The great Cicada invasion of 2021, as I remember it.

I go to the front door and survey the yard as I prepare to make a run to the mailbox to get the mail. Somehow it is still being delivered despite this plague of insects. The grass and sidewalk is strewn with the carapaces of molted Cicadas, discarded as they rose from the depths of the earth. I walk swiftly as I go down the sidewalk casting glances side to side. I can hear a subtle change in the humming as my presence is noted. There is a crunch, crunch, crunch as I make my way – no way to move without making an abundance of noise.

Suddenly a beady eyed scout flies my direction. I furiously swat it away as a warning to the others to keep their distance. I hastily swoop up my mail and now I am in a run as I scamper back to the safety of the house. The door slams behind me and the humming becomes more subdued as the red eyed demons relax their guard as I leave their sight.

Every 17 years the plague begins anew. They lay a new brood and that brood saps the lifeblood from the roots of the plants – more and more as their needs grow over the years. Then after stunting plant growth for years, they burst out of the ground and begin pruning the tops of all the plants. Laying waste to vast swathes of land as first tree's, then grass, then anything with a leaf is devoured. And when all the plants are gone – anything that moves.

We were now entering that last stage. I have to force the dog to go out at least once a day. In the beginning it was fun for him – he would playfully grab one and munch it when they first came out of the ground. But they kept coming out of the ground, more and more. At times it seemed like a volcanic eruption as scores of insects filed out of the ground. Leaving the yard pockmarked with holes as they exited. Then after awhile the hunter became prey. Now I have to drag the dog out of house, keeping watch while he hurriedly does his business and as soon as he is finished - he is off like a shot to the protection of the house.

We knew this was coming, so there are plenty of provisions but still the tedium of being under siege day after day as the red eyed hordes hungrily munch away is wearing upon us. First the pandemic and now just as that quarantine is lifted we are once again housebound. Nothing but the 4 walls of this house. It is enough to drive one crazy.

And then there is the daily humming as thousands and thousands awake in the morning. It rises and rises in volume as the sun warms them and they begin lustily calling for mates. Then it dies away as the sun goes down but in my mind I can still hear the humming and at night I awaken and look at the clock and count the number of hours until the horde arouses and starts their daily ritual. Filling the dry, dusty air with that incessant drone, only stopping their noise and feasting with the darkness of night.

The landscape is without life – save for the cicadas as far as the eye can see. Tree's that should be full of leaves, reduced to stark, bare limbs as if it were the dead of winter. The lawn is dust and a few sparse clumps of grass, too withered even for the voracious cicadas to digest. With no grass the ground dries out and becomes dust. Now dust devils wander about the landscape as though intent on inflicting as much damage as possible upon this barren land.

Finally I can't take this desolation and isolation anymore. Florida – there are no cicadas down there, at least according to the news. A place free of the cursed insects and their infernal humming. It's as though they are trying to drive you out of the house and into their hungry mouths.

Now its breeding time where they climax their time out of the ground by mating and laying eggs for the next brood that will slowly throttle the life blood out of the land. So yes this is it, time to make a run for for freedom.

I wait for night as that is when they are resting and I grab what possessions I can in one arm and I drag the dog to the car with the other. We have to be quick before any are awakened. He seems reluctant to go, I have to drag him down the sidewalk – maybe it is the fear of having to run through a gauntlet of these insects I reason to myself. I have to dodge away from one of their scouts as I rouse him from his slumber.

We are inside the car and I pray that it starts, it has been a while since I have left the safety of the house. If it doesn't start do I risk walking down the road to the highway? It cranks slowly, and then the engine barks to life. It coughs a bit and now it is running. I sit for a minute relieved, then I recover my senses – time to get moving before they become away of my plan. I put the car in gear and zoom down the road. Twin vortexes of dried cicada husks blowing behind me are billowing in the moonlight as I make my way to the highway.

I look at my gas gauge, the car will need fuel. I see a sign ahead and pull into the station. Nervously I begin to fuel the car. It is quiet this late at night and I am the only car here. What, what is that? Could that be those little demon red eyes glowing in the dark? Are they coming for me -just as I make my escape? Thinking fast, I pull the gas pump nozzle out of the car and start spraying behind me where I saw the glow.

The man inside the gas station comes to the door and starts yelling excitedly at me. I can't quite make out what he is saying. I yell at him to save himself – the beasts are coming for me and I must kill them. I hear him this time,“You're crazy, man!” and he bolts out of the door and away from the station. I see a McDonalds bag in the trash and I light it and throw it on the gas. With a satisfying Ka-Whoosh, the gas lights and flames tower into the air. No more glowing eyes. Well this 'crazy man' just saved your life I think to myself.

This is enough to buy me time as I jump back into the car and squeal my tires as I get back on the road. The gas station is a distant glow in the rear view mirror as I enter the highway and settle in for the long drive to safety. But soon another light appears in the rearview mirror. The flashing lights of a police car.

I am the only car on the road, what could he be after me for? Then it hit me. In my haste to leave, I forgot to pay for the gas! But I need to get out of this place, I have no time for courtrooms. I press the accelerator and turn off my lights at the next exit. I use my emergency brakes to slow down and ease off the highway (saw this in a movie). The police flash by the exit, siren wailing.

Now I search for an apartment complex and slide into a parking spot. I have a few tools in the trunk and I get the license plate off of another car and put it onto mine (saw this on a CSI episode). All the while I am looking left and right. Not worried about anyone seeing me, but more worried about the cicadas. They are out there I know. Thankfully they are too busy breeding to pay attention to an easy meal below them in the parking lot.

The dog tries to worm his way around me as I open the door. I grab him by the collar and push him back onto the passenger seat. He cowers against the door. Fear makes one act in unusual ways. He will be able to feel safe once again when we reach Florida.

The rest of the trip is a blur. I drive straight through, only stopping for gas. Gradually we leave the desolated landscape behind. As the sun rises I can see leaves once again and grass. It is sunny and bright. But still I press on, I want to be as far away from those cursed creatures as possible.

Finally I go to where I can go no further. It's the beach. I come to a stop and open the door. The dog flies out of car and disappears into the woods behind me. I call his name but he does not come back. Well at least he is safe from those demon cicadas. I drop to my knees, thankful to be away from the plague.

Suddenly from behind me I hear that familiar buzzing of wings. My mouth drops open as I turn and look. A single cicada loaded with eggs buzzes away and disappears into the woods. Oh Florida, I think to myself, what I have I done...

2021 West Trip

Day one of the trip got off to a slow start. I had installed a new tire pressure monitoring system on the trailer. It had been a pain to set up – it took like an hour of going back and forth in the owners manual to figure out what had to be done to get it working right.

After all of that it started barking at us on route 35 just before we got on the interstate. Saying the tire pressure was too high. I had just guessed at a number and it was too low. I hadn't figured that the air inside the tire would heat up even in the winter due to the heat of the rubber against the road. So I did some quick math and reset the upper limit – problem solved.

I learned one lesson the hard way that first night. I had a new little buddy heater for inside the trailer. I set it on the stove that first night. Figuring that as the heat rose it would not damage the metal vent above the stove. Well the heater was at a slight angle and above the stove is the microwave. The heat caused cosmetic damage to the plastic cover. Yikes. It does not look pretty but it still works. Now the heater goes on the floor.

The 2^nd day on the road went fairly uneventful until that evening when we were about 5 miles from our destination – Wichita Falls. A car was merging and I went to the left lane after making a quick glance at the mirror. Suddenly a car zoomed into my view on the left. For a moment we had 3 vehicles across 2 lanes! When we got everything sorted out we saw that the reason we didn't see the car was that he had his lights off! What an idiot. A Texas highway patrol went by shortly after. We theorized that the trooper was looking for him and that was why his lights were off.

I will say that the highways in Eastern Oklahoma weren't too bad. But the roads in Western Oklahoma seemed to get progressively worse. Almost like they ran out of money when they got to that end of the state. After passing over another section of bumpy road, I quipped that no wonder they have so many bronc riders in Oklahoma – They just get a strap and see if they can hold onto their pick up truck for 8 seconds on the highway!

But it was nice to pass through and see the road signs for places you only heard of in country-western songs – El Paso, Abilene, Lubbock, Tulsa, Amarillo and so forth. We played some old time country music on Sirius and it helped put us in a Western frame of mind.

We arrived at Chosa Campground outside of Carlsbad Caverns and set up for the night. This was the 2^nd time around for Becky and I, it was Zach's 1^st visit. He was interested in some of the formations. Not sure how interested that he truly was, he is from the internet generation so it takes a lot to hold his interest. He did say that he liked the mountains in the area. I think from watching all of the Westerns, he recognizes the terrain.

Next place of interest was the Gila Cave Dwellings. It is a place that you really need to have a desire to get to. It is about 35 miles of winding, twisting roads. It must be an old game trails that got converted over to road. Speeds range from 25 to 35 miles per hour. It would be a great road on a motorcycle, not so much in a pickup truck. You definitely could not relax behind the wheel at all.

 

Becky wanted to go with us on the walk – despite her mobility problems. I cautioned her that the article I read showed that it was rugged terrain. On we went, and it was struggle at times for her. Both Zach and I had to help at times. Zach was a real trooper though, kicking rogue rocks off the trail and taking Becky by the hand - leading from the front while I trailed behind in case she fell backwards.

We finally made it to the caves. It seems like they would have made a very defensible location and well sheltered. The Mogollon Indians must have been short judging from the height of the roofs. Besides the caves, it was a good location for a settlement. A creek on one side and a spring on the other.

We spent the next day trying to check out Silver City. The museums were shut down due to quarantine and the restaurants were takeout only. We did get some take out from a Mexican restaurant. We were able to check out the humongous copper mine about 12 miles outside of town, that was about it as far as sightseeing. The tourism industry is taking a hit big time from Covid.

With an abundance of caution, we are getting Covid tested before seeing Mom to be sure that we did not pick up anything on the trip here. Then cooling our heels at a campsite in the Coronado National Forest for a few days to make sure no one gets a fever or any symptoms.

The camping area is called Sunny Flats. There is a dry stream bed nearby, but they must get some gully washers. The sign says that if there is rainy weather then the campground may close due to flooding. We are like 10 to 15 feet above the banks of the creek, so they must have some real gully washers.

So if floods weren't enough to worry about, the bulletins by the restrooms give cause for more concern. Keep dogs on a leash and small kids close by – there are dog eating cougars in the canyons. And yes that was cougars with an 's', so more than one apparently. Another posting says to watch for rabid foxes. Then of course to be wary of rattle snakes. Although with the snow on the ground, they are hibernating until warm weather. Anyway as Dorothy said, we are not in Kansas anymore.

There is a hiking trail by the campsite. It says Ranger station one mile – it must be an Arizona mile as I hiked a good ways and did not see it. I did see another couple and they said the trail does not go directly to the ranger station, you have to look for it through the trees. So there is a good chance that I walked right by it.

I did come across something curious on the trail, 2 small stone buildings with heavy steel doors that had a faded warning painted on them “Danger Explosives” both buildings looked to be long abandoned. A long lost mine closeby? Explosives used to clear out rock for the roads? I will have to find a ranger and ask.

It snowed during our stay – about 6 inches is my guess. It is supposed to warm to 60 by next week, bu t we will just have to hunker down for now. No cell service in this canyon, we have to drive about 8 miles or so to check email and such. So very primitive conditions for this era.

We got our Covid tests back as negative and so we proceeded to the ranch. There is substantial excavation where they appear to clearing the brush and making it into pasture. New barb wire and posts are up. They tore down the old wooden windmill that stood beside the road back to Mom's. It was sad to see a pile of rubble where it once stood. Progress I suppose, but for no more room that it took it seemed that it could have been left there or moved. It was part of the history of Rodeo.

Mom's truck wouldn't start – and it was right where we had parked the trailer last time. Close to the electric pole where we could plug into the outlet and power up the trailer. After trying unsuccessfully to jump start the truck, I got a chain and pulled it forward about 20 feet and we parked for the night. We did go inside and see Mom for a bit before turning in. Seemed to be in fairly good spirits and we had a few spirits ourselves before turning in.

The next day I had to run Mom to a pain clinic in Las Cruces. It was a long drive. They had her take a couple of Xanexs to steady her nerves before her pain shots. I think it was 1 to many as she slumbered all the way home and seemed unsteady when I walked her into the house. Hopefully the shots are beneficial, we will see in a few days when they kick in.

Zach was gung ho as a ranch hand while I was gone. We had discussed some things we could do to help out around the place the night before. So he went ahead and got a start on the projects. Getting the outside straightened out and getting a wood pile moved from the front yard to the back. I got home around 5 and he worked until dark when we brought him in for supper.

Grandma Susan has some health issues. She waited for us to get here on this visit so that she could be driven to a pain clinic for a shot. Then she got a corona virus vaccine. But we found that she had low oxygen from a COPD issue. So we had to take her to hospital and now she is on oxygen all of the time. She is a very reluctant patient. She has been very independent and now she is tethered to an oxygen tank.

Our tourist activities are in the background for the time being – at least until she is stable and has adapted to this new situation. She really wanted a back pack unit for mobility. But the small unit was not able to produce enough oxygen. So they did say they would try it again in a week and see if there was any improvement.

So Zach and I are getting some things done around the ranch, clean up, fixing fence, etc. We are doing some local sight seeing and looking for interesting rocks and minerals here and on the gravel roads. There was a giant volcano millions of years ago and created a lot of the rock formations and mountains in the area.

One local store that is worth noting is a mercantile store in Animas. It is an old timey general store that has a little bit of everything. Milk, eggs, fencing, hardware, just about anything that folks living in the middle of nowhere might need. While I was in there a couple of cow hands from a local ranch came in there. Had they not driven up in a big pick up truck, they would have looked like they rode in from the range circa 1885. One was huge – like a size bigger than me, the other was a Mexican fellow – both wore cowboy hats and boots. I felt like a greenhorn as compared to them.

I was surprised to find a town named Cotton – and yes they do grow cotton there. There were also several groves of pecans, a few irrigated hay operations and the always present cattle. I spoke to one of the nurses while waiting for a doctors visit to finish and found that she and her husband had about 300 cattle scattered over about 28 sections of land. Out here it takes many acres to support just one cow.

Part of the reason we came here was to give her rides to some medical procedures where she needed a driver. So we started making the rounds and early on we found she had low oxygen. So the 1st hospital we took her to put her on oxygen and released her - I think this was on Tuesday.

Then she got worse later this same week and we finally had to call for help and they took her by helicopter to another hospital. She was not in the best condition that morning, but she did ask for chicken soup and sat up in bed to eat it. But later that day she got less and less responsive. Finally I called 911.

She has had COPD and she now had some respiratory problems with fluid in the lungs and pneumonia. She was in pretty bad shape and we were fearful that this may be it. When the doctor is asking about do not resuscitate documents, you know it's serious.

But she is a tough old bird. I was surprised to get a call late last night from her. She has no memory of the helicopter ride. She let me know that she is getting better and we talked a little.

When we took her in, she seemed to be knocking on deaths door. Could barely speak and move. But she has done a 180 and is on the mend. She has not been released yet, but she should be going to an assisted living place for rehab in the next few days. We are still waiting for a long term prognosis - will she need oxygen from here on out or ?, how long will she need to stay in assisted living, etc.

Not happy with that 1st hospital, but I am satisfied with Gila Regional in Silver City. Also I have empathy with others who can't visit ill relatives due to Covid.

At the 1st hospital in Deming I had to sleep in the parking lot - she was not released until 4:30am. At that point, why bother releasing her, right?  Then I also had to deal with a hyper vigilant guard in the parking lot who was not happy where I parked to get wifi. I finally just left and went to a truck stop to browse a little and finally drift off to sleep.

Then I had to rely on phone calls to nurses and doctors to get statuses at the 2nd hospital - no visitors allowed. Next, I will have to talk through a window at the senior center when she is moved there.

Well Mom is not happy at all with the senior center. But we want to be 100% that she is stable and that the doctor OK's her release. They finally agreed to release her on Thursday. She still needs oxygen, so that looks to be an ongoing thing.

In the meantime, we took Zach on the long promised trip to Tombstone. He seemed to like it OK. We had a good meal at the Longhorn Saloon. Becky got a few items from the tourist shops. Zach was not interested in the shopping, but tolerated it well. We are going to do day trips during our stay so that we are close to Mom and aren't gone for an extended time.

We are making good use of our time here. Cleaning up both inside and outside. Keeping up with the horses and dogs. Adding rails to her steps and replacing some bad boards to make them more stable and safe. So things should be in good shape when she returns.

 

We did some exploring as well. We thought Mom's road was bad until we went down the way. The road goes into a T and we explored both ways. And we ended up turning around on both legs. We went left first and that dirt road continued into the mesquite. We had one place where the mesquite raked against the sides of the truck. Then there was a steep gully and it looked like the trail beyond was fairly nasty so we backed to good place to turn around and did so.

The other leg wasn't too hateful in the beginning. A bit rocky in places though. Then we came to a small washout where it was about a foot wide and maybe a foot deep. I wasn't going to take a chance on damaging the truck – it may have made it, then again maybe not. So again we turned around. The interesting thing was that at that washout you could see recent tracks where someone had gone over it. Wider tires with a deeper tread. There was a house a bit further down the road – very hardy individuals must live there.

Another day trip was to the Coronado National Forest. We went on paved road, then gravel, then dirt. There was melting snow from the mountains and so some of the roads were a bit muddy. I had put new tires on the truck the day before and that turned out be fortuitous as the terrain was challenging at times. No guard rails to speak off and there were some places with steep drop offs that were a bit scary. We went through a town named Paradise that had at most 12 houses in it. A very remote place, about 7 miles from paved roads. But the scenery was beautiful and the rugged rock formations made for great camera shots. So it was all worthwhile.

Mom was finally released from the senior center. She seemed a bit subdued, but pleased to be back home. She is still on oxygen so she have to adjust to that. She does seem to have more energy so the oxygen must be helping. We cleaned the house and moved stuff around – hopefully we did not disrupt things too much.

Mom has had a chance to get re-acclimated. She seems to have energy in bursts. So the oxygen is helping. Zach and I set a new post and gate, we are getting to be regular ranch hands. Mom has a friend that lives on a family place. The grandfather worked on cars and it carried forward through the generations. They all also accumulated old cars through the generatons. So behind the place is well over 100 cars from the 1950's on up. There are even 3-4 from before that. Lots of potential car and truck projects laying about, but they all take time and money.

We took some time to do exploring and went to the South of Mom's place. It was rugged going and finally made it to our destination. Zach wanted to check a rock formation at the top of the mountain. Since we were about 1/3 up Becky told him to go ahead. We found a few interesting rocks and then we saw that it was close to suppertime – and still no Zach. We had seen him at the peak earlier but it had been like an hour.

So I started going up the mountainside to search for him. When I got about 200 yards from the top, he finally responded to me shouting for him. He has young legs, despite my headstart – he beat me back to Becky. I congratulated him on scaling the mountain. He made it to the top of a mountain before me.

We saw a neighbor of Mom's, her name is Tato. She is 72 and rides a horse pretty much daily to check up on some cattle down the way. She said she used to rope calves when she was younger, but doesn't do that anymore. It is calving time so that is keeping her busy. She is spunky and spry for 72. When Becky asked, she said that she has not seen many gemstones the only thing she has seen is Apache tears near the base of some of the mountains.

I have been trying to walk a little each day. I keep my eyes open for unusual rocks for Becky's collection and also arrowheads. I was rewarded the other day when I found an Apache arrowhead about 200 yards to the NE of the house. I knew it was Apache because it was the same design as others that we saw at the Apache museum. So that was pretty cool to find one right here. Becky got lucky a day later and found two Apache tears on the property as well.

We have had to do a lot of driving to go to doctors, hospitals and pharmacies. Rodeo is fairly isolated – nothing is close by. I told Chelsea that imagine if you had to drive from our house to Columbus every time you needed anything. Walgreens, Walmart, TSC, the hospital – all well over an hours drive away. So lots of windshield time and if a prescription is messed up or there is some sort of snafu, then it was a wasted trip – that has happened a time or two.

The effort to get this one particular prescription is a story unto itself.  We get a prescription and I drive to CVS in Douglas (one hour drive) to get it filled.  I am informed once that I present the prescription that they cannot fill it - that the insurance company won't allow that drug for that particular problem.  That we need to go back to the doctor and get something else.

So we get a 2nd prescription after consulting the doctor and this time we have it sent to Walgreens that is about an hour and half away because I have to take Mom to that town for another doctor.  I go there and... they are out of stock! I find out that Silver City has it in stock so I drive there the next day (hour and a half one way).

I go there only to find out that the copay is pretty darn high.  Something like $250 as I recall.  Well its your mother, so what do you do - you pay the price.  Mom couldn't believe that it was that high, she said lets get the money back. So we go there like a week later because she has another doctors appointment in Silver City.  They said that it had to be returned within 24 hours for a refund.  We explained the distances involved and so forth to no avail.  So that was an experience that was totally frustrating all the way around.

After Mom was back home and doing better Becky and I went on a weekend excursion to Wilcox, AZ. There are several wineries in the area that we wanted to visit. It was a good weekend. We started with a visit to a winery at the edge of town and then an Apache museum. We did a bit of antiquing and then ate at an authentic Mexican restaurant.

Our server was only 15 years old, but was very good and she helped correct our spanish when we tried to use the lingo. The food was great. They needed better signage though. Our GPS said we arrived and we looked around and there was a small sign on front of a building that simply said restaurant. I told Becky that this must be it – this looks to be the only restaurant on this block. But nothing with the actual name of the restaurant could be seen. 

The next night we went to a place where 3 wineries went shares on a building and so you could taste wines from all 3 wineries without having to drive around. So that was very convenient. We bought a bottle of wine from each winery. That night we went to a local steakhouse – great reviews online, but our experience was subpar. My steak was not that good and my potato was cold. So you roll the dice and sometimes it comes up snake eyes.

But Wilcox on the whole is a nice place. And plenty of tourist activities. Several small museums – both singers and actors have come from Wilcox, we had no idea – we were only there for the wine! Rex Allen and Marty Robbins both have museums. Tonya Tucker was from there, she was from our era so that was interesting for us. Definitely worth a visit and I know we will be going back some day.

Zach wanted to see Bisbee,AZ since his mother had been there. Zach was not enthused about all the little shops there. But Becky sure liked them. We did the Queen mine tour which is always interesting. We did eat at a cafe in Bisbee – there are nice little cafe's sprinkled all over downtown. We have been there a couple of times and have not been disappointed either time. The museum was closed due to covid, so we will have to see that another day.

We did get to see a real cowboy on the trip. There is a huge cattle operation that has 3,500 head of cattle. They will sell hay – cash only. Mom needed some hay, so off we went to get some. It was such a huge place. They use front loaders to mix the cattle feed in a huge hopper that grinds/mixes the feed. While I was there the 1^st trip a few cattle had gotten out of a pen and were on the gravel road.

And like a scene from the old west, a cowboy comes barreling down the road on a mustang. He passes the cattle and heads them off. He stops the horse hard in front of me in a cloud of dust. The mustangs front feet are braced in front, its haunches are low in the back as it slides to a stop with dust billowing and gravel flying. He wheels the horse around and with a whoop races back down the road to turn the cattle back to the pen that they had escaped from. It was worth the trip just to see that - a taste of what the old West was like.

On a later trip I got to talk to him, a really nice guy. His name is Nathen and he has been working cattle all of his life and is happy there on the ranch. I think that as long as they kept him fed, he would work there for free – as long as he got to ride his mustang, he was more at home riding it than riding on a front loader.

We put a lot of time into riding Mom's Mule – the vehicle, not the animal. We needed to stay close to home to keep an eye on Mom, so we did a lot of exploring locally. We would take off driving for an afternoon and go a different direction each day. Found lots of interesting rocks and minerals. Thank goodness that it is 4 wheel drive, there were several washouts where it was treacherous to cross and a 2 wheel drive vehicle probably would have gotten stuck. Becky wants one now and those things aren't cheap.

Overall the trip seemed to do Zach some good. He enjoyed the quiet and serenity of the desert. He liked to go on walks and also drive the Mule down the gravel roads in this area. He said that he would like to go back again – which we plan to do.

We got to see lots of wildlife. There was a small herd of pronghorn antelope that were grazing next to the highway one day. Javelinas – mostly from a distance, but one morning we saw a big one next to the highway. Bobcats – twice; once when we were driving back to Mom's at dusk. “Hey look two cats crossing the road, hey wait – they don't have any tails, they must be bobcats.” Then the one I kicked up out of his den when I was climbing the mountain. All kinds of birds: quail, road runners, hawks, cranes, etc. Small lizards on the mountain climb.

All in all a good trip and the weather in New Mexico beat the winter cold of Ohio. Mom felt bad that we didn't get to do quite all the side trips that we had planned because of having to care for her, but I told her not to worry that we were where we needed to be.

CATV Install East Indianapolis - something doesn't smell right here (early 1980's)

 This happened years ago when I was an cable TV installer. Sometime in the early 1980's when CATV was initially being installed.  I was in the bad section of town and when I came up to the house I noticed a bit of an odor. They showed me where they wanted the tv and I told them that it would work out best if I could bring the cable through the basement.

They said that I probably wouldn't want to go down there, but I insisted that it would make the job a lot easier for me if I could route it that way. I opened the door to go down and I found the source of the odor - about a foot and half of raw sewage was down there. Pipe must have broke months before and was never fixed.

Becky was helping me and we actually figured a way to get the cable through the basement - using a landing and piece of furniture to get the cable up through the floor.  Not a pleasant job, but we managed.

As we were winding down the install, we found out about at least part of the problem of that household. The phone rang and a young teenage daughter answered. When she got finished, she hung up and announced to her mother, "It's the VA again, Daddy got drunk again last night and they took him there."

I could not fathom how the family could live there like that. Felt sorry for the kids - they seemed to take the situation as normal.  

Grandpa Jack racing the Dodge

 We rode up to Marion with my Dad - grandpa Jack.  He is not one to be silent for long and we talked about various topics.  I happened to ask him if he remembered people being busted for drag racing on Highway 70 when it was being constructed.  I had recalled seeing the article in the paper when I was growing up.  

He could not remember the exact year, but he bought a Dodge that was like a 1954 model.  It was a sedan and they somehow squished a V-8 engine into it.  He said that it was not really made for a V-8, but they made it fit and there was only like a inch or two space between the engine and the fender wells.  So it was a small but fast car - it was like all engine.  He also said it had a unique transmission. You could run it as an automatic, or you could shift it like it had a clutch.

So a guy with a chevy had an engine with 2 carburetors.  He thought that he was the fastest in town, Dad thought he was the fastest. So they raced and Dad won.  They raced a second time with the same result. 

Dude was hopping mad.  So dude had an idea - lets race backwards!  Well he did not know it but Dad had experience with tow motors and had done a lot of factory work moving stuff around - forwards and of course backwards.  So the two cars lined up, rear bumpers forward and of course Dad smoked him.  Dude laid rubber getting out of there and never challenged Dad again.

This was the same Dodge that Dad used to date my mother.  503 is a curvy road between Lewisburg and West Alexandria.  It has several hills. He used to pass cars on a blind curve - never knowing is a car is coming from the other direction or not. Mom used to get frantic - and finally got him to stop doing that.  Knowing Dad now, you would never think that he was dare devil who drag raced, ran in demolition derbies and passed on blind curves.  But at one time - he was that guy.

Tardy graduations to Julia

 

Ms. Julia Myers,

Tardy – I will bet that is a word that you have not heard in a while. Well I apologize for being tardy with your graduation present. 2020 has been a tumultuous year for everyone, and it is not finished yet. This is the first time I gave out a graduation present in September. As the expression goes – better late than never.

Well there is no doubt that when the family gathers around for the holidays that you will have a topper story of all topper stories. When your Dad talks about how bad the blizzard was back 1978, you can roll your eyes and say “Hrrumpth, that was nothing – let me tell about my senior year – it all started in the spring of 2020.”

Then you can go on about how you had the pandemic of 1917, depression and job loss of the 1930's, and race riots of the 1960's all in one year! Oh, you had a few snow drifts and had to go without Pepsi for a week, we had no toilet paper – for a month!

And like all good stories you need to grow this over time. Right now it is a seedling but in 20 years you can retell the story with a few embellishments. The story of 2020 will one day grow to a mighty Oak. You can say that you had to do school from home. They used passenger pigeons to send the work to you and then you wrote up your homework, tied it to the leg of the pigeon and sent it back. An oxcart used to come down the road once a week and picked up all the Covid dead and dumped them in the gravel quarry. How you used to barter a cut and manicure in a back alley for a roll of contraband toilet paper. With the right nurturing you will be able to keep future generations of kids enthralled with tales of 2020.

Well after this summer I am sure that you are ready for 2020 to be over and to get on with your life. I understand the plan is to be a hairdresser. Someone like me would give you little business with my diminishing quantity of hair. But I hope that you find a good shop and a loyal clientele. You will learn all the business – both good and bad, of the town where you set up shop. Maybe you can write a book about all the gossip – after you retire of course. I admire anyone who can keep up with all the trends. I can remember when blue hair was a permanent gone bad, now it is something that folks will pay extra for. Keeping up with fashion is something that I gave up on long ago, as you can tell by the way that I dress.

Well I am about to conclude. As I tell all graduates – neither a borrower, nor a lender be. Live within and actually below your means. No one is going to give you a pension, so start that 401k like now. Money is not everything, but being wise with money will make your life easier. Everything in moderation, alcohol, food, even love. I hope that the future treats you well and that you can retell the story of 2020 many, many times.

Letter to Lilly

Lilly, congratulations upon your graduation. In a year that has seen a review of the Great Depression, 1918 Flu Epidemic, and the Race Riots of the 1960's it has been quite the threshold into adulthood. And the year is but half over, one wonders what other great calamities await us all in the second half of the year. But for now there is a pause and it is a time to celebrate as best we can the closing of one door and the opening of another.

Education is best looked upon as a bootcamp, myriad trials and mental marches where teachers and peers prepare you for the long slough of life. Some will teach you what to do and others are a reminder of what not to do. Only 10% of what you learn, you will actually use as an adult. So choose the right 10% to remember.

And the endless ladders where you get that 1^st step and gradually pull yourself to the top, only to find another ladder. Kindergarten was the 1^st step into grade school. Then came middle school and finally high school. But wait now there college and its rungs. Then comes your career and its rungs. Same with relationships – another ladder to be climbed one rung at a time, learning and growing as you progress. If you stay stationary then you will grow stale, but if you continue to push yourself and grow then it becomes a continuous improvement project where you become the best Lilly that you can be.

I think that your choice of veterinary medicine as a major in college is a wise one. You don't have to listen to your patients complain as a doctor would. They might howl a bit though. The one thing that I can recall from being on that college campus was that they would play 'Old Rocky Top' at every opportunity. You will either learn to love it or hate it by the end of your time there.

Old people are great at giving advice. It is learned from a life time of making mistakes. Oh to go back in time and correct all the wrongs. Be that as it may, listen to your elders, well except when we drink. Your aunt and I can tell some pretty wild tales. But here goes: Neither a borrower or a lender be – keep that student loan debt to a minimum. It is quite a lodestone to carry about ones neck. Don't get that new car, when a gently used one will suffice. Live below your means and save. Don't be like the Federal government and just spend, spend, spend willy nilly. We were able to retire early because we saved and lived frugally.

All things in moderation. Love, alcohol, shopping, don't let any one thing obsess your life. Have fun, I think your generation will find fulfillment in experiences. So set a bucket list now of the things that you would like to see and do. Then set aside the time and money and do a trip to Europe, a hike on a section of the Appalachian trail, a trip to the sewing machine museum in Nebraska – just be wild like that.

Oh, I could wax on, but by now you are ready for another beer and ready to spend the enclosed $50. Your aunt and I will be watching and hoping for the best for you. Best wishes for success where ever the road leads you.

Lake Erie Wedding

Good time up at Lake Erie.  My friend, Jon Myers, put on a wedding for his oldest daughter at an old winery on an island.  Ironically, the winery is now closed and now owned by the state to preserve the historic structure - but get this, they don't allow wine to be served to guests at this site. So all levels of confusion from my perspective. They had to get a special permit just to be able to serve beer at the reception.  

It was threatening weather and with an outdoor ceremony it looked doubtful at first that we would get through it unscathed.  But the rain held off until well afterwards and when we did finally get some rain, it was a gentle sprinkle that cooled things off. The reception was under a large shelter and so we were covered all the way. The ceremony went fine as did the reception.

Jon paid for a special ferry to take guests back to the mainland.  It was supposed to leave at 8pm but they said that they were leaving at 7:45pm no exceptions.  Margaret then gets on the platform of the ferry in her wedding dress so that they could not lift it and leave.  I couldn't hear what all was said but she was pointing fingers and giving them a piece of her mind.  So she is not taking crap from anyone - just like her Dad.  I hope that Austin (the groom) paid attention, she won't take much guff before she blows her top.

We used our extra day to check out a winery, Mon-Ami.  It was a happening place.  We had brunch there and got a couple of bottles of their wine.  Out back they have a large patio, bar, and stage.  They had a band playing.  We listened to a song or two and moved on.  The water was high so we did not spend much time at the beach. And I forgot my fishing gear - left it by the door of the workshop.  So we didn't spend much time at the water.  We did find another place named Cleats later that day where we sat by the water and had a few cool ones. Nice restaurant and a nice staff.  We enjoyed our time there.

We definitely plan to go there again.  We had that extra day to explore and check things out - we liked what we saw.  Lots of stuff to do and see.  It might be nice to head back up there in the fall before it gets cold and spend some time.