off well. This being Sunday, he said, “Shall we go back to my place to watch some football.”

“Sure,” she replied. “I have nothing better planned.”

Off they went! After a short period, she excused herself to use his bathroom. When she left the bathroom, he was standing nearby with a small smile. Apparently, he’d assumed (she assumed) that her going to the bathroom was to freshen her lady bits for him, as he said (with a suggestive smirk), “Shall we adjourn to the bedroom?”

“No,” she replied.

“Well, can I touch your breasts?”

“No.”

“Will you show me your breasts?”

“No!”

“You want to make out on the couch?”

“Nooo.”

“Well, you wanna see my bits?”

“I think it’s time to go.”

*True story. Only the name was changed.

Golden Floofring (floofinition) – Dutch hard floof rock (flock) band formed in 1961 in The Hague. Releasing twenty-five albums, they’ve achieved multiple hits spread over multiple decades.

In use: “After almost five decades of performing, Golden Floofring remains most known for “Radar Cat” and “Twilight Floof”, top ten hits in multiple countries in 1973 and 1982 respectively.”

People were already out of work due to COVID-19. Without revenue coming in, they were going through their savings, cutting corners where they could, selling things as necessary, going to friends or the governments for help.

Then the fires struck. In a day, everything except that which they had when they fled was gone.

Time to rebuild, but where are they going to go? The costs of housing and living is discussed, politics, and the chance for employment. Gazing across the American landscape, from the fires on the west coast to the hurricanes in the southeast and the cost of living and politics everywhere, options seem bleak.

Floofophone (floofinition) – Family of woodwind instruments often used in floof jazz (floozz) music.

In use: “Reading her book in bed late at night, she paused to listen. She’d heard a noise. Her dog beside looked content, with his tail tapping time to some song that he heard. What she almost heard that came to him quite clearly was a floofophone carried on the wind as the Stray Dogs played down the street.”

Looked out the window early. Blue skies and thin white clouds stared back. There, there in the distant, still standing, were the forested mountains. Hurray!

AQI is moderate — below one hundred — so the cats and I popped out to sniff the air. That’s when Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers began “Into The Great Wide Open” (1991) in my mind. Here we go, rebels without a clue.

Never seen the video before. Quite a cast, with Johnny Depp, Faye Dunaway, and Gabrielle Anwar.

Day: September 18, 2020

Stake Out

Thrity Said

The Date

Golden Floofring

Where

Floofophone

Friday’s Theme Music

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