The march to normality continues. I did a 3.5K neighborhood walk, then hoofed it to the far side of town to give the gals at Hideway their Sunday dinner–pizza and brownies this week. One of the waitresses mentioned that it looked like I’d lost weight. She said my face was skinnier, like I’d been sick. Well, it’s my belly I want to lose, but it seems to be holding out just fine.
It had been a while since my last visit to Cheap Charlies, so I made that my next stop. I was happy to see my new old favorite Roseanne was working. She was cheerful and friendly and full of laughter at my lame attempts to be funny–in other words, she was doing her job the way it is supposed to be done. She confided that the other girls were afraid to join me because I looked grumpy. Yeah, matter of fact, I have been grumpier than normal. While I was at Hideaway, my former love was texting me about her new love. Not the one she dumped me for; that didn’t work out, either. Not that it matters, I was always going to be her second choice, and that will never be good enough for me. And while I appreciate her honesty, I’m understanding why it is hard to maintain a friendship with an ex-love.
I also got a text from an old friend who wants to move back to Barretto and needs some assistance with getting a place to live. I was happy to agree to help.
One of the things I like about Cheap Charlies, besides the view, is the music is a good mix played at an appropriate volume (loud enough to be heard and enjoyed, but not so loud as to impede conversation). And an old Creedence song, Hey Tonight, caught my ear. It was a popular song back in the day, but not a huge hit like Proud Mary or Fortunate Son. You hear those songs often over the years, but it had been maybe thirty years since I’d listened to Hey Tonight. It’s probably the closest to time travel I’ll ever get, but hearing it again carried me back to the wild times I spent in the 1970s. It was a good trip to go there again.
Just as I was fixin’ to call it a night, the skies opened up, and a downpour ensued. Nothing to be done but order up another round of drinks. As I was sipping my soda water with a dash of gin, a stranger approached and said, “you’re McCrarey, right?” He was in town for a visit and had Googled ‘Barretto bars,’ and my humble blog was one of the featured results. Nice to meet you, Dan. Hope you enjoy your visit. These encounters with readers I don’t know are rare, maybe once a year or so, but it is a little disconcerting to be reminded I’m not as anonymous as I imagine myself to be.
I rather enjoyed this FB post from my younger brother:
The old cowboy, who had just started to read his book, replied to the total stranger, “What would you want to talk about?”
“Oh, I don’t know,” said the atheist. “How about why there is no God, or no Heaven or Hell, or no life after death?” as he smiled smugly.
“Okay,” he said. “Those could be interesting topics, but let me ask you a question first. A horse, a cow, and a deer all eat the same stuff, grass. Yet a deer excretes little pellets, while a cow turns out a flat patty, but a horse produces clumps. Why do you suppose that is?”
The atheist, visibly surprised by the old cowboy’s intelligence, thinks about it and says, “Hmmm, I have no idea.” To which the cowboy replies, “Do you really feel qualified to discuss God, Heaven, and Hell, or life after death, when you don’t know shit?”
Still feeling blah this morning, but I did my dog walking duty on a rainy morning.
Hash Monday is upon me, and I’ve still not adequately tested my ability to endure. I’m going to wing today and see how it goes. I’ll bail whenever it feels like “too much, too soon.” That’s the best I can do. Assuming I survive, I’ll be back with a full report tomorrow.
Hey, Tonight, Gonna be tonight, Don't you know I'm flyin' Tonight, tonight. Hey, c'mon, Gonna chase tomorrow Tonight, tonight. Gonna get it to the rafters, Watch me now. Jody's gonna get religion All night long.
Good luck with the day’s Hash. I suspect you can go the distance. Just don’t push yourself tomorrow.
After reading your comment, I felt obligated to try. Even though it was raining, I’ll post about the adventure later today, but BLUF, I completed the shortcut version with the rest of our sane group of Hashers. Thanks for the encouragement!