Rambling To Free Donuts

There are rambles to far-away places and rambles to downtown places with donuts. It's one of the Ramble Axioms of Life, though not particularly well known, that justify talking about donuts on a Ramble Blog.

Especially when the donuts are free.

The story begins with Happy Daughter, who got a job at a local restaurant known for its bakery. Come to find out, the restaurant's reputation is well deserved. Happy Daughter now brings home donuts that are simply exquisite. And she gets them free if they're left over for the day or half price if they're fresh. The leftover donuts are so good I asked her if we could have a date to get some fresh ones this morning.

Which brings us to a blogworthy story. 

The day was already off to a good start because of a friend on the West Coast who reported being chased by a skunk during is morning walk. That's a thought that's never, ever going to lose its charm. Ever.

The day was going to get even better, as I soon discovered. I arrived at the bakery/restaurant before HD did. It's across from the Saturday Farmers' Market in Leavenworth, nestled among other businesses in historical buildings that are slowly...very slowly...being brought back into shape.

As I was waiting for Happy Daughter I began chatting with the very nice, baby-expecting lady behind the donut counter. After hearing part of her life story she gave me a free donut. Sometimes, Life Is Good:

I did not, and could not, know that life was about to get even better. Happy Daughter arrived and we bought a box of donuts (for half price) and shared them in front of the restaurant. Counter Lady then gave me a free cup of coffee to go with my free donut. Here is a picture of HD sitting in front of the restaurant, where she works, across from the Farmers' Market, which was humming, looking down Cherokee Street, where C. (our widow friend) lives just past the end of the street in this picture to the right. Note the happy disposition of HD. She's always like that:

As we sat watching the market the owner of the restaurant walked over and we began chatting. Of course, we also chatted with passersby...many of whom we knew from around town. The owner then offered me a deal. She said that on Saturday mornings she would give me free fresh donuts and coffee if I would sit out in front of her restaurant and talk to people who strolled by! I thought she was kidding, but no, she earnestly repeated her offer. She thinks it will help get the restaurant more exposure. SCORE! Sometimes Life Is Very Very Good, indeed.

So is this, technically, a ramble? WHO CARES? Free donuts and coffee on Saturdays, folks! As Calvin says, "That sounds like heaven for you." Yes, sir, it does.

My father would be so proud.

Blog Silence

Devoted readers of this blog will note the absence of postings since Colorado Springs. As many of you know, this is not because of an absence of rambles. It is because of the sad loss of my beloved father on January 4, 2015 following a month-long period of hospitalization. This tragedy, and the long-standing tradition of camera forgetting, has impeded the blogging process. So there have been no postings for the rambles to Washington, DC, New Mexico (yet again), Georgia or Santa Barbara (and subsequent road trip home to Kansas). The good news is that there are photos of the Pakistani wedding in Springfield, Virginia last month and so there will be a legacy blog post on one of those trips. Devoted readers will certainly have that to look forward to. If I can figure out how to get the photos out of the memory of my state-of-the-art flip phone. So there it is.