A whole city street one block long was loaded with antlers on Saturday.  It was the annual Boy Scout fund raiser.  The boys collect the antlers on the National Elk Reserve to ensure they don’t get caught or damage the feeding trucks.  The four anthler arches on Town Square are made form these same kind of antlers.  This annual event kicks of the season and brings in people from all over the US and around the world.  Plus the locals enjoy the opportunity to mix and mingle.  Really fun event.

So this week is Employee Recognition Week at St. John’s and yesterday we had the Chili Cookoff.  I tasted all seven entries and they were each gourmet and at the same time unique.  And unlike other Chili Cookoffs I have been to, they featured ingredients indigenous to the area, buffalo, elk, and pheasant.  Vegetarian, Chili Verde, Habanero, and Steak rounded out the other four.  I am glad I wasn’t a judge because I don’t think I could have picked the best.  Results will be revealed on Friday.  Yum!!!

This is a frequent event at a hospital.  Flowers are delivered to the hospital’s front desk and then taken by employees or volunteers to patients.  Yesterday I got on the elevator heading back to my office and a lady had a beautiful arrangement of flowers in a vase.  We chatted briefly admiring the flowers and noted the wonderful fragrance.  When our ride ended and the elevator doors were about to open, she notice my name tag and said, ‘Oh these are for you!’  What a surprise.  She followed me into my office and put the flowers on the table.  The note was from my daughter wishing me a Happy Mother’s Day.  What a wonderful gift to enjoy all week.

I was getting my lunch at the cafeteria today and noticed some loaves of Banana Bread for sale.  They were made by the chefs in the Refuge Grill with some bananas that were too ripe to sell as whole fruit.  I bought a loaf and shared it with my HR team and brought the rest home.  Since I can’t drive, I have not had as much variety around here as usual so it was great fun.   And I have never put chunks of peanut butter in banana bread before but it is really good, especially pared with chocolate chips.  Yum!!

So far I have been using my Roll About to get to and from work since Audrey left last Sunday.  With the cooperation of the weather and the fact that it is only just over a block to work, this is going well.  Today I decided to get out on my own and headed to the post office to get my mail.  It is about 7 blocks away so I paced myself and stopped at only one shop while I was downtown.  Since I can’t drive I haven’t gotten out too much since I arrived in Jackson so it was really fun.

Then I got all the way home and realized I left my keys in the mailbox.    Sigh     I called the post office and Chris remembered me as the lady with the broken ankle and scooter and confirmed that my keys were there.  He said he would save them for me.  I tried to call a few people who are in my cell phone but none of them answered and that didn’t surprise me because the weather is perfect today so they are probably out and about.  Then I decided to go to the church which is next door to see if anyone was there that might help.  There were a handful of cars in the parking lot but the 2 doors I tried were locked and I didn’t get any response when I knocked. 

Next I went out to the street which is Broadway, the main drag of Jackson.  My hope was that I would find someone to help me.  For about 5 minutes a number of cars went by but when I waved they just waved back.  It is a friendly town.  Then I saw I guy pulling out of his driveway across the street from the church and he had a firefighter plate so I waved him down. 

He came over and I found that he was retired from the fire department but had seen me from his window when I past his house on the way to the post office a little while ago.  I told him my dilemma and he was really happy to help.  I called my new friend Chris at the post office and told him that my next new friend, self described ‘Mean Gene’, would be there in a few minutes to pick up my keys.  Turns out that Chris knows Gene, no surprise. 

About 15 minutes later Gene came back with my keys which meant I could get back into my cabin.  He told me he had been named the Senior Citizen Man of the Year 2 years ago for being so willing to help others.  He has lived in Jackson since 1950 and built the home he lives in.  He can add another rescue to his long list of people he as saved.