Statutes of limitations?

You're walking down the street one day feeling, for whatever good reason there might be, pretty good about yourself and your life. You turn the corner, look up, and there's that certain someone who reminds you of something you, well, you wanted to forget. What's your statute of limitations on these things? How long does it take you to get over something you've wanted to forget, to the point of Eastness from Westness that you can look up at the certain someone, smile like a somnambulant, and breeze on by without a wince or head-duck?

I don't know if I've got an answer for that, for myself. I think it's pretty long though. It takes me a while to forget. Today was a double-whammy day. You can, even in a small community like ours, live a remarkably long time (months) without wincing or turning and walking the other way. I guess I was on a roll, and today was karma-time. The wheel just keeps turning.

So I'm trying to catch that one smart-alec chicken that manages to get out of the pen (and there are foxes around, so it's in her best interest to be inside for the night, and I turn the corner, around the coop, talking chickenese and trying not to sound pissed off, and I have one of those moments. The second one of the day. In this case it was just the voice of someone from the next yard. Well I kept the wince inside and kept on talking to the bird and following it around back and forth like a fool, waiting for my chance to corner it and pick it up (no mean feat when you're dealing with a robust black hen who thinks you might be dangerous - it's right!). Once I caught it and returned it to the coop, I walked back inside, somewhat out of sorts, and wishing I could get past it. (But I know it'll take a long long time yet; the statute is still quite unlimited.)

The first was in an innocent question, of an innocent person, at work. We were both just doing our jobs. We were both doing our job prudently. But her answer to the question turned everything awry. She couldn't have known. She wouldn't have tried to raise the spectre she did, but her answer made me snap at her a bit. I allowed it to turn me into a bit of an ass - I acted as if it might have been her fault. It wasn't. It wasn't really mine either. But there you go. My reaction in this episode was so strong that it was obvious to another colleague who came by my room later to see how I was doing. Ouch.

Forgive and forget they say. As far as the East is from the West, they say too. But what if you've got a good memory, and you can't get that far away because you all live together in a small town? What to do what to do. I can't just get over it. I mean, I could, if they could. But I'm not hopeful. Not at this point. Sometimes adages and proverbs are just full of crap. Maybe there ought to be a statute of limitations on whether you can use them to answer questions like this. The limitation would be "never."

Ride report

in: -1'C wind 10 ks NW

out: 0'C wind 5 ks W

(not a good day if you're a wind turbine that likes to turn)