A day in David's world...

Ahhhh, summertime! Cheap tomatoes and children's laughter, plus being able to walk around covered by nothing more than a pair of swim trunks, and those primarily to satisfy the cops and keep from being mobbed by female neighbors.

Another summer day gone by, not only a productive day but quite an exciting day as well. I spent a portion of the productive part of the day turning my compost pile. Unlike many people I know, I do not just heap stuff in my back yard and then expect it to just lay there and rot. I realize that having a compost pile of your own means accepting some responsibilities, and among these is making sure that you turn that rotting mass occasionally. You can hardly expect leaves and garbage to compost properly with out a bit of effort on your part, and I do not want my compost pile to ever feel as if it is being neglected. So, early this afternoon I grabbed my rake and a hoe from the garage and did my duty as a composting citizen. I mean as a citizen that does composting, and not one that is composting. Anyway, my heap is now nicely turned, and if smell is any indication of compost quality I may very well have the mother of all compost heaps right here on Roosevelt Ave. Standing on the other side of the yard this afternoon downwind from that sucker was enough to make your eyes water. If I sound proud, it is probably just your imagination.

As to the exciting part, I did a bit of experimentation today which resulted in an educational experience for David. Early in the day I discovered that several wasps had somehow found their way onto my back porch and made themselves at home. I did not waste my breath trying to explain to them how I feel about nasty little insects invading my home, as I doubt they would have bothered listening anyway. What I did do was to open my back door and invite them to leave. This was less than successful, as the few already inside stayed inside, and one more came on in while I was holding the door for him. After closing the door, I decided to haul out the heavy artillery, and reached under my sink for a can of flying insect spray. Unfortunately, I found I had used all of the spray on my last confrontation with mean little insects, and neglected to purchase more. Searching for another solution to my problem, I noticed an aerosol can of Wizard Sunsplash air freshener, and suddenly was seized with an idea. Of course I realize that the stuff is not intended to kill wasps, but I had never heard of anyone else actually using air freshener to convince flying insects to fly elsewhere. For all I knew, the people that manufacture Raid and other such products have been living in fear of the day someone tried using this stuff for something besides making their house smell good, and discovered that it worked.

So, I armed myself with my can of air freshener, said a brief prayer to the gods for a successful hunt, and headed for my back porch to do battle. Happily, all of my unwanted guests had settled down on a warm area of the storm door and were doing a little sun bathing. I crept up just as quietly as I could, took aim with a steady hand, and fired. The results were immediate, and altogether disappointing. Within seconds I had a squadron of thoroughly pissed-off wasps flying in formation around my porch, searching for a target. However, they smelled great! I realized that discretion is the better part of valor, and beat a hasty retreat back into my kitchen, slamming closed the door between the kitchen and porch. I decided there was a reason why the stuff in the can was called air freshener and not wasp killer, and returned it underneath the sink. I then rewarded my efforts with a glass of sun tea, keeping a close eye through the window on the kitchen door to assure myself that the little SOB's had not figured out how to gain entrance into the house. After I had finished my tea and the situation had calmed down a bit, I armed myself with a more traditional weapon, probably in use long before spray cans of bug killer had been invented. I rolled up a newspaper, and spent the next half hour flattening my great smelling wasps. A good deal riskier than spray, perhaps, but much more effective. Live and learn. Perhaps next time I will try some non-stick cooking spray.

A Day at the Capitol

Today I attended a helmet protest downtown at the state capitol here in Lansing. First time in a long time I have attended one of these events, and it was quite a good time. Always enjoyable walking around and looking at row upon row of motorcycles, and it is also fun searching all the faces looking for folks I may not have seen in several years. Definately a different look and feel to the crowd than I recall from a quarter century ago. Now, instead of a mass of people standing on the lawn of the capitol screaming "Helmet Laws Suck", they chant "Let Those Who Ride Decide." A different tone altogether; however, I have the idea that most people that can afford a sixteen thousand dollar motorcycle have at least one thing in common with me, which is they are knock-knock-knocking on the door of middle age. I can recall how much my mother used to dislike my "Helmet Laws Suck" t-shirt, and I believe I am beginning to relate. And I spent enough time looking around today to realize there were quite a few down there that were closer than me to retirement.

Voluntary Electronic Tethers

Awaiting the day I become important enough for my own tether.

It's a Greek thing!

Early evening as another Decoration Day heads on over the horizon. I spent a fair sized portion of today out to Potter's Park enjoying an AA picnic. That is to say I mostly frittered away this day stuffing my face and standing around yakking with other members, which is not a bad way to spend an afternoon. I left the picnic planning on a nice, long ride through small town America. Temperatures made it to ninety the past couple of days and this is the sort of weather that makes owning a motorcycle worthwhile. The boys and I spent the weekend together and consequently, I did not get a lot of riding done. However, I instead took a ride out to Walmart, and bought some hand-made flowers. I had been out to Deepdale on Sunday evening after I took the boys back to their mom, and I found myself admiring many grave sites and wondering if I should not do a bit more in the way of 'decorating' mom and dad's plot. The local veterans group had made sure a U. S. flag was planted over dad's grave; however, I decided some flowers stuck in the little urn on their marker would be nice. So, I stopped, chose some that actually looked pretty decent for being fake, and made a second trip to Deepdale. Much to my surprise, I found that between yesterday and today someone had come along and placed flowers into the urn, and real, live growing ones at that. Saying I am surprised is sort of an understatement. Up 'til now I did not believe that other than the local VFW placing and removing flags that anyone other than myself had done anything in the way of tending that spot. Now I find at least one other person has stopped by, although I could not name who to save my life.

And, as always, I admired the spot the Thodis family has reserved for themselves. I recall hearing mom mention to the salesman that she did not care for tombstones when he was at the house selling her this spot, consequently the folks have a set of plaques mounted on a piece of marble set flush into the ground. This is difficult to spot when you are cruising through the place, and so I chose the monument of the Thodis family to help me get my bearings. The name is easy to remember and they have a nice black marble bench type marker that is easy to find. At least, I think these things are intended to be benches...I have never actually seen anybody sitting on one. These folks also have this really neat candle holder in front of their marker, and I can often tell when Mrs. Thodis has been by for a visit, as there will be a fresh candle burning at the grave. The holder protects the candle from the elements very well, and judging from the size of those candles I will bet they burn at least a week. I spoke to her one day and asked her if there was a significance to the candle left burning at the grave site, and she sort of chuckled and said "Oh, it's a Greek thing" as if that statement would explain any unusual activity that may occur in a graveyard. Now, every time I see a candle burning at their site I chuckle to myself and say "Oh, it's a Greek thing" and I wonder how Mrs. Thodis is doing. I figure as long as I only see her date of birth on that marker that she must be doing fairly well.

Kickin' & screamin' into the 21st century...

I happened upon the scene of an accident this afternoon as I was cruising from one side of Lansing to the other on my motorcycle, and felt an immediate bond with one of the people involved. Almost as immediately, that bond was severed as neatly and as completely as it is possible to do. A young woman was laying in the middle of Capitol Avenue, at the intersection of Capitol and Saginaw, next to her bicycle. I have been there and done that, personally. In fact, this lady would have to tangle with an automobile at least two more times in order to catch up to me, were we to make it a contest. Really, I would rather not. There was a car parked nearby, and a Lansing cop had his cruiser half way into the right hand lane on Saginaw, moving traffic over a lane while he stood next to the young woman laying in the road and made sure she was not run over.

I am sure at this point you are wondering to yourself "Ah, but David, what about that severed bond? What happened to the sense kinship you felt with the young woman?" By golly, that would be a valid question, too. As I made my way past the scene, I was quite happy to observe several things. First, no copious amounts of blood were pooled around the bicycle rider, which I think boded well as to her physical being. Second, she was not flopped on the pavement screaming out her agony to the world, which is more than reasonable when your 30 pound mode of transportation tangles with a 3500 pound vehicle. Also, she was fully conscious, which was also a very good thing. No limbs twisted at awkward angles, no big, ugly, missing patches of skin. In fact, not much in the way of distress at all.

"Uhh...David? That lost sense of kinship?" I was coming to that, in my own sweet time. You see, it was what this young woman WAS doing as she lay on her back at a busy intersection during afternoon rush hour, while a policeman guided traffic around the scene. As she lay in the street, on the warm pavement, what this lady was doing was chatting on her cell phone. And yes, I am aware of what wonderful devices these are in times of emergency. This young woman could very well have been giving an ambulance crew directions to the scene. Or, she may have been telling her mother that she was going to be late for supper. Or, she could even have been phoning her lawyer, and making an appointment for the following morning. What a great time to 'Call Lee Free'. God knows, I have fantasized of tapping into that third choice more than once. However, from the attitude of this young woman, the way she was behaving and the look on her face as she lay there and talked, I find it all too easy to envision a conversation with a friend that began with the words "You'll never guess what just happened to ME!" Really, you could have slipped a ruffled pillow under her head and tossed a comforter over her and I do not believe she would have looked any different than had she been all tucked away in bed for the night. I do not want to make myself sound too ancient, but darn it, when my friends and I got banged up our bicycles we at least had the decency to lay there and cry for a few minutes before we began discussing the wreck.

Cheeseburgers by lamplight

A weekend with my sons, and half the other kids in the neighborhood. My boys spent a nice sized portion of the day in the company of a girl about Barry's age named Briana. Briana is a pretty nice kid, polite and fun to talk to. She also had this idea that having supper with her pals was a very big deal, so while I was getting stuff ready I made sure to toss a couple of burgers on the grill for her, and she sat down and ate with me and the boys. While at the table she was checking out this very old oil lamp that used to belong to my mom. Evidently it was the first one she had seen, so I dug out a lighter and fired that sucker up, and we sat at the table in mid afternoon, eating our cheese burgers by lamplight. I think the word is 'quaint'.

There's something happening here...

Today was one of those days when it is exciting to live within walking distance of a state capitol. Saturday afternoon a neo-Nazi group held a rally on the capitol steps and the entire downtown area turned into an armed camp. I believe every Lansing cop was working today; in addition, we had police on loan from other cities, county cops, state cops, and National Guard troops, all patrolling the capitol grounds and much of the area around the capitol. Many of these people were outfitted with bullet-proof vests, helmets, batons, and some genuinely nasty looking firearms. Trying to drive through Lansing was an exercise in patience, as several streets in the area were blocked off, and you had an excellent chance of ending up stuck at an intersection at any time, either waiting on a group of people protesting the rally to parade by, or perhaps for a string of  emergency vehicles to come screaming through on their way to some urgent destination. I also counted at least two helicopters circling the area most of the afternoon. Anyone attending the rally (which I did not) had to pass through a metal detector and submit to a personal search. I have a handful of bearings in the pocket of my leather, and I am certain there would have been questions concerning those.

After the all the excitement had died down and things were a bit quieter, a group of students from MSU held a "Wash Away The Hate" demonstration and scrubbed down the steps of the capitol, which I thought was a great counterpoint to the Nazi group. For a little while today, with all the people marching around "singing songs and carrying signs", it almost felt as if we were living in 1968, rather than 2006. Amid all the hoo-rah, it is comforting to know that one of our nation's basic freedoms, the freedom of speech, is still very much a part of the American way of life. Even for a bunch of knuckleheads.