That’s All She Wrote

Week_Ends: #6

The hardest part of being a gate guard for me is not living near my family and friends. That will always be the hardest part.

Justin showing me the frog they just caught

One of the unexpected perks in this job has been making new friends. Since we’re staying with the same rig, we’re getting to know the folks who pass in and out of our gate. One of the most pleasant surprises has been how nice  folks are.

There’s rarely a day when someone doesn’t drop off dinner or offer to pick up groceries, or just check and see if we need anything.

Often, people stop by to tell me something I’ve never heard of, or, like just now as I was writing this paragraph, to show me show me something! You’re right, Justin, that’s one big frog!

Today is May Day. I can’t compete with the snakes and frogs and hogs we’ve been shown. I’m just hoping to get to the trucks before all the candy blows out of the basket!

May Day basket, just grab a handful!

I received a Dear John letter this week. Technically it was a Dear Debbie email  from John.

Before I started blogging, I’d never met anyone on-line. I actually know all 38 of my Facebook friends. I’m old, I know.

John and Terry are fellow gate guards. I’ve followed The Adventures of John and Terry for a while now. John, a native-born Texan, has been helping me with my Texas-isms!

Heidi and I have been shuffling around in Gonzales county since January. What a surprise when John and Terry arrived just outside of Smiley a couple of weeks ago!

John wrote that he’d like to stop by and drop off some books (thank you, John) and just say, hey.  I sent directions. Their blog is witty and well written. Not a good sign. I was dubious. I really liked the anonymous John that I’d come to know.

An Adventure with John and Henry

When a teenager pulled up and parked behind the Jeep, I thought it was a lost soul. It was John. OK, he’s not quite a teenager, but I could almost be his mother (which is true for practically everyone I meet on this job)…

I won’t be sending a Dear John letter to end our blogging connection. John was just as warm and interesting in person as he is when he writes. Can’t wait to meet Terry!

Side note: Dear John letters are thought to have originated during WWII. They were often written to soldiers by their sweethearts, telling them that distance had dissipated the sweetness. These letters were famously abrupt, as in: Dear John, goodbye.

And that’s where we get the term that’s all she wrote.  That’s all she wrote is used to indicate the rather abrupt end of a story.

That’s all she wrote.