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Show THE ZEPHYRJAN-FE- kicked me in the head! As I stretched my arms out to console the the mountain biker stood up and pulled his helmet on. "Cute kids, he said, backing away from us toward his bike. "Thanks for the water. I'd better get on down the road." Hey, wait! I wanted to say. Tm a widow. And they realty dont fight like this dll the time, they're really pretty sweet kids. And I lane riding mounting bikes, I have an Ibis in the shed...Oh, forget it He's history. Joshua was horsing around next to the television when a leg on my TV stand collapsed, and the television, VCR and table lamp were all on a slide heading for the floor. Somehow I managed to grab diem before any of them fell and broke, but then I was stuck there, my arms and body holding off disaster, but unable to do anything to correct it. I knelt in that awkward embrace for a minute, trying to figure out what to do...and then suddenly the end table, the lamp, the television and the VCR all became a metaphor for everything I was trying to juggle in my life as a single working mother of two preschoolers. Every bed feat had to be made, every spilled cup of juice that had to be cleaned up, every tear that needed to be kissed away, every tank of gas and quart of oil that had to be added to the Jeep, every paychedc that needed to be earned and deposited and used to pay bills, every sack of groceries that needed to be carried into the house and every sack of garbage that needed to be carried out., and I lost it "I can't do this ANYMORE!" I sobbed. "Why did your daddy have to die? I miss him bo much and I need him! I need someone to help me!" Joshua stared at me with disbelieving eyes, then stepped toward me. "I will help you, mammy," he said. 1 will help you." mini-combatan- ts, i 44 $ It is 110 degrees in the City Market parking lot as I wheel our cart of groceries out to the car. Both foe kids are whining because I won't let them have a Mickey Mouse popside until we're home, and the whines become full fledged wails by the time I get the sacks loaded up and them buckled into their car seats. I walk across the squishy asphalt to take the cart to the cart return caddie, enormously pleased to find that the children's screams are almost inaudible this far away, when from out of nowhere a slightly mud splattered, metallic grey Toyota Forerunner with Colorado plates materializes beside me. male with Tm on my way up to Alaska for the summer, says the driver, a a sexy voice and wavy brown hair. "Feel like an adventure?" I gaze into his blue eyes for a moment Excuse me? Feel like an adventure? Do I look like I could use an adventure? PAGE 23 1994 B Alaska. Honey-glaze- d salmon...glaciers ten miles long, calving icebergs into the ocean.. .plump blueberries heaped in a wicker basket on their way to becoming a pie..jnountain meadows bathed in alpenglow at 11:30 p.m... in the distance? No. Surely not.) (Did I hear someone yell "Mom-myAll new territory I chew my lower lip, considering. It's been so long, too long... foe to me. Last time we ferried up to Juneau and flew to Anchorage... bar-b-q- ue !" Al-Ca- n. "Mommy!" Would I be able to find my friend, Thea, working up a Denali Park? Or see Stan over in King Salmon? "MOM - MEEE! Geez, I wish whoever belonged to those kids would go see what they wanted. My Alaskan adventurer shifts in his seat waiting for my answer. He's pretty cute, alright., bet he'd know how to jump start a dead battery... "Excuse me, Ma'am, but is that your daughter climbing out the car window over there?" A sweet looking grocery clerk has his hand on my shoulder, and suddenly foe Forerunner vanishes into the shimmering heat waves of the parking lot. I whirl around to see Bethany's frilly sodced feet waving frantically out the half open window. Wonderful. What did she do with her shoes this time? But at least I memorized foe Forerunner's license plates. It belongs to a guy from Durango. And he's single. And he loves children. Even uncivilized children. Thank you, God. next summer. Maybe we can all do the - Al-C- an Editor's note: Mary Yates and " the guy from Durango," Jim Grizzard, will be married in early January. For all those cynics who watched Sleepless in Seattle and called it a foolish fantasy, talk to Mary and Jim...you guys are an inspiration to hopeless romantics everywhere. Take care of each other. thirty-somethi- 2 4 i 4 f f HAe (Zlecut ENTRADA RANCH Residential & Commercial cleaning General & deep cleaning Maintenance services Reasonable rates "Come to where the action . 1 Heam Yes isn't we do windows ...Just the river, LET US SERVE ALL YOUR PROPERTY NEEDS the canyons, and the quiet. Complete Jim & Lynn Kirkpatrick houses & adjacent cabins P.O.Box 567 Moab, UT 84532 801-259-57- 96 259-257- 1 |