Now it came to pass that Certain Man’s Wife spent the day of April the fourth abroad upon the face of the earth.  (Well, not too far abroad, as she did not leave the State, but she was, nonetheless, not at home.)  It was the birthday of Middle Sister and she was so inconvenienced as to have a doctor’s appointment in Dover that day, so CMW and Youngest Sister decided that they would accompany her and do some other things as well  (i.e. lunch and some minimal shopping).
     And the day went well, indeed, though they didn’t really get much shopping done and lunch, out of time constraints, was picked up at Byler’s Store and eaten in the confines of the van.  However, the three sisters enjoy greatly just being together, so there was some time “wasted” just sitting in the van outside of various establishments, just talking.  And after the Doctor’s appointment was over, they decided to head on home.  Middle Sister was only about ten days post surgery, and her Solicitous Sisters did not want to overtire her.
     CMW came home around 3:15. and found that none of the work that she had left behind that morning had walked off.  And so she looked at things with a rather dismal eye, and made some halfhearted attempts at getting something done, but made little headway, indeed, nothing seemed very interesting to her.  So she did some computer work, and then Youngest Son Called from Phoenix, and she happened to notice the time. 
     Oh, NO!!!  It was almost 4:30.
     It so happened that Certain Man had planned to try to pick up feed for his cows on the way home from work, but CMW had said, “I should have plenty of time to go and pick up feed for you after I get home from Dover.  We do not plan to make it a long day, and I will just run out to Wall’s Farm and Garden and pick up your feed.  Then you won’t have to worry about it.”
     “Well, you also need to pick up some cat food for the barn cats, too.”
     “Gotcha!  I’ll get it.”  But now it was almost 4:30 and she had forgotten all about it.  She passed the phone that had Youngest Son on it to one of his siblings and picked up the cell phone.
     “Walls Farm and Garden–How may I help you?”
     “What time do you close?”
     “Five o’clock.”
     “Do you know if Mr. Yutzy called an order in there today for six bags of sweet stock and a bag of PMI Cat food?”
     “No, he didn’t.”
     “Okay, I need to pick up six bags of sweet stock and one bag of cat food, and I will be there in a few minutes.”
      CMW picked up her purse, got her jacket, and tried hard to close her ears to the conversation going on between Youngest Son and Middled Daughter.  The hardest thing in the world is to miss out on conversation with the offspringin’s, but if she was going to get to Walls Farm and Garden on time, she needed to hurry.  So she wrenched herself away, and headed on out.
     As she pulled up to the loading dock, an elderly gentleman, Norman, appeared with a push cart loaded with six bags of something or other.  He is a good friend of Certain Man’s and when CMW rolled down her window and asked if that was six bags of sweet stock, he grinned broadly.
     “Got it right here,” he said proudly. His good humor is contagious and CMW felt the stresses of the day melt away in the face of his efficiency and cheerfulness.  “Just pull your van up a little further and I’ll load her fer ye.  He prol’ly wants a bag of cat food, too, don’t he?  I’ll load her right up.”
     “Can I go in and pay while you load it?  Would that be okay?”
     “Sure, go right ahead.”  So CMW trotted off around the corner to the front door.  When she was almost to the corner, Norman said, “Why didn’t you just go through here?”  He motioned to the stairs going up to the loading dock and through the darkened feed room to the back door of the office.  CMW didn’t say so, but she doesn’t really care for that feed room.  It is dusty and dark and it feels like she is trespassing on territory that she would be better off away from.  
     So, she just said, “Oh, well, I’m almost there now, so I’ll just go this way.”
     It was a beautiful day.  The sun was shining and there were people milling about the greenhouse in front of the main office.  CMW came up the steps to the office, thinking about the beautiful day and planting flowers and how people were enjoying gardening.  She pushed open the heavy glass door that goes into the little office/showroom with her checkbook and pen in one hand and her big old purse slung over her shoulder.  And yep, she did it again.  Caught that toe of her sandal in the little piece of metal at the bottom of the door and down she went!  Mercifully, she was actually able to clear the door closing behind her, so she was sprawled in a heap on the rug just inside the glass door.  Nothing had cracked, nothing appeared to be broken, but she was in a most undignified position, and some of her joints had been forced into positions they had long been unaccustomed to.. 
     “Ouch!” she said as she tried to straighten her arms and legs out of their contortions into a position to facilitate rising from her embarrassment.  There were no shoppers in the show room, and only one lady, out of sight behind the desk.  If CMW had been home, she may have stayed on that floor and pitied herself awhile, but there were, just outside that glass door behind her, a bevy of shoppers who had probably witnessed the unrehearsed show, and CMW not only wanted them to not come running to help, she could not even bear to look to see if they had seen.  So she gathered herself and her belongings off of the floor and made her way hurriedly out of the door area.
     “Are you alright?” queried the lady behind the desk, a little belatedly.
     “Yep, I’m fine,” said CMW with more levity than she felt.  “I just caught my sandal on something, but I don’t seem to be injured in anyway.”  She paid her current bill and a previous bill and collected herself for the walk back out.  She decided to go through the feed room.  That way, she wouldn’t have to face the people who may have seen her fall.  As she made her way out through the feed room, she came face to face with smiling Norman.
     “You know, Norman, I should have listened to you.  I went around the other way, caught my sandal in the door and fell flat on my face.”
     “Oh, no! Are you okay?”  Concern darkened his usual smile.
     “I’m fine, I truly am, but I AM insulted!”
     “Well, now, you take care,” he said, “And try to control my buddy.” 
     With his words echoing in her mind, CMW got into her van and started home.  “Try to control his buddy???”  
     First of all, Certain Man has never been very apt to submit to any efforts to control him, and though CMW will admit to trying on occasion, it has almost always had disastrous results. 
     Besides that, how in the world would anyone think that a woman who cannot even keep herself in an upright position in public places could begin to control a man like Daniel Yutzy?  Seems like she has enough to do without taking on that project.
     And that is the news from Shady Acres, where Certain Man was happy that he had feed for his steers, Certain Man’s Wife is surprisingly unscathed from her tumble, and she even got home in time to rescue the phone from Middle Daughter and had a good chat with Youngest Son.  And that was sweet.