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Muffins and Mayhem, Recipes for a Happy (if disorderly) Life
I'd love to meet you in person. I'll be blowing bubbles, sharing some of my homemade chocolate chip cookies and reading from my book, Muffins and Mayhem at Bookstore 1 Sarasota. Can you make it? I hope it's a date...See you at 6 p.m., on May 24th.
Dear Reader,
There's an ant crawling on my computer screen at this very moment. At first I thought he was a period, or an animated exclamation point, slightly moving side-to-side, from the excitement of reading what I'd just finished typing. (The things they can do with computer software these days--for a minute I was a believer.)
Years ago, I became friends with an ant when I published a business magazine in Madison, Wisconsin. Back-in-the-day, before computers, I did most of my work on a drafting table, cutting and pasting typeset copy to produce the magazine. I enjoyed my work, even though the hours were long especially when I was on deadline--but at least I had company.
He looked like an ordinary ant. The kind I'd simply brush off the table with my hand, but for some reason I didn't. Peacefully sitting on the edge of my drafting table, he wasn't hurting anything, and since I was the only one left in the office, I appreciated his company. Guarded at first, even after I said, "Hello" and invited him to make himself at home, he continued to sit in one spot, only moving slightly to the side when my exacto knife was headed in his direction. But after a while, I think he sensed I meant him no harm, and he freely walked around my table.
My new friend was a good listener. When you're working alone in the wee hours of the morning, sometimes the worries in your life take center stage, and my friend seemed to empathize as he listened to my troubles. It was such a "real" and meaningful friendship, that I expected him to reply. But of course I never did find out where he bedded down for the night, whether he preferred eggs or cereal for breakfast, and I had no idea what his "real" job was--the one that paid the light bill and house payment. But I do know that his volunteer job was being a good friend and keeping me company. Every evening when I was working late, around seven o'clock, there he was sitting on the corner of my drawing table waving hello.
I'm not sure how long ants live, but I don't think the little fellow on my computer screen this morning is the friend I met over 30 years ago. But maybe he's a relative? When my husband and I first moved to Florida, suddenly everyone was our friend. "Do you have a spare room? We have a 'sudden urge' to visit Florida this year." And maybe it's the same for ants?
Because now that I take a second look, this eight-legged guy, whose antennae seems to be waving hello, is toting 3-pieces of luggage. Maybe he heard from a relative, or a friend-of-a-friend, that the woman who's kind to ants, moved to sunny Florida.
Thanks for reading with me. It's so good to read with friends.
* Today's the day! I'll be at Bookstore 1 Sarasota blowing bubbles, sharing some of my homemade chocolate chip cookies and reading from my book, Muffins and Mayhem. Hope to see you tonight at 6 p.m.
Suzanne Beecher
Suzanne@DearReader.com
http://www.muffinsandmayhem.com/
* This month's Penguin Classics book is IOLA LEROY by Frances Ellen Watkins Harper. Start reading now and enter to win a Penguin totebag. Go to: http://tinyurl.com/May11Classics
AUTHORBUZZ: Discover new books, "meet" the authors and enter to win: Goto: http://authorbuzz.com/dearreader
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