If you choose to Facetime around me in public without earbuds or headphones I cannot promise that I won’t make myself part of your conversation.
Especially if I am standing near the meat section of a Smart & Final in the Conejo Valley where I can pick up a steak and ask if I must cook for you to be granted such an honor.
The gentleman who stood nearby didn’t think it was funny for me to engage and told me I ought to mind my own business in coarser language than I shared.
“Good sir, when you choose to use your magical device of communication at a level so loud it impinges upon my ability to hear the fine Musak in the store I cannot help but get involved.”
He cocked his head to one side and sputtered something at me, but I can’t tell you what he said because it was garbled.
“Have I left you nonplussed and in need of respite from the onset of manners and decency?
Sadly he didn’t answer and walked away so I can’t tell you anything more about my encounter with the love struck duo.
Instead I can refer you to the post from last night Right Into The Gates Of Hell which was a hit with someone who used Buckeye Cablevision, a visitor from Switzerland and someone in the UK.
Did I ever tell you about the time I told the woman taking reservations my name was Buck Eye? Or what about the time I said I was Thurston Howell or Felice Navidad.
Yes, I know it is silly but the world needs more of that.
Homeward Bound
Won’t be belong before I leave home to go home. It has been a pretty good vacation and I have checked a few things off of my list but there is much that won’t get done.
There are adventures yet to be had and quests to be set upon but time is not my friend and so I will have to leave some things for a later date.
I have mixed feelings about it all.
This trip has provided opportunity to begin making real memories here without my father and to not feel like I am waiting for him to come back from whatever errand he has been running.
Had it not been for Covid these things would have started sooner and I’d not find myself doing it now. But Covid did happen and circumstances caused things to take a different path than they might otherwise have.
In other word life happened and so we pivot and adjust because that is just what you do.
But it doesn’t mean I didn’t take some time to visit some of the places here that I like best for thinking and that I didn’t take time for introspection.
It reaffirmed my desire to spend quality time with some and see what comes of that. Time to figure out what kind of magic does or does not exist.
If I headed north of me for about 45 minutes or so I’d find the camp I attended as a camper and staff person. And I’d go looking for a few places where my name may yet be found in secret writings and commune with the spirit that remains.
I think I know what sort of advice the lad would give and he’d be pleased that some parts and pieces would remain true to who we were and who we hoped we would become.
The Spice Drawer
Mom asked me to take a look at the spice drawer and figure out why it is not working as it should. So I got down on the floor and took a look at the track to verify what things looked like.
Think I mostly have it sorted out but decided I’ll wait for the younger Mr. Wilner to join me so that I can show him what I did and have him participate.
Somewhere the spirit of his grandfather will appreciate this sharing of work and the appreciation that comes from working with your own hands.
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Though I know time moves no faster now than it did yesterday or five years ago it feels otherwise to me.
Soon my daughter will head back to school and we’ll blink and wonder how it is the spring of 2024. I’ll start to think about my next trip home and consider what other places I wish to visit and vacation in/at.
Got to build a roadmap into what comes next so that those remaining quests and adventures can be taken on.
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