Nefertiti and a Dog Named Nell.

The last line of my last post read ‘Let’s see what September brings.’ Well, so far it’s brought yet more additions to the collection of woes filling up the backpack. Another one got added today and I can definitely feel the strands of the tether beginning to groan under the pressure.

But let’s have a little nothing to lighten the gloom just a little…

I was in one of my regular discount stores yesterday, and there’s a young woman working there who always seems unaccountably quiet and diffident. Being the sort of human being who sees other human beings not as fellow creatures but as dramatic characters to be studied and evaluated, she piqued my interest. I haven’t yet decided whether she’s introverted, shy, or maybe insecure, so occasionally I engage her in brief conversation to see what clues I can gather. (Maybe I shouldn’t be so presumptuous, but that’s how I’m made. And I do space out such occasions so she doesn’t feel overwhelmed by ageing – and possibly intrusive – masculine energy. Maybe I shouldn’t be so presumptuous, but that’s how I’m made.)

Yesterday I went through her till and noticed that she’d given her usually minimal eye make-up a bit of a makeover. They had little black lines sticking out at the sides, which I presume is a device to make them look wider. (Maybe I shouldn’t be so presumptuous, but that’s how I’m made.) I decided this could be one of those occasions.

‘What’s with the Nefertiti look?’ I asked her as she was dutifully scanning the cheese and onion pasties and solid vegetable frying oil through the till.

‘What do you mean?’

‘The new eye make-up. It makes you look Egyptian.’

‘Oh.’

It occurred to me that maybe the name was causing some difficulty. It does sound a little dubious, doesn’t it, if you’re unfamiliar with ancient Egypt and the monotheistic deity issue?

‘Nefertiti was a Queen of Egypt by the way, in case you didn’t know,’ I continued.

‘Oh.’

And then she handed me my 5p change which I put into the charity receptacle. She said ‘thank you.’ And then I left.

But that isn’t quite all…

Yesterday evening I met little Nell and one of her humans walking down the lane. She’s the cocker/springer spaniel cross who has received honourable mention before on this blog, and so much straining at the leash and subsequent cuddles naturally ensued. Nell, you see, is my very favourite dog fix now that dear Inca has left this earthly realm (at least I assume she has.)

And that’s all the light that has shone my way so far this September. It was just enough to lift the gloom sufficient to bother saying so.