Anywhere I Wander

Began a humid, hazy morning with some Backyardigans. Tyrone thinks he has to "Escape From Fairy Tale Village" when a witch (Uniqua), a wolf (Austin), and the cutest giant ever (Pablo) seem to be after him. But it turns out that he may have misinterpreted their requests...

Austin's an Inspector Poirot-type detective on the trail of Pablo, "Le Master of Disguise." His chase leads him to the Orient Express. Inspector Austin is determined to find the crafty penguin. It won't be easy with suspects like Cowboy Tyrone, Circus Performer Tasha, and Conductor Uniqua around!

Headed out around quarter of 11 to get the laundry done. Not only was it busy there, but the road next to the laundromat was flooded. I forget what one of the women there said was going on, but it apparently effected the water pressure in the washers. It didn't effect my clothes getting clean. Good thing, too - I had a lot to get done, including towels. The weather may have been part of the reason for it being busy. There was a heavy rain shower while I was there. Thankfully, it disappeared pretty quickly, and it hasn't rained the rest of the day.

I had a bit of a scare as I was leaving. A woman was backing her van out of the parking lot...at least, I think that's what she was doing. I just barely jumped out of the way before her car went rolling out of the parking lot and onto the curb on the other side of the street! She almost hit the wall of the dentist's office on the next block. Luckily, I don't think anyone was hurt, including her or the car. I have no idea what happened there. And my clothes kept falling out of the bag - I just barely scooped them up and got them into the plastic bag to go home.

When I got home, I put my clothes away, then went right back out. I needed a nice, simple, quiet lunch after all the excitement this morning. I enjoyed a slice of bacon and scallion quiche and that wonderful spicy-sweet iced tea at Common Grounds Coffee House. And I got a nice bit of news. According to a sign on the window, someone finally bought the Dorias' abandoned deli. I did see Mr. Doria talking to a couple a few weeks ago. I hope they bought it - they looked nice.

Stopped very quickly at WaWa for money, then took Newton Lake Park down to Haddon Township. It may have been hot and humid, but that didn't stop people from enjoying their lunch outside. I saw kids and their parents having a picnic at the playgrounds. A group of boys fished on the Haddon Township side; a Hispanic family enjoyed a fishing trip near the Haddon Township entrance.

Haddon Township Library was booming when I arrived. The DVD return cart was overflowing so much, they had to find another cart for them all! For once, I had no problems getting all but a few B adult titles on the shelves. Even all the kids' titles fit. I also shelved new releases, a pile of audio books and CDs, and a bunch of kids' nonfiction titles.

Ran a few quick errands after leaving the library. Needed sponges at Dollar Tree. Grabbed generic strawberry and apple bars, too. It sounds like it'll be too hot for baking this week. Was briefly at Rite Aid, but I didn't like the price of their eggs. I ended up getting them back at WaWa instead, along with a Cherry Limeade Sparkling Ice and a Peanut Butter Twix Bar.

When I got in, I worked on my current Remember WENN fanfiction for a while. Scott White has been forced to work as a ranch hand by Rollie Pruitt, the nasty financier who married his late mother to gain her lands. Scott thinks Pruitt killed his mother to get the ranch, which is why he's stuck around. Betty Prince, a determined reporter, believes Pruitt is involved in a land-grabbing scheme. Pruitt just caught the two snooping around in his office. He takes Betty off the story, claiming there's nothing more to learn. He's also now suspicious of Scott. He calls in a bounty hunter to kill off his handsome, too-curious stepson. That bounty hunter, however, happens to be a familiar red-head named Maple who is friendly with Scott...

I got off around quarter after 5. I took down the 4th of July decorations, then had leftovers for dinner while watching Hans Christian Anderson. My personal favorite of Danny Kaye's vehicles is a charming "fairy tale about a spinner of fairy tales." Anderson (Kaye) is a gentle cobbler in a small Danish village who loves telling the local kids stories. Their teachers and parents don't love it - it's interfering with their children's schooling and Hans' real job as a cobbler. Anderson and his apprentice finally take off for Copenhagen. Hans falls in love with a beautiful ballerina (Jeanmarie) whose shoes he repaired, and who turns his most romantic story, "The Little Mermaid," into a ballet. Thing is, she's married...and despite their Hilary-and-Jeff quarrels, she and her husband really do love each other. But Hans will always have his stories, and his bountiful imagination.

I'm rather glad the local independent TV stations used to run this a lot during the afternoons in the 80's. This movie gave me my first taste of ballet outside of The Nutcracker, not to mention my first taste of Kaye. If you love Kaye, ballet, or Frank Loesseur (who also wrote the music for Guys and Dolls and The Most Happy Fella, among others), this charming tale is worth tracking down on DVD.