Hello, how are you?

These are the words I say many times a day as I go about my life. From fitness to groceries, getting mail to biking the 'route', cruising the back roads to getting the car fixed I meet many people and that is a huge plus. Some of the folks I've encountered in the last week will give you the idea.
We decided to cruise some of the back roads of our township to get digital photos for hubby to use in his current project. Lucky for us we saw an Amish buggy approaching and decided to try and get a picture, not of them,(we know they don't like that) but of the horse and buggy. We got out of our car and as the buggy approached we could see a young man, maybe 35-40 and a young boy riding with him. As he came up to us, he stopped at my hubby's wave. "We're doing some pictures for the township and wonder if we could get one of your horse and buggy?" hubby ventured.
"You're not taking a picture of me!" the man countered and we hastened to explain we just wanted the horse and buggy. We talked a bit with him and I thought he was okay with the idea as long as I didn't get him in the picture. Suddenly he said, "Well, I'll be going now," shook the reins in his hand and clucked the horse to a trot. I looked at my camera, which I hadn't even turned on yet, and realized I had no time. I stood for a moment watching the buggy bump away from me, thought of my options--I had none!--and dropped my camera to my side without even turning it on. Okay, well I guess we're not getting that picture.
We pushed on to another spot we had in mind to take a shot of an historical octagonal house now under the care of the historical society. I got a couple of angles and headed back to the car. Meanwhile another car approached hubby and wanted to know what we were doing there? Hubby explained as I got back in and I thought we'd be off in a sec. Not so. As soon as the lady heard that hubby was working on a project for the township and mentioned the mayor, she began to spout all her problems with the council, who did what, who said what, what her beefs were, ad nauseum. Hubby, sweet man that he is, told her that his project was not political at all and tried to steer her away from her diatribe. No such luck. I could see she wasn't going to quit until she got all her anger out. I thought of reaching over and turning on the ignition but couldn't bring myself to do it. Eventually hubby did just that. As we were driving away, I said, "Well, I guess you don't want her on your volunteer committee!" and we had some words to say about glass half empty people.
Now just when you think this is going to be really negative, I'll tell you about this morning. We went to the gym, me for the first time, and started exercising. Deb the trainer was quite nice and I felt really comfortable with her. Imagine how sweet it was for me to learn she is a word person, too! I felt that Deb was very good at putting me at ease, getting to the heart of things I needed to do, without actually pointing out my physical deficiencies. Quite a feat, when you think about it! While there I met friends I've known for 30 years and my comfort level went up again. I chuckled along at Helen's jokes, and was delighted when Chris shouted across at me that he got his wife an appointment at the migraine clinic which I had suggested because of her terrible problem. He was so excited to tell me that I felt happy that I had been able to help. The sad thing is the appointment is not for 9 months!
I also met a girl there who told me my husband had taught her and we chatted a bit. Of course she had loved him as a teacher--no surprise--so that was fun. After an hour and a half I was done and hopped on my bike to ride home. The muscles seemed a little stiff but nothing too tough to handle.
When I got home we decided to bike the six miles to the garage to pick up our car. We loaded up the water bottles, strapped on the helmets and headed out. We took it easy in the heat and stopped often under shady trees to take a swig of ice water. In half an hour we were sliding off the bikes and propping the kick stands. Jim stood outside the old-fashioned garage telling us that a simple tire rotation solved the problem which we thought was going to cost five or six hundred dollars. As hubby went in to settle the bill I talked on with Jim. His eyes never actually settle on you so that you might think he isn't interested in you at all. This is totally wrong. He is a Lion who quietly (not roaring) goes about the community doing good things. He is a good guy. We'll be back to him again, for sure.
We hopped in the car, jacked up the air conditioning and headed for home, bikes hanging out of the trunk. We were home in ten minutes, car in the garage, ready to face the rest of the day. And it was still only 10:30 a.m.
So. In case you haven't got the message, "I'm fine!"