Today a lengthy funeral procession led by 2 slow moving police cars drove north on Morrell Road while I drove south. I threw on my hazards, turned on my headlights and jumped to the right side of the road. One private vehicle followed my lead going instead to the turn lane in the middle while a Bellsouth utility truck pulled up behind me and turned on his headlights. A dozen other cars drove past looking at us like we were crazy while I pondered who died, how had they lived, and would my life be worthy of such a procession. I felt it was the right thing to do.
When I park at a grocery store there are always carts nearby. More often than not, I grab one or two as I walk from the car to the store. I am going that direction anyway. I feel it is the right thing to do.
Today as I sat in a turn lane waiting to cross two lanes of traffic to get to my side street, I watched numerous cars run over a board in the street. This was a 2×8 with metal lips installed on either end that is what people with pickup trucks use as one side of a ramp for loading a lawn mower or 4×4 into the back of their truck. Obviously one had fallen out of someone’s truck unnoticed. As each car hit it, the board jumped into the air and spun erratically. When the traffic broke, instead of turning, I press my hazard lights on leaving several cars stuck behind me. I then jumped out of the van, grabbed the board, and flung it to the side of the road where it would not be danger. I felt it was the right thing to do.
On multiple occasions, I have stopped the car to get a dog out of the road. Each time I felt I saved a life and prevented an owner’s grief. I felt it was the right thing to do.
I believe in karma. I believe what goes around comes around. I believe all things balance. Yin and yang. I sometimes lose focus on the big picture and fixate on a turmoil in my life which leads me to question my beliefs. And then I remember all the fortune that befallen me, the smiles and laughs I share with friends and strangers, the help from out of the blue I clumsily try to refuse, and the reminder that I could have been wearing my good shoes when I stepped in the dog poo, and then it all comes together and I am assured that in the end there is harmony. It is the right thing to do.
Dimes are my habit. I always look at the edge my dimes. See, before 1965 dimes were minted out of silver. You can tell a silver dime by looking at the edge. If its solid, it’s silver. Post 1965 dimes have an edge that shows half copper and half nickel. The actual composition of a post 1965 dime (and quarter) is 75% copper and 25% nickel due to the Coinage Act of 1965. Coincidentally, a few 1965 dimes were accidentally minted in silver and those errors bring a fine price to a collector.
As a child, I fancied myself a coin collector (but didn’t we all). As an adult, when the hard times came my coin collection bought bread or gas without even the effort of looking for a doubled die error. What remains are the oddities. I have 3 silver dimes including a Mercury head from 1939 and two Roosevelts from 1952 and 1964. They are not in mint condition but they sure are cool to hold! And I can still remember the excitement I felt the day I found one of them in my change.
This past weekend my wife had her birthday on Saturday and Mother’s Day on Sunday. I let her down. Cathy says this picture is how I looked all weekend; she wrongly assumed I was mad at her. Deadlines have loomed and accounts were drawn thin. In an attempt to make everything come together I tried frantically to get work done while squeezing in lawn mower repair and drywalling; if money didn’t work out, at least I could give Cathy a nice lawn and finished bedroom for her birthday. Unfortunately, nothing worked out. My grandiose plans were falling to pieces. I had failed to get the children to make gifts or collaborate on handmade cards or even buy her a present from the children (much less the same for Mother’s Day).
Fortunately, the grandparents opted to take all five children for Friday evening and most of Saturday! Cathy and I had a relaxing evening together but I did not slip away to get her a card or gift. Saturday I tried to get yard work done and the mower ran for 2 minutes before declaring it was dead dead dead. I spackled but the joint compound I am using takes 24 hours to cure each coat and I cannot sand if Cathy and Evan will be in the bedroom within a couple of hours of sanding. We shopped but Cathy was always by my side. Finally we decided to go to the mall and I knew I could slip away but we opted to pick the children up first and I failed to find a good excuse to be away from Cathy and the children. I tried slipping away with the children but Evan made shopping impossible. In desperation, at the end of the day, I asked Cathy if she wanted to be involved in her purchase but all I did was upset her.
As a child, I was fortunate enough to be surrounded by creative people who always had a challenge at hand. Naturally, I didn’t have hand held video games (well there were those led football games dweet dweet dweet), iPods, and other such fancy things to keep us occupied. So, when we found ourselves with a long wait, like at a restaurant, I would be handed 65 cents and challenged to balance a nickel upon a quarter then a dime on the nickel and finally a second quarter upon the dime. This challenge still amuses me today and I find it both relaxing and rewarding to succeed with the balancing act.
I had a call today and had the pleasure of being interviewed by Gordon Boyd of WVLT regarding the next phase of Knox County Schools rezoning, feeder schools (ie. Middle and Elementary). If they use my footage, it will air between 5:30 and 6 today. I enjoyed the interview and afterwards thought many wonderful ideas and tidbits of information I could have shared and probably could have talked another 15 minutes. Of all this school rezoning stuff, I have really come to respect the quality of our local reporters. Regardless of station, they are professional, courteous, well informed, and very friendly. I am very unimpressed with some of our school board members and hope that they will never again run for office unopposed! That said, Cindy Buttry, Robert Bratton, and Thomas Deakins did their jobs very well, deserve commendation, and should be re-elected. I cannot speak much one way or another for Rex Stooksbury or Jim Williams. I was terribly unimpressed with Sam Anderson and do not think he holds office with an open mind. Karen Carsen needs happy pills and to not hold office. I thought Indya Kincannon was going to be a good board member but in the end I think she is just a good politician. I felt she played both sides of the fence and at the last minute chose the side that benefited her the most. Dan Murphy is a self-serving, arrogant ass and should be booted out of office today.
Husband to one wonderful wife, father to five fantastic children, juggler, technophile, freelancer, DIYer, adventurer, volunteer, KO4NFA (2m/70cm), WRMJ225 (GMRS)
