One of the better parts of my day. Thought I’d share it, because Allie hasn’t been famous in a while.
But she should be.
(She’s been sitting right there most of the afternoon.)
Thursday
14
Mar 13
Anyone have any marshmallows?
Pausing on a quick evening ride:
I saw a fire as I rounded for home. I believe someone was doing a prescribed burn to clear out the underbrush, but there was no one around.
I sit there for a moment or two, looking or waiting for someone to come back to the fire, but no one is around. The occasional car or truck cruises through, slowing down in the smoke and haze, and I’m taking pictures. So, great, someone probably think I started this. I did not.
The sun was just to that point of getting to ready to let go and the world was quiet, except for a little whirling wind over distant crackling. It was as if a great thing had been done, but the environment didn’t know what to do with it. There was a stunned feeling. There was an anticipation.
Love the woods, but not a fan of this fire. Just down this little country road there was a house and in the driveway of that house there was a man who made a big point of waving at me as I went by. In his yard was another small fire. I assume he was taking care of the serious business of the controlled burn. He wave awfully emphatically.
Most importantly, no one stopped me to ask if I did it. i did not.
Atlanta by nightfall, we picked up the in-laws for the weekend. There was a former basketball player waiting at the airport and giggling teens and people who were happy to take their picture with him. There was a family looking for their Marine and a limo driver flagging down clients with names on his iPad. Everyone was walking to the left of everything. It was amazing and awkward at the same time.
Sort of like Segways, which are now appearing at the airport. Because navigating the crowds isn’t challenging enough on most days. Who needs a Segway here? There are already shuttles and a train. There are wheelchairs and carts. I suppose if you’re working there and going back and forth you could use something that moves at slightly faster than walking speed that’d be the way to go.
But I rode 30 miles late today, through fire.
7
Mar 13
Swimming and diving
At the intramural swim meet, it was the Auburn Master’s, of which The Yankee is a part of, versus all the various fraternities, sororities and any other group that heard there was pool time available.
The Yankee took part in the diving competition and swam in three events. She was a diver in college, so maybe she’s a ringer. She won on the one-meter board:
Not everyone’s dive was as nice or innovative as hers. I have a great unfortunate dive to share later in the week. Here’s the tease: I said to the judges “Give that guy extra credit for volume! You heard the smack! He earned those points!”
She also swam in three races, the 50-free, the 100-free and the 4×200 relay.
She placed fourth in the first two races. She cleaned up in the relay, though, swimming the best time on her team and, perhaps, the entire pool. If she could apply that 50 as an individual race she would have qualified for nationals. Not bad considering she’s been on the swim team for less than a year. She’s pretty fast.
Also, she made faces at me:
We had dinner with friends at a Mexican restaurant, where the chips flowed with abandon. At home we caught up on a bit of television. It was pretty much the best kind of night.
28
Feb 13
Day four of sick watch
I’ll eat this orange, I thought to myself, and maybe that will help.
So, champion orange peeler that I am, I struggled with that for a few minutes at the end of my day in the office. Vitamin C! I feel better just smelling it! This was a great idea! I exclaimed in my head.
(There are exclamation points in there.)
By the time I got home I had a mild fever.
Thanks, orange.
So more sinus medication, now some Nyquil and a Costco-sized handful of cough drops are the order of the day.
I saw a terrible accident on the freeway. One killed and four hurt. Backed up traffic for four miles the other direction. Everything was in the median and it looked gnarly, perhaps one of the more violent rear-end accidents you might see:
I found the coolest story on al.com today, a high schooler is building prosthetics out of old bikes, for about $25. Here’s a little rewrite I did. I just love that he was feeling lazy and bored one Saturday and dreamed this up. Of course this kid has had more than a dozen physics classes, so his idea of bored might be relative.
And, finally, the existential dilemma of our time: Rocky and Rocky II are playing opposite one another. Now what? Do I fear Apollo Creed or having a grudging respect? Then Rocky V came on, too. What are the movie channels trying to do to me?
How the franchise could have ended:
21
Feb 13
Road trip
I got a rental van. It arrived a bit later than it should, so we left precisely 14 minutes after I wanted to. But, still, getting on the road at 3:46 when you were hoping for 3:32 isn’t bad when you consider you’re pulling in six people’s schedules and the general We’ll be there at 2:30 or 3:15-ness of the rental car guy.
We live in an amazing time if you think of it. I looked at glowing words on this flat screen, picked up a hunk of plastic and called a hotel, booked four rooms, found more words on the screen and made arrangements for a rental van. (Of course they called me in return three times, but that’s trivial.) I arranged all of the paperwork, procured the department’s blessing, recruited four students and a colleague, made them all sign the inevitable waivers and now we are bouncing all over western Alabama, Mississippi and western Tennessee.
Here we’d stopped for gas in Tupelo:
Brother, if your tank is low you better stop in Tupelo. It is a long walk in either direction if it purrs, conks and dies.
Our rental performed admirably, even with a distinct twang in Tennessee as we drove on the Rockabilly Highway, a 55-mile stretch of Highway 45, from Mississippi to Interstate 40. Look, I’m the guy who always wonders about the stories behind the names we put on roads, who regularly rides the actual Lost Highway and still does it with wonderment. So believe me, being on something called the Rockabilly Highway was pretty great.
Apparently there are Rockabilly murals here and there along the Rockabilly Highway, but it was dark and raining — which sounds like a song in of itself — so we didn’t see any. Shame that highway doesn’t stretch into Mississippi, though. Jumpin’ Gene Simmons was from Tupelo:
That video is understated and terrific, except our disc jockey didn’t walk it all the way up to the post. Everything else is perfect.
Anyway, we made it to beautiful and cosmopolitan Jackson, Tenn. around 8 p.m., just in time to register for the Southeast Journalism Conference. It runs tomorrow and Saturday and is a good trip for the undergraduates. They hear inspirational messages from talented professionals, met peers, eat free food, win awards and so on.
We had dinner at a place called Redbone’s right across from our hotel. They made a nice Casear Salad, and one of the students complimented their ribs. The band was good, if loud. And then they did a Beatles’ song that might have been a bit ambitious for two guys running their percussion through a keyboard. But they did enjoy themselves, and seemed to know they did Sweet Baby James just right.
Checked into the hotel mostly uneventfully. Everyone crashed into their rooms. I ironed in mine. Very exciting night, really. But tomorrow will be a busy day.
