Where's Norma?

Last week I returned to the greenhouse for work. Most of the employees had returned including Jan, my co-contributer to this blog, although there was something awry. Our coworker Norma was nowhere to be seen. This was very strange. First off, you need to know Norma is the hardest working woman in the greenhouse business. First to arrive in the morning, last to leave at night, does most of the weekend watering and outside the greenhouse she is busy counting birds for the DNR and trying to build a herd of champion Guernsey cows. She is farm stock. Uber midwestern work ethic material. So when she wasn't around we immediatly asked boss lady Suzanne, "Where's Norma?" Suzanne said that Norma had decided to take the Empire Builder Amtrak out to see her sister in Seattle, but Suzanne added, Norma had told her she would be back 2 days before the scheduled start up time of all of us returning to work. There has been no word from her. Among the employees, we were concerned.
My notions on what had happened to her naturally lean to the nefarious. Something like, she suddenly became alcoholic, spent most of her time on the train in the bar car, fell wildly for the bartender and moved in with him in some place like Barstow or San Luis Obispo. Either that, or somehow she joined up with a reemerging sect of the Symbionese Liberation Army and was now robbing banks.
Seems that neither of my ideas are reality. Here is the real story. While in Seattle, Norma attended a Nordic music fest. If anything musical is going on, Norma always brings her tambourine. She was spotted in the crowd by visiting band The Gayes from Sweden and they were so taken by her mad tambourine skills that they immediately asked her to join the band. She's on tour. End of story.

OR so it would seem. This morning the UPI released this story:
Sarkozy finds new love
The recent marriage of French President Nicolas Sarkozy to former model-turned-singer Carla Bruni was annulled hours after it was first announced in the press on Saturday. In a move that startled even the world weary French, Sarkozy left his new bride for a charming Wisconsin dairy lass-turned-Swedish pop star. They were spotted leaving their Paris hotel early Sunday morning. According to sources who know the couple they are headed either for New Hampshire or the Riviera. Perhaps both.
If Mr Sarkozy's romance with Ms Bruni was the subject of intense speculation, this new twist in the French president's love life has the populace talking. The event has stirred so much excitement that the government has temporarily lifted the newly imposed ban on smoking in public cafes and restaurants in order to facilitate intense conversations over wine and cigarettes.
In a poll taken just hours ago, Mr Sarkozy's approval ratings have risen dramatically. It is suspected that word of Ms Norma's love of dairy cows may have played a significant role in the president's improved public image.
"We just like cows. They give us milk. And from the milk we get cheese. Yes? Fromage," explains Henri Boucher. Mr Boucher was enjoying some fromage and smoking, as he made this pronouncement at a small cafe in the 2nd arrondissement.

So au revoir Norma, best to you. We greenhouse employees will have a hard time filling your Wellies.