When asked how we think this day will end, we most likely don’t consider the last minutes of sunlight above the horizon. I believe every day’s end is a blessing in terms of witnessing the closing act as show above.
How Will Today End?
One Teenager
Jimmy snuck down the stairs leading to the basement garage. He had to sneak because the wooden steps were worn thin in the middle and creaky—easily heard from the floor above where his parents were sitting, although dad was asleep in an oversized chair while his mom sat in another oversized chair knitting in a trance like state—her fingers moved quickly but she didn’t appear to look at where they were going. It was 1960 and he was 14, hooked on rock and roll music. The station wagon radio was his goal. He didn’t want his parents to know he had taken the car keys.
He closed the door between the basement and the garage to insure no music escaped from the wagon and into the house. Jimmy opened the car door quietly and quickly put the key in the ignition and turned it to the left to the accessory position. He turned the dial until he found his song, the number one selling record in the country, Brenda Lee’s “I’m Sorry.” The record was so hot that some radio stations like the one he had on would play Lee’s song back to back. He hoped he was listening to the first go around, such was his teenage mindset.
It was close to 8 p.m., the usual time for the number one song to be played. Jimmy was proud of his timing. When the repeat of “I’m Sorry” was finished, he turned off the radio, took the keys out and headed to the steps, only, this time the basement door didn’t open. He tried all the keys on the chain, but none fit. He was locked in the garage.
Five years later tears welled up in Jimmy’s eyes as he crouched in the darkness of a Vietnam jungle, an M-16 cradled to his chest. This was no trip to the station wagon, but that was what he was thinking about while waiting for the platoon sergeant’s orders.
He whispered,” I’m Sorry” as if it were a prayer. His parents often joked about the night they retrieved their son from the garage. He asked God for the chance to hear that story one more time back home.
Suddenly the vines were slapped loudly by enemy fire. Jimmy readied himself—all thoughts of the night in the garage were gone. He lay on his stomach…
Fact: 11,465 teenagers in the U.S. military were killed in the Vietnam War–no record of how many were Brenda Lee fans.
Fast Fiction: One Teenager
A teenager recalls an incident with his parents at a strange point in his life. Fast fiction at my other site every Sunday at http://twivelist.wordpress.com.
Camellia Blooms In Final Show
Camellia blooming season has peaked in Sacramento. The reds, whites, pinks and variegated are finishing up their final burst of show before falling to the ground.
Vanilla Fudge Returns
(I tried to include a photo of founding bassist Tim Bogert who tragically passed away in January 2021 from cancer at age 76–but the powers that be wouldn’t allow it. So insert Tim’s photo and rock on.)
Yesterday afternoon I was a prisoner to the ag scenery of Interstate-5 at 70 mph when Vanilla Fudge’s ” You Keep Me Hangin’ On” came on the radio. This was the 1967 song that blew up my car speakers, proving I was young once. Hadn’t hear it in decades and it hadn’t changed. Sadly, the founding bassist Tim Bogert fell victim to cancer in January of this year at age 76. But the music goes on.
Close-ups
Sometimes I need a good close-up photo to clear my mind. Like this morning I stepped outside to a full rainbow, gone before I retrieved my camera. Thought of the rainbows I had captured. Rainbows tend to look alike, it is the act of the capture that counts, right? So, I looked for close-ups I’d taken to take my mind away from those disappearing colors in the sky.
The Rage for Sage
Six years ago I planted garden sage in a farmhouse sink filled with rich soil. In brief, the sink came scratched, so the retailer replaced it with a new one and told us to keep the reject sink if we wanted it for “something.” The sage keeps returning every spring with renewed vigor–took a photo yesterday of the new growth.
The online world is filled with high praise for the health benefits of consuming garden sage. This year I am going to try sage tea. Simply pour boiling water over a tablespoon of sage leaves and let steep. Supposedly, drinking sage tea twice per day will lower your bad cholesterol while raising the good kind. I simply hope it tastes good.
The Flamingo
The wild flamingo has a lifespan of 20 to 30 years, but in captivity they can live more than 50 years. Took this photo at the local zoo, so maybe this is very old flamingo.
Quail Chicks
Took this shot of quail chicks, probably three weeks old, through a window looking out on a patio. Dogs in house. In the beginning there might be a dozen chicks, but the numbers are reduced quickly by predators (hawks, cats, etc.). Both parents, out of camera shot, are watching their young negotiate life.
