Monday Ramblings from the Byrd Nest

Sometimes I have to wonder what bothers me more, machines that won't work properly or my brain which has these mental lapses. Either way, sometimes I think there are unseen goblins messing with me.

For instance, I recently prepared my coffee pot with the ingredients and set the timer so that when I got up the next morning there would be hot steaming coffee to greet me. Didn't happen. My trusty Hamilton Beach coffee pot let me down. I was so disappointed, but since I've had it for several years, I moaned a little, got down my smaller Mr. Coffee I keep in reserve and got a decent cup of coffee.

This tragedy was compounded by the fact that I live in a small town and, as most of you know, am boycotting Walmart, so I decided to check around and see what was my best alternative to get me another coffee pot. Since I still had my trusty little Mr. Coffee, I just set it up and thought I would take my time.

A few days later, I thought, well, there's really no reason to keep the old Hamilton Beach, so I picked it up to drain the water out before throwing it away. Now, why I had not already drained it when it broke is beyond me. I guess my brain was clouded or maybe I just didn't think about it because I had coffee, but as happens to me a lot of the time, the thought just slipped into never-never land.

Anyway, as I turned the pot over to the sink and poured, nothing came out. Funny, I thought, there doesn't seem to be any water in it. And then that light bulb that is reportedly over our heads went off or exploded or something, because I realized that my coffee pot was smarter than me. I mean, if I'm too far gone to realize you need water to make coffee, the pot actually outsmarted me and shut down so it wouldn't burn my house down. Is that a great safety feature or what for someone on a freeway to those senior moments?

You guessed it, I put water and coffee in it, pushed the magic button and there was coffee. It used to bother me when a machine was smarter than me, but now I'm thinking it may be a good idea. Just in case, though, my trusty miniature Mr. Coffee was packed away safely. Hopefully in a spot I can remember. Now, if I can just train that dryer to fold clothes.

A friend recently told me about her son catching a 25-pound catfish in a local river. Well, actually, when he was trying to get the fish unhooked, it jerked and lodged the fishhook through his hand. His wife had to cut the fishhook in two pieces and pull it out. So I guess it's up for grabs who caught who.

I once had something similar happen to me but I didn't get a fish. I actually caught myself as I was casting top-water flies. I kept trying to find my small fly bait and finally located it in my arm just below my elbow. It must have been a painless way for the fish to be caught, though, because I didn't even feel it until I kept tugging on the line and couldn't get it to come back to the rod. My fishing experience cost me more than losing a fish because I wound up at a clinic where they cut out the hook and gave me a tetanus shot. I can still hear those fish laughing at me. Even when I go by an aquarium, they seem to be looking at me as if I'm now an urban legend.

Hope you have a great week and thanks for reading.