Somewhere during the spring of 2018 during one of my multiple trips back to LA to spend time with my dad I ran into a group of semi drunk college students who thought they knew me.
It was a late evening in the Valley and I was out by myself decompressing after a day of driving dad to and from his chemotherapy.
They were ahead of me in line at the grocery store, cases of beer in their hand, a box of Altoids, a soda and some candy bar in mine.
I made eye contact with one of them and he started up with me. He was certain he knew me and I was certain I had no interest in speaking with him.
Initially I ignored his attempt to start up conversation because I could see he wasn’t quite right but he persisted in trying to ask me questions.
Given that I knew my father was dying and the uncertainty that came with that and living out of state there was a part of me that entertained determining if I really was as good as I once was.
So when he asked me how we knew each other I said “I had sex with your mother and smiled.”
It didn’t endear me to him and when he drew himself up to his full 5’4 135 pounds of drunk and stupid a moment of sanity returned.
He spit out some profanity and I said nothing because no good would come of it. I dropped what I had on the side and walked out of the store, got in the car and left.
I was grateful that none of those boys tried to stop me because it avoided a moment of stupidity for all of us.
Sometimes I think those moments of stupidity are the difference in our lives. That includes those we avoid as well as those we crash into full bore.
SodaStream & The Eye Doc
August was a good month to me as I won multiple contests one of which gifted me with a SodaStream Terra that arrived today.
This evening I went out and purchased a few flavors to try thinking that might be fun though thus far I haven’t tried any of them.
The sparkling water was good and helps keep me in the clear with the eye doc I saw today who wrote a new prescription for glasses and instructions to drink more water to help with dry eyes.
Good old dry eyes, the gift that came some years post Lasik.
The good doctor told me that overall my eye health is good and that though I have cataracts I am years away from any need to do anything about them.
Technically the eyeglasses are for driving at night but I find myself wearing them a bit more frequently when my eyes are feeling dry.
It is one of the joys of aging.
Talked to the dentist about that last week and will probably talk to my PCP about it too as I seem to have decided that September is Josh’s month to visit his medical providers.
Call it preparation for the change that is coming in the near future.
The Comfort Of A Familiar Shmata
I am due for another sweep through the closet, garage and dresser to rid myself of some stuff I don’t use very often.
Though I must concede that a couple of the items I marked for giveaway got pulled from the pile because the comfort of a familiar shmata cannot be overstated.
Sometimes you think that you have gotten all that you can from one and then things happen that make you recognize there is more life in them.
A sparkle you haven’t seen or a feeling that you had forgotten about creeps up and you can smell the past and hear the faint echo of the future.
And if you are a guy like me who knows things, well you don’t ignore that sense of something.
So you pull those from the pile and prepare yourself for the adventure that is to come, even if you can’t identify when it will hit because you know in your heart it is not a question if but when.
Ask me and I’ll tell you the future is pretty damn bright and not just because my eyes were dilated.
