I was tickled when I walked into the shelter out of the rain and spotted a good friend hunched over the table of plants, poking through what's left of the spring selection. The pickings aren't the greatest by this time of year, but the greenhouse rejects are a pretty good price compared to what they cost at the height of the prime planting season a week ago.
My friend hadn't heard me come in, so, in my best grade-school impersonation of authority, I called out, "HEY! What are you doing poking through the plants like that?"
That's always a fun way to greet a friend you haven't seen in awhile, especially on a gloomy day when a cheerful chuckle will splash some sunlight into a chance meeting.
At that, a middle aged lady I've never seen before turned around and stared at me with a look of astonishment, the likes of which I also have never seen before.
I sputtered... and came away with baskets of geraniums. But I had really wanted begonias.