Tuesday in Franklin

Betty and I have a saying--one that she coined years ago: "Nothing will deter us from our  mission."

When we start out looking for a place we remember from years ago, we mean nothing! will keep us from finding it.

The search today, however, did not yield results.  I was looking for a gallery I liked two years ago when I was here with Mike. It has disappeared.

We went into another one, but it was the kind of gallery that sells crocheted tissue box covers, paintings of flat pumpkins, jeweled crosses, and wooden spoons.  We made the mistake of asking the proprietor about a good place to eat.

Rolie Polie's was touted as "Southern fusion cuisine."  We ordered a salad that promised cranberries, pecans, and feta cheese--and we asked for strips of roasted chicken on top.

"This is hands down the worst salad I have ever had," I said to the waitress who had suggested it.

Betty looked down at her lap.

"What do you want me to do about it?" the waitress asked.

"I want to not pay for it, for one thing," I said--pointing out, accurately, that there had only been one pecan and three cranberries.  Betty would say later, "There wasn't a single bite of Feta in mine" but she didn't bring up this point to the waitress.

The greenery in said salad came in huge hand-sized hunks and was weighted down with Balsamic dressing. The chicken tasted like boiled chicken from a freezer bag.

As we walked out, having only paid for tea, Betty said, "I can't believe you did that"--to which I responded, "Well, I saved you ten dollars. Sometimes it pays to be a bitch."

Betty has shocked me a few times, but this was--according to Betty--my most shocking behavior in all these decades.  She wonders if I have a brain tumor or something!

After our three bites of salad, we proceeded to a photo op I'd spotted earlier in the day--a cornucopia of pumpkins by the side of the road.

Betty is always reluctant to pull over by the side of the road for my photographic requests, but she did it.  As I climbed up the grassy bank for a close-up, stumbling and slipping, I could feel Betty rolling her eyes and laughing--which made me laugh so hard it was hard to get down off my bank.