Thursday, September 3, 2009

"For One Day I Was Not Homeless,..........If Only In Spirit"

Good afternoon;
Author's note:
I began this post yesterday, twice the computer froze up on me, and once I thought I could finish after the 5 minute warning, and hit the publish button in time.......NOT!!!, and then when I went to sign in again, there were 18 people ahead of me......the hell with it!
So everything in RED is a day older then the rest of the post...typical me...a day late and a dollar short.........lol
Good Morning..again;
Every once in a while, the planets align; the traffic lights all turn green in sequence as you approach them as you get off one bus the next one pulls up; the Sun is shining, a soft breeze is blowing, it's not too hot or too cool, God is in his/(her) Heaven, and all is right with the world...........you know,
When Hell Freezes Over...........LOL!

Well, yesterday..(Wednesday-Sept. 2nd-2009.......gotta remember the date, it ain't happenin' again soon!!!........lol), I went ice skating with the devil...at his place!

It started out fairly average, a mix of the good and the annoying alternating back and forth. Little things, ....having enough money for the State Fair and breakfast, and missing 2 buses, walking in the liquor store to buy a beer and finding a $2.00 scratch off ticket, that paid for the beer. Sitting on the bench making my sandwich, and just getting ready to eat it....when a bus pulls up, the same bus stalling and not be able to restart, so I could sit and eat my sandwich and drink my beer in the shade anyway, getting to Rachel's house and taking a loooonnggg, loooonnnggg much needed and gratefully appreciated shower..(thanks Yakira), and the silly ass cats getting between the shower curtains and allowing the floor to flood. Just silly little sh*t.


When I finally got washed and laundry done, (it marched itself down to the washer......pheew!......LOL), and a couple of cups of coffee in me.....less than I thought because Rachel told me later the she drank half of it.....and bragged about to her mother..........stinker..........lol), we walked to the bus and went to the Light Rail, which stops right at the Fairgrounds rear gate. On the ride up Rachel was telling me about her friends, the invisible horses, (and cows???) who were running alongside the train, complete with descriptions and back stories for each one.....what a creative imagination). We entered the fairgrounds and the first thing you see and smell are mounds of dirty straw filled with cow pies....nice first impression, huh? Anyway, we wandered through the Cow Palace and barns looking at at the show cows and the 4H kids grooming them with the same clippers that Rachel sees her mother shave MY head with...lol, and blow drying and brushing them and combing out their tails. Rachel had her hair in braids and she had tangles in her hair and was not at all happy having them combed out...she empathized with 'the poor cows'...lol. Then....we hit the Midway, ride tickets were $1.25..EACH!!, with the minimum amount of tickets per ride being 3, so I went ahead and plunged on 2 wristbands, for $20.00 each, but allowing unlimited rides for both of us......boy did I let the genie out of the bottle...( or opened up Pandora's box?), I created a 'Thrill Monster'!!! The first thing we went on was the carousel..(all horses, but with 'jewels', and/or feathers, and/or painted scenes.......ohhh the choices !!!...lol), and she enjoyed that, but she is on old hand at merry go rounds now, and has become jaded at 5 yrs old. The next was the Flying Dumbo ride, (when I was a kid, they were rocket ships), elephants you sit in, in which there is a control bar, that when pulled back raises the arm on which you are riding to rise up in the air. Well I went on it with her the first time to show her and to see how scared she might be, HAH!, after the initial shock of going up and some jerkiness in the control, she took charge and pulled back on the bar as far as it could go, and stayed up until the ride ended....EACH of the half dozen times we came back to this ride! We then proceeded to the Giant Ferris Wheel and she asked if we could see her house, sorry it's a wee bit too far honey. We then alternated between kiddie rides where she went by her self and grown up rides where she was eligible to ride with me along. The minimum height for most of these is 42 inches, and she just hit that by inconspicuously standing slightly on her toes a bit. ...Oh lord, I've spawned a future X-Games competitor! we went on the 100+ foot 'Parachute Drop' free fall ride, the 3 axes spinning, rotating, revolving and swinging "I Don't Know What The Name Of This Damn Thing Is But I Want To Get Off" ride..(that is my name for it..she called it "AGAIN"!!!. We went on the baby Himalaya and this became know as the rid that "Hurt Your Back Daddy", and can we do it again, then the Starship, a centrifugal force ride that slide you toward the roof on panels that you start out standing and leaning on. We went back to the kiddie rides I thought the "Spinning Apples", a flat version of the "Tilt-A-Whirl" would be nice and calm...but Noooooooo!...I'm still dizzy....(yeah we all know that, but this is above and beyond). After a Corndog and a grape AND an orange soda, we watched the "Swifty Swine Pig Races and Swimming and Diving Exhibition"...hilarious, she loved it, and we bought a souvenir Swifty Swine Rubber Pig Nose.

At this point we took a break and went in to the 4H Club Exhibition Hall, for some cookies and to look at the 4Hers Arts and Crafts, Veggies and Fruits, Baked Goods and Canning..etc.

We went back out to the rides, (Giant slide, the trains, Fun House, Dumbo, The Crazy Chopper..(an imitation of a crashing helicopter going in to auto-rotation....WTF???........LOL).
We were heading toward the animal exhibits and passed by the Milking Parlor, and walked right past a group of people and did not even notice them, as we went in to the petting zoo type area, a man and a boy come up and grin at us and say hello..It is my son-in-law Tom and my grandson Edward!!! We had not even seen them and stood right next to them! My eldest daughter Jen and my grand daughter..(damn I'm old..lol), were sitting on the benches across the roadway, and after we visited all the animals we went to see them. My Grand daughter...(there it goes again)....Devin is 17 months and this is the second time I've met her. (last time she screamed her head off, she was more curious than afraid this time, thank goodness). They had just gotten there shortly before, so Tom went and bought some ride tickets and we went Back up the Midway. Rachel and Ed were just chattering away, with her giving him the benefit of her vast experience of all the rides. Watching then together was so awesome! It was pretty much the 3 of us holding hands form ride to ride while the others followed. Tom got on the Dumbo ride with Ed, and Rachel got on herself, shouting instructions the whole way...lol.
As I was standing with Tom, Ilooked down and saw a $5.00 bill on the ground, which turned out to be 2 of them, after making sure it was not Tom's, right in the pocket!! We made the rounds of the kiddie rides again(!). They were out of tickets and Devin was tired out so they left and Rachel and I went on a few more rides, and she also won a soft and shimmery golden stuffed walrus at one of the 'games'..hey I knew it was a scheme/scam and I figured I was paying $5.00 for her to have fun and get a $1.00 stuffed toy. We then got some pizza and french fries and another orange soda, and after we ate headed for the gate to the Light Rail. As we passed the last food stand...we were "forced" (to quote from the movie "Real Genius"...."It was a moral Imperative!!".......lol), to buy some 'DEEP FRIED OREOS'!!!! YUMMMMM!!!!, which we ate while waiting for the train. Talk about decadent desserts, (the reason I chose the Oreos was because of their 'divide-ability'.......(if it is not a word...it should be!), the other options considered were:
Deep Fried;
Twinkies
3 Musketeers
Milky Ways
P B & J...
.....(Yes, Peanut butter And Jelly!!!)
We got back to Mount Washington around 10:25 pm., (I had to wake Rachel on the train), where her mother picked us up and then dropped me off at the gas station.
WHAT an incredible time we had!
Rachel was soooo good and so much fun and soooo thrilled by everything
It was wonderful to see both my daughters at once, and to watch Rachel and Edward together again, it was a really awesome day and night. And my grand daughter is beautiful, with these bright blue eyes, just like her mother, and..ahem.....(if you discount the red and yellow .........lol),.....her grand father, (again with the sound???). Watching her walk, or waddle, is a blast. She is as stubborn and independent as the rest of her bloodline...(on Both sides.....lol ).
2 days later and I am still riding the high from Wednesday.
As you have probably surmised from previous posts, there are not many family members in my life, and very, very few people who I am truly close to, especially in any long term sense. This encounter with my daughter was not exactly reconciliation, or redemption, but recognition; maybe a sort of acceptance of the reality of the situation I'm in, without any type of negative reflection on the love and care I have for my grand kids, or my ability to be 'Pop-Pop Dave'.........(there is that sound again...kind of like some sort of deep booonnngg, like the tolling of a bell.....lol). Well, I guess the thing to do is be patient, be grateful and offer thanks, take it slowly,... 'one day at a time'...., and see what develops.
I know there is more I want to say or relate about the Fair, but I am overwhelmed at the moment by emotions and conceptions that I have neither felt nor had to deal with in a long time. The past, the future, immortality and mortality, love and family ties, legacies and the lack of, my progeny's progeny, finding someone to share these things with, on both an intellectual and intimate level, in the latter 1/3 of this "E-Ticket" roller coaster ride I call my life.
To quote from the Firesign Theatre's skit , "I Think We're All Bozos On This Bus":
"The Future; Live It, Or , Live With It!"
I'm out of here for now, it's Friday and the library closes at 5:30 pm. so I may not be back until tomorrow, or possibly Tuesday, due to the Labor Day weekend closings. Have a safe and happy holiday.
I am open to any and all invitations for parties or cook outs, (if your are having one on Monday...I should be able to supply the Steaks).....{I'm being consumed by this insatiable craving for flame seared red meat}....[and cold beer(s)]....call me.!!!!
I'm going to head out now, I've only had one cup of coffee so far, and it was only fair, though my breakfast/lunch/dinner (it's one of those 'single meal deal days')was fantastic....Steak Tartare and Tuna Tartare sandwiches on sesame and poppy seed rolls with a fresh roasted garlic/mayo/soy sauce I make up, little salt, little pepper.....................YYUUUUUMMMM!
Eat Healthy???....or ....Die Happy???
No Contest!!
I may try to take advantage of the holiday weekend rush hour and see if anybody is feeling extremely generous today, though it should be a lighter traffic flow now that I think of it, due to the Governor O'Malley mandatory furlough in effect for state workers. (And yet the courts are open?, and public defenders are off?, a true case of the "Criminal!! Justice System" screwing the poor....again.) so, maybe I won't. I am planning to be at the outside tables after the coffee shop closes tonight. (so Janis, if you are out and about........).
Later all................................Dave

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