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I had the privilege of attending a “50th wedding anniversary” celebration this past weekend. While their Golden Anniversary was the party theme, the couple actually celebrated 51 this year, thanks to Covid intervening last year. Fifty years of wedded bliss is something you don’t see or hear about much these days, and I expect will become even more rare after my generation dies off – for reasons too numerous to discuss in this column!
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Having heard the call of the beach these past months, I recently made the trek down to South Padre Island – my first time ever going there. No doubt, those few hours I spent in the sun provided me with some much needed color onto an otherwise stark white canvas. But it also cost me about a week’s worth of itchy. To paraphrase a quote from Herman Melville’s famous novel, “As for me, I am tormented with an everlasting itch...” Now I know exactly what he meant.
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As the Grimes County Fair Association closes the book on another successful year, I continue to be amazed at the youth livestock program. About four years ago, I attended my first Market Swine and Market Steer judging and watched in awe at how the young exhibitors managed these large animals in the arena. This year, I watched some different events and concluded that “country” kids have absolutely NO time to get in trouble or be bored!
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I am not a young guy anymore. It took me about 10 years past my 30th birthday to figure that out. It took me about 15 more years to realize that I’m “oldish.” It’s a made-up term, but it says a lot about where I’m at right now on my latest circle around the sun.
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For the last several years, my Examiner assignments have included interviewing valedictorians and salutatorians for the graduation pullout section. I don’t recall talking to one of these exemplary students who did not name one or more “special” teachers who had a positive influence on their education. I’m not a teacher but I imagine that working with these high achievers is satisfying and a reward in itself because through nature or nurture, they are enthusiastic about learning, may already have goals, and don’t have to be prodded every step of the way.
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At the last Navasota city council meeting, I heard that same lame claim again, this time in reference to the proposed pedestrian and bike lane projects – “Nobody knew about it!” I’m reminded of Strother Martin and his memorable line in Cool Hand Luke when he said, “What we’ve got here is a failure to communicate.” But there’s more to that popular line. He continued, “Some men, you just can’t reach.”
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One of the things I’ve learned I can live without over these past many months has been the movie theatre. Sad to say, the theaters have been considered a prime location to potentially spread virus. As a result, the movie theater business has been severely impacted. Where were drive-ins when you needed them, you may ask. Well, the closest is about 40 miles away last time I looked.
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A friend of mine, during a recent lengthy hospital stay, misplaced his cell phone. He asked me to contact his daughter to let her know his phone was lost because she would be worried about him. I was happy to help. I just needed to know her phone number. The conversation went something like “Okay, so what’s her number?” “I don’t know,” he replied. “Who would know it?” “Her friend Katy.” “Okay, so what’s her number?” “I don’t know,” he replied. It began to sound like an Abbott & Costello routine.
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