Lucky for once

I haven't posted in over a week. Again, I am getting downright lazy. I have got to get into better habits, because if I want to drive traffic to my blog, it's got to be up to date. No ifs, ands or buts.

This post comes from the Dairy Queen in Belleville. I was just here Saturday during the Republic County Invitational volleyball tournament, eating with Greg Hobelmann and Allan Dunnavan during a break in the action. And there were many LONG breaks in the action Saturday.

I had two purposes for stopping in Belleville. I was driving west on US 36 from St. Joseph to Smith Center for tonight's volleyball match. Stephanie Baxa called me to tell me that a picture they have been waiting for in Plainville had not arrived from the Norton Telegram. Candace Rachel, the editor of the Plainville Times, usually goes to Plainville football games, but since she had shoulder surgery two weeks ago, she has been unable to use her camera. I couldn't go to Norton last Friday because I had to substitute for Jack in Smith Center, so Jack suggested I get in touch with Dick Boyd, the longtime editor of the Telegram and Norton's number one fan, to get us a picture or two for the Plainville paper. Nothing has showed up as of this writing.

The second reason for the stop was unplanned. I had another encounter with wildlife on the road. A deer darted out in front of me as I was driving west on US 36 in Washington County. I slowed down and tried to avoid the deer, but I couldn't stop in time. I thought to myself oh no, here we go again. I struck a deer a few miles north of Hays in 2005, and the collision totaled my Oldsmobile.

I pulled over about three miles east of where I struck the deer. Turns out all that happened was that a plastic piece of the lower grille on the front of my car had fallen off. I then got the idea o see if the piece was lying in the eastbound lane or on the side of the road. Sure enough, there it was, smack dab in the eastbound lane. I picked up the piece, drove to Belleville, and popped it back in. The deer apparently was fine, because there was no carcass anywhere to be found on the road or in the field to the side.

WHEW. Lucky me. Time to get on to Smith Center