Bouquets

There was a British sitcom called Keeping up appearances. It was about a woman named Hyacinth Bucket who insisted her name be pronounced Bouquet. Hyacinth lived to impress her neighbours, and was constantly embarrassed by her own family who didn't measure up to her own strict standards. Poor Hyacinth.

This post has little to do with any of that, except that JB and I have a theory about Crazy Car Lady and her crazy car antics: being new to Canada and North American car culture, she isn't entirely comfortable with the notion of owning a car, and doesn't really know what to do with it. She is trying to learn by observation, but can't really make sense of all the to-ing and fro-ing of cars up and down our street. She tries to participate, but doesn't get it quite right. She's keeping up appearances.

Bill tends to think that JB and I exaggerate every story he hears from us, and the CCL episoded were no different. Until he witnessed it himself yesterday. CCL came out of her house, got in the car, drove into another driveway, reversed, and then parked on the street in front of our house. In front of our driveway in fact. Right in front. She went back into the house, came out again, and moved her car forward so that it no longer blocked our cars. Odd, right?

Today, as I came home from work, she came out of her house, got in her car -- which was parked in her driveway once more -- and drove away. But in the opposite direction from what I was expecting. We live on a crescent, and one way is very short to the main road, and the other takes days to the main road. (well, come on...obviously not, but I'm making a point here). She took the long way. By the time I had gathered groceries and such, there she came again, and parked on the street in front of her house this time. She had driven around in a big circle so she could move her car onto the street.

This is becoming quite a lot of fun!