Little foxes and spoiled vineyards

Catch us the foxes,

     the little foxes,

that spoil the vineyards,

     for our vineyards are in blossom

          ~The Song of Solomon 2:15

     Years ago I used to attend a bible study group at our church that took about 6 years to study all the books, from Genesis to Revelation. While this study did  not make me a biblical scholar by any means, it did give me a good background and basic understanding of this important religious and literary work. The verse from The Song of Solomon above came to mind late last night after a very frustrating day. Our study leader explained that this verse speaks to the little frustrations in our lives that "spoil the vineyards" for us-- that eat away at our happiness.

     Yesterday morning started out with a small frustration. I was finishing up a knitting project and ran out of yarn. I was completing a "market bag" -- a knitted tote bag that could be stuffed inside another bag and used when needed to carry things. Meant for shopping at farmers' markets and such, my plan was to bring it to Italy when we travel there later in the year. It would fold up into a lightweight small thing, and could be pulled out to carry the souvenirs I plan on purchasing while on vacation. Anyway, it came as a kit with the pattern and all the yarn needed. Except I ran out with only a small amount left to be knitted.

     I have a lot of knitting projects piling up for Christmas gift giving, so I needed to get this bag done. That meant an impromptu trip to the yarn shop where I purchased the kit, for another ball of yarn. While I was there, I thought I would pick up some more yarn for some of the gift projects-- I needed stuff for 3 more.  I will stop here and explain that this yarn shop is my favorite-- it is local, owned by an engaging and very helpful young couple, and has an ever-growing inventory of wonderful yarns. I have received a lot of advice, help on projects, and camaraderie  from the other patrons who gather here on Knit Night. I am a faithful customer too-- in fact I enrolled in a "frequent flyer" program which entitles me to 10% discount on various, ever-changing projects. This discount applies only on specified days, which yesterday was not. I knew this when I arrived there, but my hope was they would let me get the yarn at the discount anyway, given the circumstances. Well, wrong. It was explained that the way their computer was set up the discount could only be entered on certain dates. I will be returning to the shop tonight, so waiting one extra day was really not out of line. But I am an impatient soul, and don't like No. They offered to let me shop for the yarn and set it aside until I purchase it tonight when there for Knit Night. I took them up on that, setting a bag full of yarn aside under their counter and only purchased the ball of yarn needed to finish the market bag. But I left feeling a little bit sad--  The Computer had stripped away the ability for personalized customer service... (and that is a whole other blog...) which this store usually excels at. I wasn't angry, just sad I guess. I kept thinking that "back in the day" they probably would have let me sneak in the discount a day ahead. Well, looking back through my rose colored glasses they would have anyway!

     There is also a very large fabric and craft store close by and I needed some accessories that the yarn shop didn't have. So, off I went to get that stuff. I was shopping in the store when I saw, from a distance, a woman I used to work with long ago. She is very friendly-- to the point of talking so much and so long I knew if I saw her I would never get out of the store. But she was shopping in the area where all the stuff I needed was... I had to talk to her. Sure enough, she saw me, came over and we chatted for too long.  Actually, it probably wasn't that long, but my back and hips were starting to ache from all the time walking on hard concrete floors. I was getting a bit of a headache too. It all added up to a bad mood and no patience...

     I also had to stop at the grocery store on the way home for a few items for our dinner. The plan was a simple BLT sandwich with corn on the cob as a side. Fresh tomatoes were on the counter-- all I needed was the "B" and the "L"... and some good sourdough bread. Three very common items, right? Should only take a minute, right? I pulled in to the Kroger parking lot. Our local Kroger store has been under renovation, to the point where it has been impossible to shop in there. The old store was small and cramped and never seemed to have what I needed, so this improvement should make shopping there much better. Perhaps it was my mood, but finding the lettuce-- iceberg lettuce, for heaven's sake!-- took me four trips around the newly renovated and huge produce area. I found tropical fruit I'd never heard of, I found figs and odd vegetables. Finally, tucked in the corner under another shelf display, I found iceberg lettuce. My back throbbed...  On to the bakery. Same story there-- all I wanted was a loaf of sourdough bread. I could have had four different kinds of multigrain bread. Italian peasant bread. French bread. Rosemary and garlic bread. Tomato basil foccacia, for god's sake... but a simple loaf of sourdough? I finally found the last loaf  hiding on the bottom shelf of a kiosk, behind some English Muffin bread. Into the basket it went, and I moved on to find the bacon. As I turned the corner towards the refrigerated meats, I discovered, to my horror, that the store manager was standing in front of the bacon display with about 30 or so other Kroger employees. A couple were men in suits, most were wearing a blue shirt with "Kroger" over the left pocket. I had stumbled into a seminar of sorts for refrigeration department employees. And they were all standing in front of the bacon I needed! Sighing deeply, I contemplated whether to interrupt them all or just head for home. One of the men wearing suits saw my reaction and came over to me. "Do you need something in there?" he asked. I told him I just wanted a pound of bacon. He said, "Follow me!" and proceeded to push through the employee group saying, "Excuse us! Customer coming through! She needs bacon!"  I felt 60 eyes staring at me... and the store manager who was giving the "lecture" sighed deeply and rolled his eyes. With everyone staring at me, I stepped up to the bacon display. There were seemingly dozens of brands-- very expensive to the least expensive, most prominently displayed: the Kroger store brand. Knowing all of these people were going to watch me, and knowing they were all learning about how to prominently display featured items to assure higher sales, I gritted my teeth, reached out and grabbed... the package next to the Kroger brand. Score one for the angry consumer!!!

     Now completely frustrated and quite angry, I headed for home. Only a short drive. When I turned onto our road, I had to drive around a tree trimming crew from the utility company. I noticed they had trimmed our neighbors' tall pine trees and was wondering what the neighbors were thinking about that when I noticed the chipper truck was parked... in our driveway! It completely blocked my ability to pull in. Even though I was lucky that we had put in a driveway extension earlier this summer that made it possible to actually get to the garage, I was outraged. My throbbing back, hip and head only made my ability to cope worse.

     I managed to pull the car into the garage without incident. I gathered up the small packages and stomped into the house. "LANNY!" I yelled. He was quietly working on his computer when I stomped into the office and without any advance warning he was treated to my venting all my shopping frustrations... His response was to quietly escort me to the kitchen, give me a hug and then pour me a glass of wine. And then, he listened some more.

     Welcomed back home in such a loving way took the wind out of my frustrations, helped me get a little perspective on things. We both had a good laugh. I really am a lucky woman-- on so many levels! My vineyard is indeed in blossom... and with Lanny's help I was able to chase away the little foxes that were trying to spoil it.