Ballard Street by Jerry Van Amerongen for July 22, 2015

This, of course, was before Darin lost all his hair, those big thoughts were too much for the follicles.

Della is very bold, to wear bluejeans on Ballard Street… the bastion of demure dotted dresses.

Darin delights in Della’s bravura….I daresay he delights in Della’s….um….well…. er…In any case, he doesn’t dare display any dereliction of duty….knowing her admiration and appreciation might be all that allows his… close … enjoyment of her assets.

The thing is, Darin’s been having this problem for a while now…things just seem to break…

He worries that it might affect his big dream…the dream he’s finally started to realise…

Not only to do something daring, something adventurous…that he’s wanted to do since he was seven…But to really impress Della…and show her that as much as he enjoys his “Dungaree Doll,” as he likes to call her…. he wears the real blue jeans in the family….So he doesn’t want to have to worry about the rope breaking!

Monkey!Does Darin need a permit for that thing?

Oh gosh…I can’t wait for the Monkey to get back…I mean…. besides the fact that he’s my good friend, and I’m worried about him…and we miss him….and all that….I hate deciding whether people need permits.

Darin did that on purpose. If you look closely you can see where he sawed part the way through the handle then applied just enough pressure and presto no digging. Now he’ll have to make a trip to the hardware store and we know how long that takes.When he finally returns home he’ll have everything he needs except a new shovel. Darin only diminished his value to his wife.

Bev

Bull dog puppies and babies sort of look alike. Too cute !

Darin didn’t really diminish his value, only his utility at the present time. After all, Della can just hand him her shovel. Who’s diminished then?

Good morning.

Poor Darin. It’s not his fault that things have a way of falling apart around him. When he was in school they called him Darin the Destroyer. He left a trail of broken toys, pencils, rulers, chairs, and bicycles in his wake.As an adult, he watched helplessly, as his dreams dissolved, and his desires were dashed by devilish demons determined to damn his decisions and diminish his self worth.Just now, on the way to Ballard Hardware, Hosiery, & Horse Hotel, he broke the shifter off of his Studebaker.

Good thing for him that today is the 4th Wednesday of the month, and the Golden Eagle flies. ( For those few of readers not retired, yet, that means that the Social Security Check is either in the mail or in the bank ) !

Have a wonderful day Balardeers !

Darin’s wife is thinking with only one shovel this will take longer to dig the moat.Bev….I nibble on my wife’s ear like that and she does the same thing….falls over…..with the same look of disgust.

Beviek – great idea with the train car – put a piece of junk to good use. 2old & SusanSunshine – great story embellishments. miscreant1 – by the time he got home from the hardware store, he didn’t need a shovel – there was nothing left to do. Women don’t mess around, we just get the job done.

Darin passed the test and resisted the Ring of Power. He must diminish.

Chairs usually have casters – not coasters – but after all, this is Ballard Street.