I could tell you about how close Dung got to being put through a wall or how his friend Alex might have found a big kid he couldn’t handle but what fun would that be.
Could tell you about the fine fellow who told me he hopes Hamas comes to visit me and how I smiled and said that might be a big mistake for them.
Sometimes living in Texas gives people ideas about who you are and what you might carry as inventory in your car, person or home. No need to confirm or deny such things.
Just smile and move on because life is too damn short to get stuck in ruts.
Got all sorts of visitors in town for the coming week to see the eclipse and make the dog wonder where they have been for the past two years.
Somewhere mid eclipse I’ll think of my dear friend David and remember his telescope and how 38 years ago we watched Halley’s Comet on a dark cliff in Malibu.
It was a spectacular moment I have never forgotten and part of why I love looking at the sky.
I remember it well and our discussion about whether we would see it again. It is part of my plan for my 92nd year but I can’t tell you much more about what will happen then.
I have ideas but you know what it is like to ask about those questions you don’t want to answer.
I remember standing in the dark that night alongside of girls, some of whom wrapped themselves around us and others who made nasty comments about how friendly some were.
I remember talking to the guys about our plans for that night and a million other evenings afterwards in which at least one of us said will we or won’t we?
Will we or won’t we was an expression a girl used to use when she would ask if we would get together and sometimes she’d add “it will happen when you get your head out of your ass.”
Time came about when I said that cranial rectum problem had reversed and foisted it upon her. I said something else about being someone who makes things happen.
Said that quite a bit for quite some time now.
That has been one of my go to expressions I use when I am dealing with people personally or professionally who are acting as obstacles and roadblocks.
I once told a supervisor they ought to stay out of my business unless I invited them in because my yard is like Jumanji back there.
That steroid the doc prescribed heard from me too. I snarled at the bottle about it getting in the way and irritating me.
I knew it was inanimate and incapable of responding but sometimes you have to vent and I did.
That Apple Watch has been an invaluable tool in helping me get back to where I want to be though the process has been slow.
Slow is ok with me as long as it is steady and I can see progress. Though there are moments where body and soul ache in ways that can suck the life out of you.
I understand better than ever people who say I am not that person any more because in so many ways I am not him, but I see that guy looking through my eyes and I remember.
That got me thinking about whether I wanted to pick up a book called Outlive The Science and Art of Longevity by Peter Attia MD, Bill Gifford.
Wondered if there is real substance in it and if I would follow the guidelines or not. Been considering it, but also have this innate sense about who I am and what I can do without any guidance.
Could go sideways and wander was afar afield, but I am pretty good at blazing my own trails and figuring crap out on the way. That fits how I like to live.
Was told about 18 months ago the fun part of watching me is not knowing what I will say or do. I asked what that meant and was told I am willing to risk breaking things and willing to ask for forgiveness afterwards.
They are not wrong but I have learned to slow down and try to ask the right questions. Those questions are important because the answers are how you determine how to build your roadmap.
That reminds me that any time someone says I don’t want to hurt you there is a good chance they are about to do that.
I heard that not long ago when I was doing blood work. I sneezed and moved my arm a bit.
The lab tech responded more aggressively than I appreciated so I stared at them the whole time they put the needle in my arm and then smiled broadly.
It was as ridiculous on my end as her complaining about an involuntary sneeze.
The College Girl
The college girl came home for the weekend. I picked her up at her apartment Friday afternoon and enjoyed listening to her fill me in on classes and her life.
She mentioned a guy I know she is not interested in but I asked if she wanted me to shake him a bit.
“He has a small neck and small hands. Wouldn’t be hard to shake him with my right and give him a noogie with my left.”
She rolled her eyes at me and I laughed.
College is flying by and it is clear the day is coming when her year-round home won’t be here. That is how it should be but damn it is hard to believe how fast it is all going by.
How can it be 38 years since that night in Malibu or 26 years since I said my final goodbye to David. He is forever young and the rest of us are…older.
