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likes the sound of gunfire. She almost tore the
door down trying to get in. You ready to go fishing?”
    “Sure, just let me put my purse in the house and check on
Mom. When I come back, I’ll help you get the fishing gear together.”
    Mom was busy putting everything just where she wanted it.
“I’m sure your dad will come in here and rearrange everything, so he can have a
place to put his junk. He had the movers put that loveseat in here and he said
he wanted a place to put the small television. I hope he doesn’t think this is
going to be his hide-out.”
    “Dad needs a place where he can go to watch football games
and all the other shows you don’t want to watch. I think it might be a good
idea. Think about it. You can always run him out if you want to sew. We’re
going fishing now, unless you want us to help you do something.”
    “No, you two go ahead. I’ll be fine. Just be back in time for
dinner. How about six
o’clock ?”
    “It sounds good to me, but don’t you want to wait in case we
catch some fish? You know if we catch any, Dad’s going to want them for
dinner.”
    She gave me one of her looks that let me know we weren’t
going to have fish tonight.
    “By the way, Dolores said the county fair’s in town. I
thought we might check it out, if you and Dad want to,” I said, knowing how
much Mom liked stuff like that.
    “Oh, that sounds wonderful, honey. I love fairs. Have you
said anything to your dad?”
    “Not yet, but I will,” I replied as I turned to leave. “We’ll
be back in a little bit, Mom.” I looked at Athena, who was now running around
my feet, jumping and trying to get my attention.
    “Come on, girl. You can go fishing, too.”
    I don’t know who had the most fun fishing. Dad and I laughed
at Athena when one of us would catch a fish, because she’d bark and prance
around as she tried to sniff our slippery friends. We caught several fish, but
didn’t keep any. They appeared to have some kind of fungus on their skin. I
think throwing the fish back into the water was a concept that confused Athena.
    “Minnie’s going to be so disappointed that we won’t be having
fish for supper,” I told Dad as we were walking back to the house.
    “Yeah, right.” He rolled his eyes as he stopped and turned to
me. “I’ve been meaning to talk to you about the lack of men in your life. It
just so happens that while you were gone, the deputy from up the road stopped
by to welcome us to the neighborhood, so we invited him to dinner. Don’t get
mad at us, it’s just a dinner.”
    Whoa! I thought to myself. I’ve barely been here two days and
they’re already trying to fix me up with somebody. Oh well, what could it hurt?
They mean well. I couldn’t help but have visions of Barney Fife from Mayberry,
RFD. The things we do for our parents!
    As Dad and I were coming around the bend, I noticed a black
motorcycle the size of a Volkswagen, sitting in the front yard. What now?
    I looked at Dad and said, “Have I moved to Mayberry? Every
time I turn around somebody’s dropping by. This is the friendliest place I’ve
ever seen.”
    “It kind of makes you wonder if anybody around here works,”
he commented.
    “Oh, I meant to tell you. The reason everybody’s not working
is because the county fair’s in town. It seems the whole town takes off work
and gets involved. It’s some big thing they do. They also have a buffet breakfast
at the fire station on Sunday. Mom and I thought it’d be fun if we all went. We
could meet more of our neighbors. What do you think?”
    “Whatever,” he said. I knew Mom loved this kind of thing, but
Dad couldn’t care less. He’d do whatever made Mom happy.
    The long walk up the driveway gave me plenty of time to
examine the man and woman I saw talking to Mom. Both were clad in black leather
pants and jackets. What kind of people dress like that when the temperature was
almost seventy degrees? They had to be the serious bikers.
    “Come on, Dad,” I