Three Abes Walk Out to a Car

Around noon today, I headed to town to transfer some of the boys' money from their college savings accounts to their bank accounts. And of course get my 44 oz Diet Coke, and cash in a scratcher winner for some more, including the two tickets I send to Genius every week. I got a later start than usual, but everything was running smoothly. At first.

On my way to the bank to make the deposits, which would be my next-to-last stop, the last being the gas station chicken store for my magical elixir...I encountered traffic problems. Uh huh. We have those here in the middle of nowhere, too.

I was coming down the hill where the Social Security office sits, going past the funeral home operated by twin sisters, approaching the Sonic (I don't tell you this because I think you have a clairvoyant map of Backroads and surrounding municipalities in you head, but because my best old ex-teaching buddy Mabel will understand where I'm talking about), when I saw a 10-car line of traffic backed up. Oncoming vehicles were squeezing through on my side one by one, navigating around the front-end of a semi trailer that was cattywompus in the road. I don't know if he was making a delivery, or trying to turn around. But nobody was directing traffic.

I made a quick left and zigzagged along side streets to the next main thoroughfare, still on track for the bank. This unplanned detour took me past a Casey's General Store where I often buy my scratchers. I hadn't planned on stopping there today. Not coming or going. Because there's an actual detour along that road, due to a bridge being rebuilt over a railroad track. It takes 4 minutes. And we all know that Val has precious little spare time in her days of doing nothing. So I had not planned to take that route today. Yet here I was.

Of course Val often takes these unplanned detours into account. Something in the grand scheme of her life has led her down this path. Huh. I wonder if I should actually buy my tickets here? Is that it? I've already cashed in my winner and bought the tickets I wanted. But I could get a couple here. It couldn't hurt. The parking lot was pretty full as I passed, so I continued to the bank.

Heading back home, I decided to stay on that detour road. That truck might still be blocking the other one. My mind was nagging me to stop at Casey's. I pulled in, a bit miffed at the red sporty car parked at an angle at the end of the pumps. It wasn't really in my way, but would make it awkward when I backed out of my space at the side of the lot.

Off I went, a twenty burning a hole in my pocket, yearning to be spent on lottery tickets. I carefully stepped my way down the sloped concrete lot, headed for the ramp area of the sidewalk. Gotta hand it to the Casey's corporation! They always have a ramp at one end or the other. This one is NOT by the free air hose, so it's almost always unobstructed and used by me. A lady coming out leaned her back against the open door to allow me to pass inside. The clerk is one I see there all the time. "What can I get you, Sweetie?"

I chose the two newest releases of the $5 tickets. Handed over my twenty. You know what I got back in change, right? TWO FIVE-DOLLAR BILLS. Looks like I'm on track again as the Five-Dollar Daughter. I was smiling to myself (no need to advertise my looniness by actually grinning like a Jack-O-Lantern in public) as I headed back down the sidewalk to the ramp area.

As I glanced down at my tickets, squinting to see what number on the roll they were, something caught my eye. There on the bright yellow newly-painted curb was a PENNY! I swear that had not been there when I walked in. Val always scans the ground for pennies lately. And also watches out for level footing. I'm sure I was looking down at that area as I stepped up the ramp to go inside. But now I saw it. And I picked that penny up! I'm getting quite a collection, you know.

Here they are, my fives and the penny, posing on T-Hoe's console.

The penny is 1999. Still not significant to me. It's nice and shiny on the front, but the back has some swatches of blue stuff on it. Maybe that signifies the fact that I might be blue from those two lottery tickets being losers. I'm not, though.

I feel like a winner, taking that self-imposed detour, and gaining VALidation of my FiveDollarDaughterness, and a random ground penny.

Life is good.

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Alternate Title:
The Five-Dollar Daughter is Going to Penny Like It's 1999!