memories « Kenny Smith | A remarkable thing happens …

memories

adventures / memories / Monday / photo — Comments Off
13
Jun 16

What’s a blind dinosaur called? A Do-you-think-he-saurus

We journeyed up to Indianapolis for a Saturday trip. And we saw dinosaurs!

I don’t understand how everyone can be so casual about this. There are giant lizards destroying buildings and no one is under any sort of panic or is demonstrating the slightest bit of concern:

That’s at the Children’s Museum of Indianapolis, which is the largest in the world. They say there are 472,900 square feet on five floors and holds more than 120,000 artifacts. They get more than a million guests a year. But we didn’t go there today.

The Yankee has some family friends in Indy. Since my mother-in-law is in town we drove up for a visit, a catch-up, lunch and a little tour.

I also took a picture of the biggest sky walk I’ve ever seen, this is at the Arts Council of Indianapolis.

This was my first trip downtown. It feels like a small town, but busy. And it is just up the road, which is good, because I have to go see that museum.

The unpacking continues. I’ve got to figure out where to hang things. Like this:

Note the year, 1953. I’ve had that magazine — bought it in Kansas City I’d bet — for probably 20 years, because of a feature on the inside:

That’s my bachelor’s degree, after all, so naturally it is something I framed long ago. It should go on a wall somewhere. Somewhere that the dinosaurs can’t reach.

adventures / Auburn / Friday / memories / photo — Comments Off
27
May 16

Goodbye, Auburn

You sleep and eat in safety in it, but a house is, really just the place where you put your memories for awhile.

This was a pretty good house, then. Except for the part about being on a haunted burial ground.

But there’s another house waiting, elsewhere.

Goodbye, Auburn.

It’s been real.

Auburn / memories / Thursday — Comments Off
26
May 16

My last hours in Auburn

That sounds melodramatic, I suppose, but it is what it is. I spent two years trying to get here, then five years living here and then nine years missing it and, returning, six more years here. That’s, all told, more than half my life thinking about the place. And, in most ways, that’s unrequited. I don’t really have a lot of other ways to talk about it than that.

And now I’m leaving it. Don’t want to, but there it is. Here we are. Here we go.

So I rode around one last time and took a few pictures of buildings because … I don’t know, but that’s what you do.

My first class was in this building, many years ago, just off to the right. It was an 8 a.m. Monday, Wednesday, Friday class. Animal Dairy Sciences:

Comer Hall, my major lived in there. This is the top of ag hill, and I spent half of my undergraduate career there.

A few more views of Comer:

And this is Duncan Hall. I did my internship there, and worked for another year or so besides. Did some writing, some photography, some online work, some radio editing, some satellite uplinks and so on:

And one of the better oak trees on campus. Always looked like a place to climb or read or kiss.

Tomorrow we sign our papers and drive away, on to the next thing.

Auburn / memories / photo / swimming / Wednesday — Comments Off
27
Apr 16

To every meal’s seasoning …

Jeff Price says the Barbecue House is sold and the College Street landmark will be redeveloped. The oldest restaurant in Auburn, Alabama is going away.

He just lost his mother a few years ago. His parents built the business themselves and for most of his life Mr. Price has had his hands in it as well. You could tell that he was getting ready for a new chapter. He still has his health and his family and more happy customers than he could count. People will miss it, but people will understand. That’s the thing about regulars. The employees see you, but you see them, too. You can count plenty of mornings and lunches that he was there.

When I was in undergrad I’d go there for breakfast. And some days I’d just stay there, skip a class, read the paper and then order lunch. I ate there for five years. But then I moved away. Ten years later, when we moved back, Mr. Price asked if I was visiting or if I was back. He remembered me, just another young regular who used to visit his store a decade prior. That’s kind of the place they’ve made at The Barbecue House. That, and the food, will be missed. We’ll have to eat there a lot in the last few weeks.

Everything changes. Everything has changed. It is all different.

At any rate … Nice 2,500 meter swim today.

It only hurt for most of the time.

friends / memories / photo / Thursday — Comments Off
10
Mar 16

A 3-year-old’s life

We got to see Liam today. In a word, he’s healthy.

We were going to dinner with friends one night when The Yankee saw on Facebook that he’d just been diagnosed with a rare form of leukemia. His parents had found bruises that they couldn’t explain and so they went to the pediatrician and that doctor wisely sent them to Birmingham and they caught it in a hurry. I walked from the table at the restaurant that night to the restroom and looked up this form of leukemia, marveling at Google’s knowing what I meant, but also at the prognosis. If it was caught quickly, and with the proper care, it was a scary, hard thing, but easily survivable. And Liam’s parents are marvelous, and they’re fortunate to have good health care and he has had some scare times, and some hard years, and he’s spent too much of his early childhood in a car driving to hospitals, getting poked and prodded, wearing masks and helmets and having his social life limited. But the kid is doing great. He’s amazing. He walked in, sat on our sofa and pronounced it “Quite comfortable.” And then he just plays at that high speed that kids continually run in. Liam is healthy.

So this is a good reminder about how easy it is to register for blood marrow donations. You can do the entire effortless, painless registration in less time than it is taking you to read this. Send off for the forms. When they arrive, swab your cheeks, put them in the envelope and drop them in the mail. You’ve joined the national registry; maybe you’ll get the chance to help somebody one day. Find out more here.

In another word, he’s adorable. That kid has style. Completely holds a room with his charm. Though you wish he’d come out of his shell and be a bit more precocious.