Up Close and Personal

Got a call from the Talker late Wednesday evening. "Did you move?" she asked.

"No, but I want to" said I.

Actually, I’m over that itch I had a few months ago to move.

After researching other living options, finding they were too expensive and many had the same management issues as here, some even worse, weren’t open space units like here but instead were built like little boxes stacked inside a big box, where I’d suffocate and be bored; and taking in consideration here is affordable, I have a great view from my patio and bedroom windows, how no one really bothers me, I let go of that itch.

I’m better off where I am.

So, anyway, I said to Talker "No, but I want to. Why do you ask?".

Turns out, rumor was I’d moved and, after being asked by several residents "Did Shirley move?", she decided to give me a call, find out for herself.

After confirming I’d not moved, Talker asked "Why would they think that?".

Nearest I can figure is, when the workers came to repair the patio that morning, they’d removed the patio furniture.

During the hours they worked on the patio, residents saw there was no furniture on my patio, observed two worker types going in/out of the unit for hours, put two and two together and came up with three ……… Shirley moved.

The Grapevine worked overtime that day, but with the patio furniture now back in place, that rumor has been put to bed.

Now that the concrete damage has been repaired, Adirondack chair back in place, it’s too bad I can’t enjoy the patio. Those dreaded lizards have taken a liking to the new concrete.

I can’t even leave the patio window open for air, as I fear the little bastids will squeeze through the screen, get inside.

There’s a baby lizard that keeps parking itself on the outside steps and, when I returned from a trip to Sprouts this morning, I saw two adults on the patio.

It’s a nice warm day and I really need the patio window open, so I went online to research "How to keep lizards away from the porch".

Google said, "If you have cayenne powder, hot peppers, or hot sauce, you have the key ingredients for a lizard deterrent. Fill a bowl or measuring cup with 2 cups of warm water. Stir the mixture well, then pour it into an empty spray bottle".

I have Chinese chili pepper powder in the cupboard — don’t know how hot it is because I was afraid to try it on my sensitive gut after going through the expense of special ordering it.

I’ve mixed the powder with water, sprayed the porch, so we’ll see how it goes with keeping the lizards away, so I can open the window.

Hubba Hubba Awooga Silver Fox resurfaced earlier.

If you will recall, he’s the resident that moved in August of 2024, that the women were all gaga about. The ladies described him as mixed with First Nation Indian Blood and some other blood type, wore a ponytail, which blood mixture and ponytail made him "too handsome for words".

He quickly was labeled "really mean/antisocial" because, as a result of thirsty women around here bothering him, he’d pronounced, "I’m sick and tired of women always chasing me".

I’ve seen him around a time or two or three and each time I sensed a devilish glint in his eye and a little flirting when he looked at me.

I've been careful to keep him at a distance by presenting myself as a polite, neighborly ice maiden.

Today was the first time he's caught me off guard. I didn't see him coming, reacted without thinking to chill, instead greeted him with a warm friendly "Hey" and a smile.

I was returning to the complex from Sprouts, getting out of the car, heard a voice, looked over. He was standing the usual polite distance away, on the walkway, but when I greeted him with a smile and a warm friendly tone in my voice, it was like a magnet drew him over to where I was standing at the car door.

When he got to where I was standing, I said something like, "How are things going for you?"

Don’t recall what he said, but he asked me how I felt about all this stuff going around about social security.

"It’s going to decimate this place", said I.

He said he was trying not to worry, and what followed was a pleasant and interesting conversation about what’s going on.

I gotta tell you. It was an oddity to find someone around here whose world extended outside these gates.

He was standing so up close and personal, as he talked, that I couldn’t help but check him out. Though I wouldn’t classify him as Hubba Hubba Awooga Silver Fox, I found him easy on the eyes — tall, good body, nice eyes, nice smile.

He reads as a "player", but players are not boring and, as I prefer being alone, I can't be played, wouldn't mind getting to know him.

As our conversation ended, he prepared to continue on to his car and I to my unit, he all of a sudden said, "Let me give you a hug".

The fact that I allowed his rather lengthy warm hug and told him, “You smell nice” (he did) speaks to my flirting back and signaling to him a willingness to have further talks; but he'll have to catch me when he can.

Patio window is now open to let fresh air in, and I’m not seeing any lizards, so I guess the pepper powder spray is working.