WOW.....this month just sweltered away in the horrendous heat.......perhaps I just melted away? OMG.....I almost wish that so.....as my weight has become a daily and constant battle. Another radical change in my metabolism??? It sure begins to look that way.......the scales just seem to be climbing higher and higher......reminds me of that old song "Jacob's Ladder". For the six years that I have been retired there has never been a real problem....it was never a real battle, just a little skirmish now and then.....and I always won. Now???? Each day IS a major battle....and most of the time a losing battle. Hmmmm........getting a bit scary.....so much so that I am having to make myself step on those scales every morning before entering the shower. Thank god the mirror is placed elsewhere in the bathroom!!!!! Don't try to visualize it.......not a pleasant sight.
However, the good news for today is the wonderful, wonderful weather. What a stunning morning to take my French Roast coffee on the patio.......quiet, clear blue skies, and just a few tiny wind chimes sounding like the temple bells I soooo dearly loved to hear when I was living in Thailand for those four incredible months. Sure hope this kind of a day remains........
This evening we went to the city center.....and had the usual Friday night meal for southeast Missouri: fried catfish. Well, the Olympic Steakhouse has always served up a good plate of fried catfish filets, but........hmmmmm, have they the changed cook(s)? Never a chef.....but always a pretty good cook on Friday nights....but tonight? Rather poorly prepared, lousy service that left us always trying to flag down our waitress for various items that had not been brought to the table with our meal. The catfish was not really piping hot, but just lukewarm-been-in-the-kitchen-tooo-long cool........and not particularly very good. The fish was a bit strong flavored.....a bit too long on the fish stringer, perhaps??? Anyway.....tonight will be the final time for us to eat there.....at least for a long time. Of course, I never get my dark red medicine there.........they do not serve drinks/cocktails/wine there!
Last night's post???? Well......it has certainly brought forth many emails and unpublished comments! And.....that is always good.......love to hear what everyone is thinking no matter if it is positive or negative.
In re-reading Chapter 1 today........I realized that I did not mention that when I was 15, the summer before my sophomore year, I traveled to Los Angles, CA......by myself! Yep......I worked for two summers in a very small little tourist zoo: Tom's Monkey Jungle. Oh yeah.....great wages: after my 8th grade year, that summer I was paid $1.50 PER DAY!!! Wow......what wealth I accumulated that summer! The next summer, before I quit in July to go to California, I was making $3.50 per day.....a tremendous raise. But.......I did save the money for my trip on the Union Pacific Railway. I was gone for four weeks; made stops in Denver, Salt Lake City, and then to L.A. for over two weeks before I returned to Missouri. NOW......at each of those stops I was met either by relatives or friends who showed me area/city.....and in LA, I was the guest of family friends while there. BUT......I did make the trip out there and back in the mid '50's by myself........and HAD A BLAST!!!!
Can you tell......travel has always been in my blood. As I have stated before, I really believe that in a previous Life...or two....I was an explorer who traveled the world. Oftentimes while I was in Asia for 13 months during the VietNam era, I would go to another country, or a new city, and as soon as I arrived, I felt just like it was home! I was never a stranger and often felt as if I had been there, seen it all before. And these same deju vu feelings have accompanied me to many new places over the course of my Life.......WOW!
Chapter 2: My Life while in attending Lincoln University. I was a music education major, with piano as my major instrument. I was soon counseled by the faculty and my piano professor that I should major in performace.......and work towards being a piano performer. Well.......that was scary........the fear of the unknown. However, I did receive my Bachelor of Mus Ed and then continued through most of the 5th year at the university working on my Bachelor of Piano Performance.......more on that later. I had studied with the same piano professor since the beginning of my Jr. year in high school........receiving college credit as I had auditioned and was accepted and enrolled as a "special student" in piano for those two last years of high school.
As a part of the very small minority of whites at the university, I found myself having tons of friends.......and accepted without question. I was the first....so I was informed.....white guy to be invited to join a black fraternity. But.....the costs were prohibitive.......we were not a family of many extra dollars. (My semester tuition was a whopping $50.00...fifty dollars!!) As time went by I then became active in the events that helped to integrate places around Jefferson City that were still reluctant in accepting blacks into their places of business. This was before the Civil Rights laws and legislation of the mid-60's.
I can recall traveling to Nashville with the university band......there were three white band members.....and our first stop was down here, somewhere, in southeast Missouri for supper. We all went into the cafe and several of us sat at the counter. I ordered....and then realized that no orders were being taken my friends and other band members. I then realized.......they were not going to be served, so I promply pushed my coffee away......spat out a few choice words....and left! No trouble........just small minds that were a product of the times and the area.......
In Jefferson City, there was a nice cafe up on the main street of town.....and oftentimes I would go up there for supper. It was a very popular cafe......and would often require a wait in order to be seated. One time I went in......the front tables up by the HUGE plate glass window were all vacant, but with "reserved" signs on them. I asked how long it would be before I could be seated for...for my usual cheapo hamburger....and they told me to go ahead and sit at any of those "reserved" tables. I then realized.........they just didn't want any blacks to be sitting in view from the large window onto the street. Sooooo, being the activist that I was turning into, some of my friends and I planned a little fun. I went in to be seated....and was seated in one of those "reserved" tables.....and then a few minutes later my friends would arrive and I would motion for them to join me up at the front window! We did this several different times and OMG.......did the management HATE this.....and did they ever get angry!!!!!
One time, one of my very best friends, who was from EAST St. Louis, IL......asked me to spend the weekend with him at his parents home there. WHAT a great time........and what an eye-opening experience to spend the two days there. I will never forget it.......and will never forget the acceptance and genuine hospitality that I received......wherever I went that weekend.
All of this helped to mold me into who I am today.......... I now look backwards and realize that it was my Mother and Dad who taught me to be so accepting of each and every person, no matter their disability, their mental abilites/disabilities, or the color of their skin. Little did I know how that would carry over throughout my entire Life.......and actually make me into a person who has trouble tolerating people who are soooooo prejudiced and intolerant of anyone else, be it racial or sexual orientation or whatever!!!!! We are all.....ALL....travelers through our own Lives and we all are on this same planet together with our individual rights.....and we all need to love each other....period!
I step down off of my soapbox, off of the podium, and close this chapter.......one that I have covered so little in this post, but one which I will return to over and over again. And.....a chapter that has brought me to this place that I now find myself........just being me. However........by just being "me"......I can shout and say with all sincerity that....
LIFE IS GREAT!!!!!! And, I hope it is for all of you, also!!!!
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