dona's 365

Scruffy, old, and perpetually tipsy when I encountered him in Chetek, he was the black sheep of the of the Leinenkugel family . He’d buy anyone a beer as long as it was a Leinie . It was said that he was being paid good money to stay away from the brewery .

We met her on the Liverpool to Dublin ferry. She insisted we visit a pub in Galway, called The Keys for its great music. While in Galway we searched, unsuccessfully, for The Keys . When we heard music coming from a pub ( The Quays ) we’d passed several times, we felt foolish.

As we walked the dark path to the youth hostel, a swaying light seemed to be getting closer. It was an old man with a lantern. He was pleased to meet Americans in Ireland and shook our hands repeating, "How do you do." It reminded me of the rhyme .

When Candy and I hitchhiked through Ireland we passed an old woman standing outside her cottage who impulsively invited us in for tea. As we made the tea and cut the bread, she sat and told us her recipe for Irish bread . I make it every single St. Patrick’s Day.

HONK! What’s your problem? I’m not turning left until it is safe to do so. HONK!HONK! I refuse to jeopardize my life so you can get home a minute earlier. HONK!HONK!HONK! Congratulations, that’s the first time I’ve given the finger to a fellow driver. HONK!HONK!HONK!HONK! Ha! I’ve turned. You’re stuck.

To the woman in the brown car: 1. You don’t have a permit to park there 2. You hit my car, not once, but three times 3. When my husband moved his car to let you park easier, you didn’t acknowledge it. Did the rest of your day go better?

One Christmas Cindy gave me a silver bracelet etched with the words: Lt Col Don Williamson 7-7-65 At the time the bracelet was a piece of fashionable jewelry – most teens had one. Years later I read Don Williamson’s history online and understood he was as real as you and me.

Frank ran for an obscure office in Montgomery County. I saw him several times, campaigning the old fashioned way. Handwritten flyers, Magic Marker signs, friendly handshakes. No website nor email list for him. He didn’t get my vote though. He lost. I felt kinda bad. He’s a Republican, you see.

When you began talking loudly during the opening credits I could have tried ignoring you, but instead I asked you if you planned on talking through the entire film. You said no. So you clicked your pen, sighed vociferously, wriggled audibly and flipped the seat between us up and down.

She had a Model-T in her open garage and cardboard in her upstairs windows. I saw her twice in the three years we were next-door neighbors. When her mail began to pile up I wondered if she was ok. When the ambulance took away her body I knew she wasn’t.

You were a regular at the Harris Grill ; we saw you at the bar every time we stopped in for an ouzo or glass of retsina . When the bar reopened after being remodeled we saw you once again: “God-damned Yuppies,” you muttered under your breath as you walked away forever.

“Want a sheet o’Rabbits?” I thought I heard the farmer say as he wrapped a skinned, gutted rabbit in white paper. “No,” I whispered “Come on, let's go see the rabbits,” persuaded my aunt, taking the package - our dinner. “Okay.” They showed me the caged bunnies destined for someone’s table.

I don’t even know her name but she convinced my cat-hating dad to bring home a black kitten for me when I was 13. When Dad fixed some appliance or another for her parents she told him the kitten would be put to sleep if he didn’t take it home.