more normal than not

My friend John is a good friend.

His comment to me….on Facebook….about my post yesterday was, “I think completing a really nice porch to sit on and sip lemonade as you contemplate (plan) what to build on to it would be a nice Spring project”.

Hah!

Bingo!

Maybe that’s the secret. Even if it wasn’t the “perfect step” in working on that house, it would give me a nice place to contemplate all of the other things that I need to do to it?

I worry about stuff too much….need to just get on with it, and if the only thing driving me is the expectation of a nice place to sit and drink lemonade, well….that would be enough.

That’s pretty motivational….thinking about a nice Spring day, sipping lemonade….maybe even covered in sawdust as I take a break from all the other projects?

We had a couple of nice warm days here….I could see how much easier a warm day is than a brutally cold day. That didn’t take any creativity to come to an obvious conclusion.

Here’s to warm days and easy decisions.

And….even though President Obama had a State of the Union address last night, I got to spend some time with Jenny, so I missed it.

What did I miss?

I’ll bet I had a nicer evening than most of the folks who watched the show.

The “show”….that’s about all it ever is.

I need to go make some coffee.

That’s a good plan, John….sit….drink some lemonade, let the warm breeze blow gently across me…..plan….and don’t even turn on the TV….no matter what leader is getting ready to tell me something.

I like that plan.

“you can make it if you try” Sly and the Family Stone”

I saw something nice down in Greenville yesterday.

We were in a toy store on Main St. and a father came in with his young daughter and started talking to the cashier.

“My son bought a bat and ball….but somehow we didn’t end up paying for all this other stuff.”

That’s kind of confusing when someone comes back to pay.

I’m sure that the cashier gets questioned about stuff that was paid for more often than she runs into someone wanting to pay more.

The father, in front of his young daughter, who was with him, figured out what hadn’t been paid for….and took care of the discrepancy.

People are quick to jump on things that work against them….if they’ve overpaid, they rush to fix the problem.

It was nice to see someone working to fix a situation that worked against someone else’s business.

It was good that I didn’t see him dancing on the street after getting all that free stuff, waving his receipt and yelling, “SCORE!!!”

His honesty wasn’t a “grand gesture”, either.

It was just a quiet thing that the father did.

It was the “right thing” to do….and he did it quietly and efficiently.

When he left, I told him that I thought it was a good thing for his kids to be able to see him do that.

That was a good thing….what that good Daddy did.

All this stuff….all these lessons that we try to teach our children…..we try so hard to “educate”….and it’s the quiet things on the edges of our lives that I have a feeling they’re going to internalize and remember.

It’s the kindness or honest moment that we don’t even pay attention to while we’re (hopefully) doing it that they’re keeping track of.

I better mind my “P’s and Q’s”.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AfGwoU1nXtE

How about this?

All these dudes dressed in furs….screwing around in the snow.

That’s pretty wild.

And….how the heck did they get film of all this stuff?

I thought it was all supposed to have happened before they were making documentaries…..like, many….many…years ago.

It did have a line in it that I’m sure I’ll be able to use at some point in my future…..”May my childhood necklace keep your breath alive.”

I guess that’s pretty universal though….who hasn’t had an opportunity to say that?

Maybe I have too much time on my hands….sitting in the dark, trying to be quiet so that I don’t wake everybody up, typing “full movie” into the YouTube search bar?

Awwww, what the heck? I don’t have that much time on my hands that I can sit through this movie about these old cavemen guys.

I can’t waste my time like that.

I should spend it more constructively….like watching a good movie early in the morning.

Maybe a classic?

Like “Soul Plane”…. on Netflix?

Holy Smokes, though…that caveman movie has enough good quotes to last a lifetime.

Those Neanderthals really knew how to dish out a one-liner.

My friend John mentioned going to see this guy a while back.

Glenn Phillips….from Atlanta….been there forever.

I remember seeing him play somewhere in downtown Atlanta….and that Anne Richmond Boston of the Swimming Pool Q’s played on the same bill with him.

This would have been about the era we would have gone to see him….in the 80’s.

I don’t remember ever dressing like that, though.

I don’t remember wearing little blue shorts.

(Who am I kidding? That’s what I ran in….little blue shorts….)

When John mentioned this show, I realized that most of the fun things I’ve done in my life….or, at least, a lot of the fun things that I’ve done, have been at the prompting of my friends.

Man….it would have been pretty boring if I didn’t have interesting friends.

I guess that sometimes I’m A TAGALONG.

That’s OK.

Whatever works.

Maybe I should grow my hair out like Glenn’s hair?

That’s about what my hair-line looks like now.

Too many male hormones, I guess.

Too much muy macho to keep the hair on top of my head.

Here’s a more recent performance.

I think you’ll see that even 30 years later, Glenn Phillips has stayed pretty true to his vision.

His hair stayed the same, too.

Glenn Phillip’s website