Welcome to countdown Day 14 and the two-week mark.
Like it is with most things you’re waiting on/looking forward to, sometimes those middle parts and stages (yeah, like now )-:) can drag a little. Lucky for us, though, we’ve got each other to keep the train moving and get us where we want to go.
And speaking of luck, if you’re truly lucky, you’ll have plenty of memories to remind you of all the things you’ve seen, with a promissory note that you’ll soon be making plans to see so much more.
I think I can shake the cobwebs off of whatever I’ve got left up there and find some memories worth sharing. (Can’t say they’ll all be good ones, but I’ll aim for a manageable mix. (-:)
If you guys are cool with it, let’s see if we can incorporate 14 and look at things by decade.
AGE 4 – My dad taught me how to get a deer to react to the slightest sound. He’d say that the trick was to make just enough noise to make them pick up their heads slightly vs. making too much noise that would surely scare them away.
AGE 14 – During a capture the flag game that summer, I wandered into a hornet’s nest. As I began to get stung repeatedly, I instinctively hightailed it to the lake, hoping to drown my attackers. As I raced forward, everyone thought that I had the flag. I doubt I was ever swifter.
AGE 24 – I decided to run in a midnight road race in Central Park, and it turned out not to be such a hot idea. Quite the contrary, with temps in the low 20s, I felt like a popsicle, clad in
a parka.
AGE 34 – As I was fixing a flat tire on the side of Rt. 895 near Baltimore, MD, a car full of guys happened by, mocking me as they zoomed past. Enraged, I chased after them, carrying a tire iron. As you can imagine, I couldn’t quite catch up.
AGE 44 – I took my two daughters (then age nine and five, respectively) to City Island, a small fishing village in The Bronx, NY, known for its harbor and its food. My younger daughter, Sam, who was just learning to read, spotted a restaurant called Sammy’s Shrimp Box and demanded that we stop in to check out the menu.
AGE 54 – Fresh off surgery on my left knee, I am invited to a Christmas Party. When I arrived, it quickly became clear that I couldn’t climb up the steps. Improvising, I sat down, shimmying my way up to the front door – backwards.
Given that we have equated memory with luck tonight, here’s hoping that we’ll all be lucky enough to swap stories in future decades.
Make it a great night, all.
See you tomorrow for lucky 13.
JFish