For the first time I know about, I’ve been having a recurring dream….something mighty Freudian about it, just don’t know what it is.
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I should have written this when it came to me because it was so clear then, but it’s about my dad and Christmas. As I have said before, my dad grew up poor, very poor. So poor he didn’t have any shoes at times so he went to school with no shoes, where the kids made fun of him for that. These kinds of things I never heard my dad talk about or throw in our face but my mom told me stories. He actually did walk many miles to school, through fields, and yes sometimes barefoot. His school is still in use today as in elementary school. His dad wanted him to drop out and help at the farm but he refused and graduated and then joined the navy to get the hell out of there. After he got out of the navy, he met my mom, which is a story of it’s own, and eventually got married. We never had “everything we wanted” growing up but we always had everything we needed. I always had a bike and at Christmas we always got something nice even if my folks did not. My dad didn’t have anything growing up so he always make sure we did. Us kids and he always were up early waiting on my mom to get up so we could open presents and he took great pleasure watching us do so. One of the things we made peace about was this type of thing and I made sure he knew I appreciate it. I miss you dad, especially the times before you went down hill.
I had no idea I hadn’t shown up here in so long and hadn’t even mentioned our cruise to The Bahamas and Kennedy space Station. A very nice way to spend a week in December. Here’s some pictures here and some more here. I almost made a very hostile post the other day aimed at religion and Christmas and Alzheimers and dementia and what happens to us as we get old and relating them all to each other, but never got around to it. I still plan to do this but only when I can think it out better. I then decided to do one about my dad because I’ve been thinking about him a lot lately. Maybe I’ll get around to that tomorrow. And now I remember what’s going on….. Driving back from NC last week I encountered this place called Virginia. It was different than usual because I was coming from a different place, Rockingham, NC. Usually I’m on I-95, or I-77 then I-81. This time I was taking US-29 up to I-81. From Rockingham, I-73 to US-29 equals no stopping at all through NC and a lot of VA. In VA, I started getting memories of kid-hood with my dad. My dad traveled most of the time and sometimes during the summer, he would smuggle me along. We went to Danville, VA and I got my boot stuck in the railroad crossing. I remember being so scared I was gonna get hit by one of the machines. It came right out. We had a bomb threat at a motel up there and my dad gave me my first beer. A Rolling Rock! I think that may have been a couple of years later because I doubt he would have given me one when I was under 10, but I wouldn’t really put it past him. One early morning, I was mostly asleep while my dad was driving to Hurt, VA. The song “Love Hurts” by Nazareth was on. I thought it said “love Hurt” talking about Hurt, VA. I was a stupid kid sometimes. He used to hide me in the truck when his boss came around. Kids get so scarred when they’re doing sneaky things like that. My dad died a year ago last week, I guess that’s why he was so much on my mind. As I approached Liberty University, I thought I might literally burn up right there. I pondered why any kid would want to go there and I thought about how much pain Jerry Falwell has brought to so many people over the years. Another pondering, radio is the worst ever in that part of the state. All religion, conservative talk, and country. I’m glad I had my own tunes and talk. In case you didn’t know, my dad was a mechanic. He worked for the railroad and traveled with the gangs that replaced the cross-ties under the rails between Washington and Atlanta. There were about 25 to 40 large machines that went along the tracks each doing a different job. He kept all these running properly.
Decided to walk around downtown a couple weeks ago and take some pictures. Downtown has changed so much in the last few years I decided may this and this may need a little update. All the new pictures are here but here and the new and old ones are here. Movieland opened in 2006 and it is awesome.
Ambition Cafe
The 440 Arts building is scheduled to be torn down. the former International Order of Odd Fellows Hall has an awesome facade but the new owner, Transfinder, says it can’t be saved with the upgrades it needs to do so it’s all coming down.
A freaking post card, right?
New Center City Bldg, corner of State and Jay
First Niagara Bank
Former Barneys, now Barneys Square
Parker Hotel
I took a very short trip to North Carolina this week, saw some family and friends, and met a pig. This is Petunia, my brother and his girlfriend’s new pig. It is a pig…. It was the one year anniversary of my dad’s death this week and I am very impressed with how well my mom is doing. We did the Thanksgiving thing with family on Sunday, did some home repair stuff on Monday, visited my dad’s grave on Tuesday, and visited Ray and Tommy Tuesday night. It’s strange, on the way home Wednesday, I had a hundred ideas of things to write about when I had the chance, but right now, not one is coming to mind. On second thought, my family is awesome. I am thankful for them all, even the one who is fucking up royally right now. Thursday, Duncan fixed the great Thanksgiving feast and I love him and am also thankful for him as well as all my friends This one looks like something Bob Ross painted….could hear him say, “put a little piece of sky here and let’s pull these trees right down, just like this.” Took a few hours and drove to the mountains on this beautiful day while Duncan is in North Carolina. It’s been a hectic week so it was very therapeutic… |
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