In the midst of the hottest Michigan summer since the 1800's, on a 96 degree humid afternoon with very little breeze, I sit. Even in the shade of a choke cherry tree my Big Lots reject plastic chair offers little comfort as I'm waiting for my next client to drive up. I have a sheen of sweat on my arms that almost makes my 80 gauge sunscreen appear to float. I try to rub it down but nothing changes. It still glistens.
Directly across from me but separated by a couple of hundred feet of roasting parking lot is the back of Duthlers grocery. Duthlers sits just across the street from an Aldis which is a very popular discount grocery chain and is on the same block, same large parking lot actually, as a Family Fare, a big local chain of grocery retailers. Family Fare is so popular that when they built the one on our block they neglected to tear down the old one which is located only one city block away. Both are busy.
This competition would seem to hurt a little guy like Duthlers but they must have found a certain niche that allows them to prosper. I'm told that 80 per cent of their day time business is paid with food stamps and that the evening traffic is an entirely different clientele.
Duthlers is in an old building and from my shady vantage point I can see their rusty roof air conditioner units and rusty steel back doors. The faded yellow cinder block walls have openings for two large PVC pipes that discharge massive amounts of water on a day like today, forming two rivers that follow the slope of the parking lot. The back of the building containing the warehouse area is single story with a flat tar roof while the rest rises up one more with a peak in the middle of the steel roof.
This combination must be ideal for pigeons because there are at least 22 birds that call Duthlers home. The numbers vary depending on the success of the local hawk. One of the pigeons has a totally different coloration than the others, a nice almost reddish brown. While most of the pigeons seem to enjoy the closeness of the others company it's different for the odd guy. I've seen the flock take off, circle the parking lot and then land on the edge of the upper peak. The last on in is Mr. Reddish Brown who sets down four spaces from his cousin. He takes three little hops to close the gap and the cousin hops three spaces further. This repeats itself until they run out of available peak meaning both birds have to take off and start over.
In the morning the back of Duthlers is busy with various truckers unloading their goods. Sitting here watching reminds me of the Andy Griffin Show (bye Andy) where Goober tells Barney that he has to leave because it's going to fun watching them unload a truck at the local Co-OP. I suppose I should start worrying about myself but don't none of you laugh until you try it.
Anyway, today the trucks are gone, the sun is hot, the air is moist and the wind is on vacation. I'm praying that my next person comes with a working air conditioner and that they are normal so the parking lot portion of the test isn't two to three times longer than what is necessary. I look up from my prayers and I see a guy pull out a cart from one of those back doors at Duthlers and the cart is loaded with full and half full bags of ice.
Something must be wrong or outdated with this stock because the young man, still dressed in the coat he must need for his warehouse duties, begins to tear open the plastic bags and dumps the contents on the ground. This goes on until there is quite a large pile of ice sitting there. The young man finishes his task, goes back into the building, and here I am, so close and yet so far. I really want to walk over and stuff my head into that pile but that would require getting up and starting to sweat. And what if the heat were playing tricks with me and the ice is just a mirage?
My cousin Marcia just got back from Alaska. Before returning she posts on Face Book that it's 50 there and what should she expect in Michigan. I should have replied - "Don't know but right now I'm looking at a pile of ice and it hasn't melted yet."
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