Last week, while thumbing through a catalog I'd found on a table in a waiting room, I saw it: a solar-powered fiber optic rooster. I knew instantly what I was going to do with it. Within minutes, I'd borrowed the nearest computer and ordered one. It arrived at my house on Thursday of this week. The Husband and I carefully pried it out of its styrofoam shipping container. It was magnificent! Standing over a foot tall, its head, legs, and rear plumage were colorfully-painted metal, and its body (where the fiber optic filaments were) was irridescent glass.
Just before dusk, I peeped across the road to see if anyone was stirring in Pop-Pop's yard. Seeing the coast was clear, The Husband and I sneaked across the road and nailed the rooster's feet to a fence post at the end of Pop-Pop's driveway, where it would be in Pop-Pop's line of sight when he was sitting in his recliner by the living room window. We giggled, imagining him glancing out the window and seeing the color-changing ball of light hovering above the ground in the darkness....
We turned on the power switch. Nothing happened. We checked the instructions (always the last resort, eh?) and discovered that the solar battery needed to charge for 10 hours. We wished we'd waited until the battery had charged to set the rooster on the fence post, for Nanny and Pop-Pop would have all the next day to spot the rooster and might guess, when they finally saw the ball of light, where the light was coming from. Nevertheless, the deed was done; we'd just have to let the rooster charge its battery the next day and turn on the power switch that night.
We didn't think about the fact that the next night would be Friday, April 1.
So, yesterday evening, as we prepared to go out to dinner, I slipped across the road and turned on the rooster's power switch. Nothing happened. It was still daylight, though, and I hoped that the rooster, like city streetlamps, would begin to glow once the sun went down. And, sure enough, when we came back home after 10 p.m., we saw the glow of the fiber optic light in the darkness, long before we reached our driveway. We stood in the yard for a minute, watching it change colors: red...yellow...green...blue...white...red....
Heh....
We came inside the house and discovered a message on our answering machine: "Hey, it's Nanny. We were just wondering if the rooster's name is 'APRIL FOOL.' Talk to you later."
I can't wait to hear the rest of the story. ;)
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After 25 years of living in this house, we are finally about to get a concrete driveway and "real" sidewalks (as opposed to store-bought stepping stones) to the front and back doors. In anticipation of the work getting started, I spent my evenings this week digging up and moving plants that will be in the way, things I don't want to lose, like rose bushes, monkey grass, hosta. Work is supposed to commence Monday, if it doesn't rain. This weekend, we'll be moving the camper and the heavy "yard ornaments," like a fountain, some concrete planters, etc. Then, once the concrete is dry, we'll have to move the stuff back again and re-plant a wagon load of monkey grass.
I am dreading all the work, but excited, too. The hosta and monkey grass needed dividing, anyway, and the new concrete and the forced landscape re-arranging will certainly help the looks of the yard. There'll be enough old stepping stones to make a new base for the barbeque grill and maybe even a new "mini-patio" underneath a shade tree in the back yard.
Free beer to anyone who wants to come help. ;)
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